Uile-bheist Distillery and Brewery has announced that it has completed an eight-month refurbishment of its taproom and tasting rooms, as demand for its whisky tours has almost doubled in three years.

Uile-bheist, one of the UK’s greenest distilleries, became Inverness’ first new distillery in more than 130 years when it opened in 2023. The first limited release of its own Scotch malt whisky is now in the planning stage.

The success of tours at its ‘brewstillery’, powered by water from the River Ness, has defied expectations, with the Highland capital proving 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 opening in February 2023.

Visitor numbers are expected to exceed 20,000 in the coming weeks, while the refurbishment of the tap and tasting rooms – which contain more than 400 malts – has created seating for around 100 guests.

Former Victorian kitchens and storage areas have been reopened and stripped back to their original stonework, creating new seating areas designed and delivered by interior designer Steve Gibson. A former hotel function room, with views across the River Ness, has been repurposed as a whisky-themed tasting room where tour guests can 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 who has worked with bands including Pearl Jam and The Pixies.

In addition to producing its own malt and five beers, Uile-bheist is home to a world-recognised, water-source Energy Centre. The Sustainability Centre removes 250 tonnes of carbon each year from the brewstillery’s production while 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 whisky and beer production, making the operation one of the greenest in the country. The £7.5 million system, developed in 2022, recently won the Glen Mhor Hotel and Uile-bheist a Green Apple Environment Award.

Commenting on the news, 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 meant we were annexing bar space in our taproom, and tastings were done upstairs, where the whisky and beer-making operations were. We wanted to elevate the experience 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.”

He added: “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 in favour of 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 with the same period in 2025, according to HMRC data.