Launch 16.04.06
Interviews available on request
Community Shares Scotland and GlenWyvis Distillery Community Benefit Society reinvigorating Dingwall through whisky, heritage and community spirit
GLENWYVIS Distillery Community Benefit Society, based in the historic Highland town of Dingwall, is realising its long-held ambition to create Scotland’s very first community-owned craft whisky distillery.
Exactly 270 years to the day after the Battle of Culloden, GlenWyvis launches its Community Share Offer to raise over £1.5m of investment that will help to put whisky distilling back at the heart of Dingwall.
The launch, organised in conjunction with Community Shares Scotland (CSS), will offer investment opportunities for as little as £250 to locals living in all IV postcode areas.
This will ensure a high level of local ownership of the distillery, but the share offer is also open to whisky lovers worldwide with investment opportunities rising in tranches* to a maximum investment of £100,000.
Whisky has been made in Ross-shire and Inverness-shire for centuries and inspiration has been taken from former distilleries: Ferintosh, Ben Wyvis in Dingwall and Glenskiach in Evanton.
The original Ferintosh Distillery was established by the Forbes of Culloden family in 1690, on the Black Isle just east of Dingwall, and is one of the oldest recorded whisky distilleries in Scotland. The new distillery will re-instate craft whisky distilling to the Dingwall area, some 90 years after the last of the town’s original distilleries closed down.
The famous Ferintosh brand of the day was a much-loved whisky throughout Scotland and was a favourite of Scotland’s great bard. Rabbie Burns, who lamented: ‘Thee, Ferintosh! O sadly lost! Scotland lament frae coast to coast!’, on its closure in 1785.
The new GlenWyvis Distillery will be built on a farm above the town of Dingwall and will be 100 per cent community-owned distillery and 100 per cent powered by green energy.
The distillery is the brainchild of the ‘Flying Farmer’, John F. Mckenzie, supported by a board of directors and local community representatives.
John said: “We have a truly winning combination here of a stunning Scottish Highland location, immense historical appeal linking back to Culloden, Burns and Ferintosh and readily-available hydro, solar and wind energy to bring this innovative whisky project to fruition.
“From the outset we have envisaged the project as more than a distillery.
“It is an opportunity for all social investors to help reinvigorate the historic town of Dingwall. GlenWyvis will be built on its whisky heritage, its community ownership and its environmental credentials. We have amazing local resources and will be using only local barley from a farmers’ cooperative – hence our streamline. built on history – powered by nature.”
John added: “There is a real buzz around Dingwall at the moment as our local football team, Ross County, has just won the Scottish Football League Cup and now we are launching our community-owned distillery. It’s double plaudits all round!
“This Friday we are one of the main sponsors of the Ross County annual dinner and auction with 300 guests in attendance and each guest will receive a commemorative miniature of Ross County Football Club League Cup GlenWyvis Gin.
“On the eve of our launch, we want to get the message out to the local community as well as to whisky lovers near and far to invest in the future of the GlenWyvis Distillery.”
Construction of the distillery is due to commence in June 2016 with the first run of whisky planned for Burns Night 25 January 2017.
The distillery will produce craft Scottish whisky and there are plans for an associated Visitor Centre in the town to be added as part of a wider plan to recreate Dingwall as the Craft Distillery Town of Scotland, and as a quality tourism destination on the North Coast 500 route.
Commenting on the share offer Kelly McIntyre, programme manager, CSS said: “This is one of the biggest community projects we have been involved in and we hope it will make a seismic impact in the kind of projects that we will see coming forward to work with Community Shares Scotland in the future.
“GlenWyvis has a truly international appeal with an amazing whisky heritage story which will strike a chord with expat Scots and the Scottish diaspora worldwide and has the added impact of sitting nicely along the North Coast 500 route.
“And with its historic story links to Forbes of Culloden, there is all the more reason for investors and visitors alike to become involved.”
Scott Armstrong, VisitScotland regional partnerships director, said: “In Scotland’s Year of Innovation, Architecture and Design, it is fantastic to hear about this innovative scheme, which ensures a high level of local ownership of the distillery.
“Whisky is one of our strongest draws for visitors and I am delighted that GlenWyvis has taken this opportunity to tell their own whisky heritage story.
“With an associated visitor centre also planned, this offers another stop-off point which we would hope will increase visitor numbers to the town. Without tourism, many remote communities would not be sustainable and business sectors like drinks, retail or construction would be severely impacted.
“Our visitor research has revealed that the one thing that makes Scotland different to any other destination is its ability to ‘stir your soul’.
“Through our ambitious new global Spirit of Scotland campaign and #ScotSpirit social movement, VisitScotland is working to raise the profile of Scotland to unprecedented levels as a place to visit, invest and live – and this project really does have #ScotSpirit!”
The GlenWyvis Community Share Offer opens on 16 April 2016 and closes on 24 June 2016.
