By Karen Peattie
PLANS have been announced for a new distillery on the historic Hopetoun Estate next to Midhope Castle, a 16th-century tower house which features as the fictional Lallybroch, the family home of whisky-loving actor Sam Heughan’s character Jamie Fraser in the hit TV series Outlander.
The malt distillery development on the estate near Edinburgh, with funding from a US-based private investor, will draw inspiration from the landscape while “addressing sustainability through every element of its architecture, its construction and its operation”.
Midhope Castle Distillery Company said the contemporary distillery will be “positioned within a carefully designed landscape drawing inspiration from historic features. The site will be located immediately adjacent to the Midhope Castle, currently an empty shell.
The vision is that the distillery development will lead to a longer-term project involving the significant restoration and return to use of Midhope Castle and its immediate grounds.
Hopetoun Estate at Queensferry has a long tradition of growing and supplying malting barley for the Scotch whisky industry and the new distillery will use exclusively estate-grown barley, reflecting the estate’s commitment to environmental sustainability.
A spokesperson for Midhope Castle Distillery Company said: “We will set out to design and build a distillery that makes great whisky while addressing sustainability through every element of its architecture, its construction and its operation.
“With an innovative approach across the board we would aim to reduce our production carbon footprint to the absolute minimum, if not to zero.
“We believe that this approach goes hand in hand with producing a distinctive and characterful single malt Scotch whisky capable of reflecting the qualities and traditions of one of Scotland’s great historic estates.”
The project architects are Edinburgh-based 56three Architects with overall project management delivered by the Edinburgh office of Currie & Brown.
A planning application has been submitted to West Lothian Council.
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