Thurso distillery will keep bottling in-house
THE operators of Thurso’s whisky distillery will become one of only a handful in Scotland to bottle their own produce within their own premises.
Wolfburn Distillery has made the decision to keep the operation in-house at its base at Thurso Business Park.
In less than six months’ time, the first batches of three-year-old Wolfburn will be appearing on shop shelves with interest already shown in 21 countries eager to be among the first to stock the output of one of Scotland’s newest distilleries.
The company had considered a number of options on the bottling of the whisky, including outsourcing the work in Glasgow. But company spokesman Harry Taylor said it had decided to do the job themselves.
“We looked at the equipment required and saw it was not particularly onerous to install,” he said.
“The decision was also made so we had control over all the processes of the whisky and for quality management purposes.
“It will allow us to do small cases which would not be possible if we outsourced the bottling process to other firms.”
The original Wolfburn Distillery was founded close to the current site by William Smith in 1821.
In its day, it was one of the largest distilleries in Scotland, producing more than 28,000 gallons a year. Taking its name from the stream that provided the water, the Wolf Burn, the distillery operated until the 1860s after the death of William Smith snr when the family gave up the lease.
In 2011 plans were laid to resurrect the old distillery and construction began 12 months later and was completed in January 2013.
The new distillery, sited close to its predecessor, started production soon after construction was completed when the first whisky cask was laid down in Thurso in 136 years.