However, the board reserves the right to extend this deadline if the amount raised is close to the total required to proceed.
To download information on the GlenWyvis Distillery Community Share Offer – check out www.glenwyvis.com or www.communitysharesscotland.org.uk
ENDS
For further information on Glenwyvis Community Share Offer Number 7305 contact:
John F. Mckenzie: Founder/Owner
F: Glenwyvis T: @glenwyvis
For further community shares information contact
Kelly McIntyre: Community Shares Scotland
Programme manager
Email: kelly@communitysharesscotland.org.uk
For information check out: http://www.communitysharesscotland.org.uk
Twitter: @CommSharesScot
For press information contact
Fiona Stewart, PR Consultant, Interwoven PR
E: fiona@interwovenpr.com
T: 07940560453 Tw: @interwovenpr
Notes to editors:
A short video in support of the GlenWyvis Distillery, Community Share Offer can be downloaded here and used for broadcast purposes with permission.
* Investment amounts and rewards: The price of a share in GlenWyvis Distillery is £50, with a minimum investment of £250 to become a member. If you are struggling to afford £250 but want to invest, we can offer joint memberships where people club together to buy a share or discuss staged payments. The maximum investment is £100,000.
Tranches and rewards
Invest £250 – £749
Postcode restriction to IV postcodes in Scotland.
One bottle gin now, t-shirt and bottle whisky in year three.
Invest £750 – £2,499
Two gin now or two inaugural whisky between Burns Day 2020 and St Andrews day 2020, t-shirt now and private distillery tour for two in 2018.
Invest £2,500 – £4,499
Six gin now or six inaugural whisky between 25/1/20 and 30/11/20, two t-shirts now and shared distillery tour in 2018 plus tour for two, including 20-minute helicopter whisky history tour in 2017 flown from Dalcross Airport, Inverness, by The Flying Farmer.
Invest £4,500 – £7,499
One 64l ‘first fill’ sherry cask filled with 64l New Make spirit at circa 63% abv (please see terms and conditions on our website). Plus six gin now, two t-shirts now and shared distillery tour in 2018 plus tour for two, including 20-minute helicopter whisky history tour in 2017 flown from Dalcross Airport by The Flying Farmer.
Invest £7,500 – £14,999
One 128l or two 64l ‘first fill’ sherry cask filled with New Make spirit at circa 63% abv (please see terms and conditions on our website). Case of gin now, two t-shirts now and private tour for four in 2018 plus tasting masterclass at distillery and 30-minute shared helicopter whisky history tour for two in 2017 flown from Dalcross Airport by The Flying Farmer.
Invest £15,000 – £49,999
Fill Hogshead Cask personally in 2017 and add your name on wall or roof of distillery plus case of gin now and bottle of whisky every Burns Day till year ten including New Make spirit. A private extended 30 minute helicopter whisky history tour for four flown from Dalcross Airport by The Flying Farmer plus a private tour and tasting master class for four in 2018.
Invest £50,000 – £100,000
Investments will be considered by application only and bespoke packages similar to above can be arranged
Casks are sold to you and become yours on successful application for shares. Detailed terms and conditions of your cask ownership are available on our website www.glenwyvis.com.
These include that UK Duty and VAT may be payable after bottling; that you are a private individual purchasing for private consumption or gifting and that you many not sell on or trade for profit, the bottled whisky. A 64l cask will produce around 100 bottles of whisky at 46% abv. Assuming a bottling cost of £5 per bottle and VAT and duty at current rates, each bottle would cost you £20.
Tax relief We have applied for advance assurance from HM Revenues and Customs (HMRC) that the shares in
GlenWyvis Distillery are eligible for tax relief under the Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme (SEIS) and the Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) – these are Government-backed schemes designed to encourage investment in smaller companies. If you are a UK tax payer, investors in GlenWyvis Distillery can apply for income tax relief after the start of trading.
GlenWyvis Distillery (Dingwall) Limited has been established as Co-operative and Community Benefit Society with the specific purpose of owning and operating a community-owned whisky distillery and visitor centre in Dingwall to benefit the community of Dingwall.
Whisky stills will be supplied by the prestigious company, Forsyth of Rothes, and will be delivered in September 2016.
Green credentials: GlenWyvis Distillery will run entirely on energy produced using the renewable technologies – hydro, wind and solar already used on the farm. An advanced heating system will be powered by biomass and solar thermal and water from both the Skiach River and Tulloch Spring will be used to make the whisky with a borehole being used to supply the process water required.
Photograph: Left to right/Richard Lockett; Stuart Nickerson; John Fraser McKenzie; James Cameron; William Reynolds
All facts correct at the time of publishing noted at the top of the press release.
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Interwoven PR contact details…
Contact: Fiona Stewart
Phone: 07940560453
Email: fiona@interwovenpr.com
Website: http://www.glenwyvis.com
