Highlands and Islands Enterprise invests £2m into new distillery on Benbecula

Plans for a new distillery and visitor centre in Benbecula have been backed by up to £1.99m from Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE).The new distillery is anticipated to create 22 new jobs at the proposed site at Gramsdale.The £12.5m plan includes low carbon technologies in the design, build and distillation process.The Uist Distilling Company is owned by South Uist businessman Angus A Macmillan and his son Angus E Macmillan.The company aims to produce single malt whisky, rum and gin, “with a Hebridean flavour”.The distillery will include a visitor centre with catering specialising in local produce.It is expected that many new jobs will be created both directly and indirectly by the project, including those jobs at the distillery over the next three years.It is hoped that production will start in early 2022.HIE previously supported a feasibility study for the project and islanders had the opportunity to see the plans in more detail during community drop-in sessions last year.Prior to the pandemic, tourism had accounted for 10% of the local economy and helped to sustain many rural businesses and communities across the islands.The value of the industry was on track to reach £74m by 2020, with income from the sector growing from £53m in 2014 to £65m in 2017.The company’s capital investment includes £1.25m for an green energy centre – including a high temperature heat pump system which will provide hot water to the distillation process.The distillery will also focus on using sustainable organic production, using local ingredients such as peat, heather, seaweed and barley.