The Cairn building now wind and watertight

The new distillery at Grantown on Spey is now wind and watertight as the site shuts down for the holiday period.

It is another sign of progress towards an official opening in the summer of 2022.

Family-owned Gordon & MacPhail, the company behind The Cairn, first announced their intention to build a second distillery in 2018. Construction work started in summer 2020 once covid restrictions were lifted.

Ewen Mackintosh Managing Director of Gordon & MacPhail acknowledged it was a milestone for the company saying: “It has been wonderful to see the new building emerging from the land on the banks of the River Spey. It’s starting to look really settled in the landscape and will be even more so when the turf roof is installed at the beginning of the year.”

With the building secure and the distillation equipment in place, attention is now turning to the completion of the ‘drum’, the visitor experience and all its internal fittings. The glass fronted second floor of the drum will enjoy spectacular views across the River Spey towards the Cairngorm mountains.

The Cairn is due to open in the summer of 2022 and will be the second distillery for Scotch malt whisky experts Gordon & MacPhail who bought and re-equipped Benromach Distillery at Forres in the 1990s.

The centre will offer a range of visitor experiences and houses tasting rooms, retail space and bistro.