Can a community-owned distillery survive the current whisky market? GlenWyvis Distillery, founded in 2015 with 4,000 community investors, began production in 2018. Now it needs £300,000 by October & £6 million in the long-run to keep going. In a candid interview two of its directors explain why. If you want to help contact them at info@glenwyvis.com.
We first spoke to GlenWyvis Distillery in April 2025 (Episode 13).
But now the distillery is on the brink. As we've explored in several episodes over the last few months, the whisky industry is in a downturn because of the cost of living crisis, increased energy costs caused of global conflicts, international trade uncertainties and falling consumer confidence.
In fact, in Episode 71 just two weeks ago, Fred Laing from Douglas Laing & Co. said he'd never experienced a downturn this bad in the 58 years he's been in the industry.
And then there's the unique way whisky distilleries operate: You have to build a distillery, which takes huge capital outlay. You begin production which also costs money. And then you have to put what you produce aside in a cask for at least three years, which costs money.
Ideally you put it aside for ten years, because as David Graham - former Chairman of GlenWyvis - puts it: \"You need to have 10-year-old spirit in today's marketplace for people to pay you any real attention. Now, I know there's no age statement whiskies on the market. And I know there are a lot of comparatively young and rare bottlings on the market. But in theory, if you've got 10-year-old spirit, you count. If you haven't, you're not there yet.
\"So 10 years at £400,000 a year, there's £4 million that you just need to put the liquid in the casks. And that's before you build a warehouse to put them in, or rent a warehouse to put them in, and that's before you meet the duty.\"
And in today's market, Colin Dickie GlenWyvis's finance director, chips in, there's \"a race to the bottom in terms of the price point\".
\"We just can't get tot a price point that you might get in your local supermarket. So it's very difficult for us in terms of being competitive.\"
Join John as he chats candidly to Colin and David about the crisis facing one of Scotland's newest whisky distilleries.
Slàinte!
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Socials: @C2GWhisky | @JohnRossBeattie
Creator & producer: David Holmes
Art work & design: Jess Robertson
Music: Water of Life (Never Going Home)
Vocals: Andrea Cunningham
Guitars: John Beattie
Bass: Alasdair Vann
Drums: Alan Hamilton
Bagpipes: Calum McColl
Accordion: Gary Innes
Music & Lyrics: Andrea Cunningham & John Beattie
Recorded & mixed by Murray Collier at La Chunky Studios, Glasgow, Scotland
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