North Uist Distillery, Benbecula: Whisky in Clanranald Country

Overview

The North Uist Distillery, at Nunton on Benbecula in the Outer Hebrides, is a young grain-to-glass distillery that began making whisky in 2024, with its first single malt — to be called Nunton — now maturing. It made its name first with the award-winning Downpour Gin, cheerfully named for the islands’ weather.

The history

Founded in 2019 by Kate MacDonald and Jonny Ingledew, the distillery took over the historic Nunton Steadings and began full whisky distillation in 2024. It is a small, independent island venture built to give the Uists their own whisky.

The water & the land

The distillery’s named water source is not publicly published, but its barley-to-bottle production is rooted in the machair and lochs of Benbecula.

North Uist sits at Nunton (Baile nan Cailleach), in the heartland of the MacDonalds of Clanranald — and Nunton itself was a Clanranald seat with a direct link to Flora MacDonald, who helped Bonnie Prince Charlie escape “over the sea to Skye” in 1746. Few distilleries stand on ground so bound up with the Jacobite story.

Visiting

North Uist Distillery has a shop, bar and tasting room at Nunton Steadings and runs daily tours and tastings through the summer — check the website, as it’s seasonal. It sits on the causeway-linked chain of the Uists and Benbecula, a wonderful off-the-beaten-track drive.

Nearby & more whisky

• North along the Hebridean chain: Isle of Harris
• Clanranald & Flora MacDonald: the clans
• The whole picture: Scotch whisky — the full guide

Sources

• North Uist Distillery (“Our Story”).
• Whisky Magazine (first distillation).