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The ‘uisge beatha’ to be made in Gleann Ràthais
Glenrothes tipplers could soon be enjoying a dram of the ‘water of life’ made in their own town.
And the distillery where it is created looks set to give the area a mini-jobs boost.
A Kinross-based company was given the go-ahead to build the facility - which would make malt whisky - by councillors at last Wednesday’s Glenrothes Area Committee.
Abaco wants to site the distillery itself and maturation warehouses on land east of Osprey Road, a six acre complex that will also include a range of other buildings, including offices, and a cafeteria.
Councillors were told the proposal was an “exciting opportunity” which would “further cement Fife’s increasingly important role at the heart of the country’s drinks industry.”
The building’s contemporary design was a bonus, the report added, offering a “modern take on a centuries-old industry.”
The report, by planner Angus Dodds, went on: “The distillery will create 17 skilled and semi-skilled jobs on a site that will be able to take advantage of the improving freight transport network in and around Fife,.
“This will ensure that the site remains a sustainable distillery location in the longer term.”
It is not known what the distillery, or the whisky which will be made there will be called.
Councillors imposed a series of conditions, including a demand that no work takes place on the site before a new private route linking to Whitecraigs Road is built.
During and after building, this road will be used until it is replaced by a new roundabout onto Kinglassie Road, which will be provided to serve a separate development at Whitehill Industrial Estate.
The distillery has no connection with the long-established Glenrothes Distillery in the north-east of Scotland.
But there are existing links between the town and Rothes, near Elgin in Morayshire, where the Glenrothes Distillery is located.
The lands around the town of Rothes were once owned owned by the same family of that name who were also the major landowner in Leslie and in large parts of what became the new town of Glenrothes.
Rothes was one of the names suggested for the new town, but it was rejected because of the confusion there would be with its namesake nearly 150 miles to the north.
Instead, Glenrothes was adopted - although that has also been the name of the distillery since it was founded in 1878.
Glenrothes Development Corporation used the name connection to its advantage, and had branded whiskey made at the distillery bottled for use at special occasions and as a promotional tool for events ranging from royal visits to anniversaries.
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Weather for Kirkcaldy
Friday 24 May 2013
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