Kythe

KYTHE

A RETURN TO OLD STYLE HIGHLAND DISTILLING

Kythe Distillery will be at the forefront of a new movement to revive ‘old style’ Scottish single malt whisky. Ours is an uncommonly ambitious project in pursuit of true and absolute quality - drawing on inspiration from the past to create a new Highland single malt that will stand as one of the most distinctive and charismatic in Scotland, and beyond. Our aim is to recreate an extinct style of Scottish single malt whisky - one not produced since the 1960s.

Our ethos is to eschew outdated and tired obsessions about yield, efficiency, tourism and standardisation of character. Instead, we favour a ruthlessly ideological process founded in the best ingredients, the right equipment, exacting method and relentlessly holding ourselves to the standards demonstrated by the greatest bottled distillates from Scotland’s past. The historic and painstaking techniques we will embrace yields far less alcohol than the standardised and highly efficient modern processes employed in the industrial distilleries now prevalent throughout Scotland. This is a deliberate choice. We take this approach because we know efficiency to be the enemy of character.

Our project was initially conceived back in 2014, it would take a further decade of tireless effort by the Founders, but eventually Kythe Distillery was born in 2022. Procurement of the plant has commenced and construction is due to begin shortly. We expect to finally begin distilling in 2024.

Kythe Distillery is located at Perthshire Scotland

“Efficiency is the enemy of character.”

— Angus MacRaild

Kythe will be a distillery founded entirely on principles of old-style brewing and distilling – an approach not widely practiced in Scotland for many decades. Locally grown, low-yielding yet flavoursome and protein-rich heritage barley varieties will be our main ingredients. Their wort will undergo a fermentation of up to two weeks in wooden washbacks by the microbial shuffle of traditional spent brewer’s yeast, so as to produce a luscious exotic fruit flavour. This high acidity wash will then be carefully distilled by a directly wood-fired wash still, return to true direct firing in Scotland. Our focus will be to create and refine a single 'house style' distillate, one with natural variances imbued by season, ingredient and the personal techniques of our workforce. This carefully sculpted distillate will be filled into a variety of casks, but the chief focus will be on gentle refill wood that preserves and foregrounds the inherent beauty and personality of the spirit. Ours will be a distillate that has no need to hide behind the weight of overly active oak.

Kythe Distillery is also unique in that it is entirely funded by a group of whisky enthusiasts across the globe. The foundational motivation that has made this distillery a reality is the shared desire of likeminded lovers of old style Scotch whisky to see these flavours created anew.

OLD STYLE YET FORWARD FACING

Although our reason for distilling is to create the greatest single malt we are capable of producing, it is important to us that this is done in an ethical and social responsible way. Interestingly, by using a direct wood fire to create the bulk of our distillery’s heat load, we can power the rest of the process with electrity, including the spirit still which will be direct electric heated. Our process engineers calculate the CO2 emission from Kythe to be 94% less than a standard kerosene distillery when run from a renewable energy source.

This is not cost effective to install, nor financially savvy to run, there is no off-the-peg designs for wood fire stills nor electric stills of our scale. Everything is designed bespoke for Kythe with environmental ethics at the core of each energy decision.

While the distillery will initially have a small workforce, we are dedicated to being an equal opportunities employer and committed to the practices of Fair Work First. The jobs we create will be meaningful, rewarding and lasting.

Kythe will be situated in pre-existing agricultural buildings on a working farm, hence there will be no visitor facilities, gift shop, tearoom or Instagrammable area.