Uile-bheist Distillery and Brewery has completed an eight month refurbishment of its tap and tasting rooms as demand for its whisky tours have almost doubled in three years. Uile-bheist Distillery and Brewery became Inverness’ first new distillery in over 130 years when it opened in 2023 and the first ever limited release of its Scotch malt whisky is in the planning stage.
The success of tours at its ‘brewstillery’, powered by water from the River Ness, have defied expectation, with the highland capital a magnet for international visitors. Now a redevelopment of its tasting spaces will elevate the visitor experience, increase capacity, and enable tours to operate back-to-back for the first time since the opening in February 2023.
Visitor numbers are expected to eclipse 20,000 in the coming weeks and refurbishing the tap and tasting rooms – which contain over 400 malts – creates seating for around 100 guests. Former Victorian kitchens and storage areas have been re-opened and stripped back to original stone, creating space for seating areas planned and executed by Interior designer, Steve Gibson.
A former hotel function room, with River Ness views, has been repurposed to create a whisky-themed tasting room where tour guests sample Uile-bheist’s blends and beers. Adorning the walls, alongside antique malt shovels and peat cutters, are creatures from Uile-bheist’s signature Scots mythology series, created by Ken Taylor, a designer for bands such as Pearl Jam and The Pixies.
Jonathan Martin, Revenue and Rooms Manager for Uile-bheist’s umbrella group, Turas Hotels, said, “When we opened, there were elements of the unknown. It is a long time since Inverness had a working distillery but each year the tours have grown beyond expectation. The way we ran the tours before, we were annexing bar space in our tap room and tastings were done upstairs, where the whisky and beer making operations were.
“We wanted to elevate the levels for our tour guests and this redevelopment has done that. Crucially, it also means we can now run consecutive tours for the first time without having to move the ‘set’ around. The success of the taproom is crucial to Uile-bheist, as a brand. It was a lot of work but it’s easily the best change we’ve made, both for the comfort of guests and operationally. The space feels natural and people are staying longer with us. We’ve removed some harder seating for softer seating and, beside each space, there are chargers so people can even work here, if they want.”
The growth in Uile-bheist’s tours comes as Scotch whisky shows signs of recovery, with exports up 6% in the first half of 2026, compared to 2025, according to HMRC data. Aside from producing its own malt and five beers, Uile-bheist is home to a water-source Energy Centre.
The sustainability centre removes 250 tonnes carbon each year from the brewstillery’s production whilst also providing green power and heat to the Glen Mhor Hotel, of which it is a part. Solar panels on the distillery roof provide electricity for manufacturing whisky and beer, making the operations amongst the greenest in the country.
The £7.5 million system, developed in 2022, recently won the Glen Mhor Hotel and Uile-bheist a world Green Apple Environment Award at St Paul’s Catherdal in London.
The distillery, brewery and hotel also just featured in Forbes magazine’s Extraordinary Whisky Hotels and Distillery Stays Worldwide.
For more information on Turas Hotels, click here.
