21/06/2025

Chapter 33

My first peek at...Ben Cumhaill Distillery - #4

Tucked away in the rolling landscapes of Dumfries and Galloway, Ben Cumhaill Distillery isn’t just another new name on the Scotch whisky map—it’s a fiery, heartfelt blend of Celtic legend, personal grit, and spirited ambition.

 

Born from a late-night whisky-fueled dream and built quite literally by hand, Jeff and Jessica’s story is one of passion over pedigree, where a love of whisky, a shared Scottish-Irish heritage, and a healthy dose of madness came together to create something truly unique.

 

These are exactly the kind of projects we love to celebrate—authentic, driven, and full of soul—and we can’t wait to sample the drams that will one day emerge from their stills.

Jeff and Jess

Hi Jeff & Jess, and thanks for spending some time again with us to talk about Ben Cumhaill. Let's start from the name. What’s the meaning of the name ‘Ben Cumhaill’?

Ben Cumhaill come from a combination of the names from the Giants causeway legend Benandonner (Scottish giant) and Fionn Mac Cumhaill (Irish giant pronounced Finn McCool).

 

We chose the name because it was so apt to our venture. Not only does the Lowlands region (especially Dumfries area) have strong historical and characteristic ties to Irish whiskey but I (Jeff) am Scottish and my wife (Jessica) is Irish and we fight a lot…[laughs]… The Giants legend was just a perfect fit or our joint Celtic roots.

Ben Cumhaill Distillery

When it comes to distilling, location is key and has several implications: water source, ingredients' supply chain and the regional imprinting. Ben Cumhaill will be a Lowlands distillery, how did you choose the site?

To be honest the site was chosen half because we like the character of Lowlands whisky and half due to necessity. We found our present site and it was perfect. Being self funded budget was a driving factor but the stars seemed to align when we found our location and everything just fitted (taste/story/ethos/price).
 
We absolutely love Dumfries and Galloway however and we cannot imagine being anywhere else. We drilled for our own spring water here (99m deep borehole) and being on a main route (the A76) means we have no issues with access or supply chain. 
Ben Cumhaill Distillery

Can you tell us anything about the distillery design? What are the choices in terms of washbacks, malting floors (if any), stills' shape and firing, cooling... What drove these decisions?

Well we have an LPG fired steam generator (Certuss) which heats both of our stills and our lauter tun. We have a JB Vats traditional wooden washback (2000litre), a 1000litre later tun, a 1000litre Hoga mash still and our crowing glory is a 1000litre spirit still from McMillan/Briggs in Preston pans which the entire of our equipment is designed around. The hope will be to upgrade the Hoga mash still to a 2500litre McMillan still in the future. But budgets didn’t allow at this stage.

 

Our spirit still (McMillan) was built with experimentation and smoothness in mind. It has a long Lyme arm (for a 1000litre) with a 5 degree upward incline. This should make for a smooth distillate. We also have added a cooling jacket to the neck of the still in case we want to get even more reflux within the still. Cooling will be supplied by small heat exchangers which will be used to either heat water going back into the lauter tun or, in cooler months, heat radiators within the distillery as the building has no fueled heating system.
 
As with any project being completed on a small budget costs are the main driving factor. However there were two things we were not prepared to compromise on and this as the washback and spirit still as these affect the flavour more than anything else.
Ben Cumhaill Distillery

What will be the distillery’s orientation in terms of product offer? Will it be limited to a specific range of products (e.g., single malt only, grain, peated/unpeated, ex-bourbon/sherry ageing, etc.)?

In the true traditions of scotch whisky our profile will be partially controlled by the barrels we can get.
 
As a small producer we will take whatever Quality barrels we can get. Quality of barrels rather than the type (bourbon, sherry etc) will be the driving factor. However we do have a leaning towards European oak if this can be sourced.
 
We plan only to produce single cask whisky. Some will be triple distilled, some will be grain and Irish whiskey influenced, but our main focus will be double distilled single cask, single malt bottlings supplied cask strength.
Ben Cumhaill Distillery

What’s the forecast for litres of alcohol annually produced?

Our initial forecast is for only around 6000litres a year (25 casks). With a ramping up to 12000litres (50 casks) over the next 2 or 3 years.
 
We aim to price relatively small amounts of very high quality whisky. We presently do not intend to release any under 8 years old.

How did you get into the Whisky industry? Tell us about the story behind your passion for this spirit.

How did we get into the whisky industry? That’s a funny question as I am not all that sure.

 

Not long after my 50 birthday (Jeff) we were both sitting drinking whisky in our lovely Cairngorms smallholding during the whole COVID debacle. We decided we needed a change from our day to day grind and needed to put something in action for the future.

 

Being Scots and Irish we both lived our whisky and one drunken evening just decided…why not? Let’s go start our own distillery. 6 weeks later the small holding was on the market and 5 months later we were in our new place and making a start on the building works.

Ben Cumhaill Distillery

What is your dram of choice on a Friday night?

Now that is a question. I don’t have a style but generally it is not peated. Apart from that our tastes are wide and varied.

 

My two present favourites are an Edradour Oloroso cask 21 yr old (cask strength), and a single cask cask strength 24yr old Mortlach (bottled by Gordon and Mcphail). Jessica favours a single pot still Powers (Irish) as a Friday night tipple but would lean towards a single cask cask strength scotch around the 18yr old mark if pushed (bourbon casked).

Finally, we know it might be hard to predict precisely at this stage, but when can we expect the start of production?

Production will start in Late August or early September. We have now completed the production side of the distillery and are awaiting final commissioning of our equipment by the manufacturers.
 
After this we will start production and also the building of the visitor side of the distillery.
 
A last remark would be to say we have loved our journey so far and everyone we have met in the industry. We did not start out with a huge budget, or lots of money in the bank. We have no investors and plan never to have any.
 
We have put everything we have into our whisky dream (savings, house, pension) and do not regret a single thing. There are lots and lots of pitfalls and mistakes been both encountered, and made, but we are still here and loving it all.
 
You don’t need millions to start a whisky distillery. Just drive and a lot of crazy. However to do this we did most of the building works ourselves, all of the research, planning , equipment choices and layouts ourselves. No consultants, no experts just good planning and the right location.
Ben Cumhaill Distillery
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