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Glenkinchie
submits planning application which will
transform the visitor experience at the
East Lothian distillery.
The Glenkinchie Distillery has
unveiled plans to transform the visitor
experience at the East Lothian
distillery.
The distillery has formally submitted a
detailed Planning Application to the
East Lothian Council setting out
proposals that will significantly expand
and enhance the experience the
distillery offers to tourists from
around the world. The submission of
formal plans follows community
engagement last month as well as
pre-application consultation with East
Lothian Council and Historic Environment
Scotland.
The plans centre around the renovation
and conversion of Glenkinchie's
beautiful, traditional red brick
warehouse buildings into a stunning
multi-levelled visitor experience, which
will include a welcome lounge, retail
unit, bar and cocktail making classroom,
tasting rooms and a cask draw
experience.
Externally, a number of non-original
buildings would be removed to allow
extensive landscaping to create a
beautiful welcome garden in front of the
visitor experience.
The East Lothian distillery is one of a
number of Diageo distilleries that will
see major work undertaken as part the
company’s £150m investment in Johnnie
Walker and single malt scotch whisky
visitor attractions around Scotland.
As part of the plan Glenkinchie will be
linked to a new global visitor
attraction in Edinburgh for Johnnie
Walker – the world’s biggest selling
Scotch whisky brand. Glenkinchie is a
key part of the Johnnie Walker single
malt portfolio, providing the light,
floral, classic lowland style of single
malt for Johnnie Walker scotch whiskies.
If planning permission is successful
work would commence in 2019 with planned
completion in 2020.
Ramsay Borthwick, Glenkinchie Distillery
Manager, said: "This is a very
significant and exciting point on our
journey to transform Glenkinchie. We are
all incredibly excited about the plans
which will surely capture the
imagination of Scotch whisky fans of all
ages, tastes and experience from around
the world.
"We want to celebrate the distillery’s
history and combine this with a new
state-of-the-art visitor experience
which will not only link us to the new
global Johnnie Walker visitor attraction
in Edinburgh but will establish
Glenkinchie as a must-see for tourists
in Scotland."
Glenkinchie Distillery has a long
history of association with Johnnie
Walker, with stock books from 1894
listing Glenkinchie among the single
malts going into the Walker blending
inventory.
Whisky from Diageo’s distilleries all
over Scotland contribute to Johnnie
Walker, but four distilleries -
Glenkinchie, Cardhu, Caol Ila and
Clynelish - will be linked directly to
the Johnnie Walker venue in Edinburgh,
representing the ‘four corners of
Scotland’ and the regional flavour
variations crucial to the art of whisky
blending. Together these sites will
create a unique Johnnie Walker tour of
Scotland, encouraging visitors to the
capital city to also travel to the
country’s extraordinary rural
communities.
It would also be nice to see them
transform the Glenkinchie single malt
core range by offering more expressions
of the Lowland whisky but meanwhile you
will find the current Glenkinchie whisky
range
available to buy from
specialist online whisky retailers such
as
The Whisky Exchange,
The Whisky Shop and
Master of Malt
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