Dunnet Bay Distillers is aiming to open its new £5 million distillery and visitor centre next year.
Husband and wife team Martin and Claire Murray are converting the 200-year old Castletown Mill in Caithness after securing planning permission last year.
The couple, who are celebrating 10 years in business, hope to create eight jobs for the local community.
It’s been a period of growth for Dunnet Bay with online sales hitting £450,000, a 20% increase year on year.
Dunnet Bay Distillers ‘finding opportunities’
Turnover has also hit £1.5m with the brand enjoying record export sales last year – mainly thanks to US and South East Asia.
Dad of three Martin said: “There’s been an element of adjusting to changes since Covid, Brexit and the cost of living crisis.
“For 10 years we’ve had six pretty stable years and then four years when it’s been more topsy turvy.
“We’ve been focussing on different channels. We’ve had business on Amazon and started to pick up new export markets.
“We picked up a listing with stores in England which was really good for us. It’s not like 2019 but we are still finding opportunities to do well.”
Castletown Mill distillery progress
The Castletown Mill distillery will be a new home for Stannergill whisky, the latest edition to be added to Dunnet Bay’s portfolio which includes Rock Rose Gin and Holy Grass Vodka.
Stannergill whisky takes its name from Stannergill Burn, which runs through the grounds where Castletown Mill is located with Dunnet Bay shooting for first-year production of 100,000 litres of pure alcohol at the site.
The Castletown Mill builders were able to divert the Highland water from the burn into an artificial channel called a mill lade which carried it to a water wheel. This then generated power to work the machinery required to grind grain into flour.
Martin, who currently employs 16 people, hopes to see the distillery open next summer with the creation of eight jobs for the bistro and shop.
Hopes to open next summer
The couple have received a £500,000 grant from Historic Environment Scotland, £250,000 from Highlands and Islands Enterprise and a £2.5m development mortgage from HSBC to help with funding.
He said: “This year is such an intense year for Claire and I with building the whisky distillery.
“We’ve made good progress. The building has been cleaned and stripped to make it safe.
“We’ve done the underpinning and the pinning and repointing for most of the building.
“All the steelwork we need for the floors and the windows have been ordered and really it should be wind and watertight within the next 12 weeks.
“It’s an amazing achievement within itself. It’s the first time it’s been wind and watertight within 50 years.
“Ideally it’ll be open for the summer tourist season but we’ll see.
“We are excited because we are a business that’s creating opportunities for people. In Caithness at the moment it’s pretty tough.”
Continue to grow in new markets
On the back of record export sales Martin is now looking to launch in China and the Philippines.
Martin said: “We’d like to continue to grow. A lot of people have got used to ordering stuff at home rather than buying it.
“We are focussing on being convenient and quick.
“We are relatively happy and would like to continue our growth trajectory but the way the world is just now it isn’t as easy to operate.
“Everybody is a bit more competitive. Our position over the last two years has been to wait until we get through this period and in 2025 invest in growth again.
“We know how difficult it is to start a business and it’s not easy to get traction, especially with our location.
“We were always focussed on the milestone of three years because that was anecdotally the time when most businesses struggle.
“So to get past three years was a good milestone and to get to 10 with all that’s happened is a big achievement.
“We’ve had to adjust and deal with changes to operate our business.”
To marks its 10th birthday, Dunnet Bay Distillers has launched a celebratory limited edition – Rock Rose Gin, in a illustrated ceramic bottle.