Ferintosh whisky name resurrection plans revealed as applicant lodges full planning application with Highland Council over Duncanston site on the Black Isle
Controversial plans for a new distillery that will resurrect a famous but long-silent whisky have been lodged.
If approved, then applicant Morris Dalgetty’s proposals for a new Ferintosh distillery, visitor centre and café, would be built on land near Mulchaich Farm near Duncanston on the Black Isle.
Ferintosh has a long and storied history within Scotland’s whisky industry, coming to prominence in the late 17th and 18th centuries due to the apparent quality of its spirits, before falling silent in 1784 - a development even lamented by name in one of Scottish bard Robert Burns’ poems, ‘Scotch Drink’.
The new bid to resurrect the name - which it is claimed would attract 20,000 visitors a year and create almost 30 jobs with its “world-class visitor experience” - first emerged back in 2023 when pre-application consultation was held in the community.
But the plans drew criticism from some people living locally on the Black Isle, with residents warning of concerns over traffic and pedestrian safety on the area’s quiet back roads, and a loss of the “tranquillity”.
Things have been fairly quiet on the development since then, but a full planning application has now been submitted to Highland Council, which the developer claims addresses some of the concerns previously raised.
If given the green light, a dozen distillery-related buildings are planned, most of which would be clustered close together, and even conjoined in many cases, and laid out around two courtyard areas, with one building - the cask storage - set a short distance away to the east of the main complex.
The mix of buildings would include a range of typical distillery operations, such as maltings, milling, mash house, fermentation, the still house and more, as well as a visitor café, and a visitor building.
Supporting statements lodged with the application cite the close arrangement of the buildings as being intended to homage the traditional layout of clachans in the Highlands, where farm buildings were often built close together to provide mutual shelter from the elements.
The documents also cite intentions to make use of the contours of the landscape at the site to reduce the visual impact of the buildings when viewed from the wider area.
They said: “The landscaping strategy is detailed to ensure the visual impact is reduced as much as possible. The visual impact of the proposed parking and building is subservient to the surrounding fields, trees and banks.”
Although they also acknowledge in their landscape and visual impact assessment (LVIA) that: “The LVIA concludes that proposed development will change the existing landscape and visual baseline conditions.
“Although some local receptors will experience significant effects to both the landscape resource and to visual amenity, these effects will be generally localised and will be seen in the context of the expansive settled rural landscape of the Black Isle.”
They add that as planting around the site matures, the buildings will also settle more into the landscape.
Elsewhere, although there are three known archaeological sites within the immediate area - the ruins of two former settlements directly connected to the area’s whisky-making past, as well as a prehistoric chambered cairn - the new buildings would not encroach upon them and instead be situated on fields that have been ploughed for centuries.
They claimed archaeologists consulted over the plans were not opposed because “the proposals do not impact upon the archaeology, and the research carried out in support of the application adds to the understanding of the site.
“The proposal will provide a focal point to tell the history of Ferintosh, it will provide interpretation of the archaeology to visitors.”
Addressing local concerns over the impact of the site, especially on road traffic, they added: “Neighbours expressed concerns about the safety of the local road network [during earlier consultation]. At the time of the meeting the access was proposed from the north. These very local, lived concerns were unknown to the design team.
“Following the public meeting the designers reassessed the access plans, resulting in the site access in this application being taken from the B9169, avoiding single track roads. The B9169 leads directly to a junction on the A9. Upgrades are proposed to the public roads which will give community benefits.
“There will be no additional traffic to the north or past the [local] church as a result of this application.
“Following the meeting there has been a further consultation with the local minister and the community council.”
As well as cars, the documents also reveal that the applicant “proposes to run small coaches and mini buses” of less than 25 seats from Inverness to the distillery to bring visitors to the site.
The applicant added that most traffic would travel to the distillery via the A9 and the B9169’s Duncanston junction.
The supporting documents conclude: “The precedent and historic use of the site undoubtedly provides the opportunity to re-introduce distilling and the making of Scotch whisky to the former region of ‘Ferintosh’.
“Mulchaich Farm is diversified through the creation of a business which benefits many local growers and suppliers. The addition of a distillery to the site creates a functional and linked visitor experience centred around the archaeology’s historic significance to Scotch whisky.”
Bari Reid, a director at Organic Architects, the agents which filed the application, believes the distillery will be “momentous”. commenting: “The re-birth of Ferintosh whisky production here is a momentous occasion for Scotland and will bring numerous benefits to the local community. The distillery will allow visitors to discover the rich history of this Black Isle district which has been touched by the Jacobite rebellion, the Highland clearances and contained one of the first legal distilleries in Scotland. Given the significance of the archaeology on the farm, local archaeologists and Historic Environment Scotland have been consulted as the design work has progressed. We look forward to continuing to work with them, as well as the local farmer and community, to resurrect the infamous Ferintosh whisky.”
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