The global reputation of the Scotch whisky industry is built on provenance, history and tradition, which can sometimes hinder its innovation.
But companies have found ways to progress, such as adopting renewable energy to reduce carbon emissions and cutting plastic waste from packaging. Now, in the latest revolution in the sector, Scotland’s first vertical whisky distillery has begun producing spirit.
Plans for the £12 million Port of Leith Distillery first emerged in 2017 and a nine-storey building on a patch of land near the Ocean Terminal shopping centre has since sprouted. The top floors are dedicated to hospitality, events and tastings with spectacular views across the Firth of Forth.
The actual distilling equipment begins on the fourth floor and works its way downwards. Traditionally, Scottish distilleries and many others throughout the world are laid out on one level with the spirit flowing between them. Vertical distilling is still quite niche, although Mackmyra, a Swedish firm, has produced whisky from its Gravity Distillery — a 35-metre (115ft) tall site in Gävle, in the forest north of Stockholm.
On the fourth floor at Port of Leith there is a water tank which supplies two 10,000-litre tanks for mashing, fermentation and distillation. There is also a 32-tonne silo to store malted barley which can be brought in on a conveyor system.
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Going down a floor there is the mash tun and several washback facilities fitted with cooling jackets to help control temperature. On the second floor, there is an intermediate spirits receiver and then on the ground floor there are two copper stills.
Once the process is complete the finished spirit is transported to a warehouse in Fife for maturation.
Vaibhav Sood, the head of whisky at Port of Leith, said the company is experimenting with yeasts, temperatures and other tweaks to get the type of spirit it wants to lay down whisky stocks.
He said the design of the space, which features open mezzanines up through the distilling levels, can help in areas such as reducing energy usage and limiting the need for cooling.
Although gravity can offer some assistance in the movement of liquid through the levels there is still a need for pumps. Sood said: “We didn’t do this for the sake of making a vertical distillery but the parcel of land we had was so tiny we couldn’t really build a normal one.
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“That parcel of land made us think a bit outside of the box and do the process in a different way,” he explained. “We start on the fourth floor and then move downwards.
“Gravity can help a little but we still have to utilise pumps and other equipment to maintain flow rates and pressures through the pipe work to ensure consistency.”
The types of flavour found in the whisky produced will not be known for at least three years as that is the minimum ageing period required by convention although many companies age single malt stocks for at least 10 years.
Although the company’s own whisky will not be ready for some time it is still offering hundreds of drams from a range of other distilleries in its hospitality operation.
That includes whiskies from newer Scottish entrants to the market such as Nc’nean, GlenWyvis and Glasgow Distillery Company as well as ranges from Japan and England.
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“The distillery is a blank canvas and the distillers are the ones using the equipment to create the painting,” Sood said.
