Scotland’s first vertical distillery is a must-visit in Edinburgh

“We never set out to have a distillery like this,” says Ian Stirling, as we take the lift up to the new Port of Leith Distillery. “It was more a case of, the land we have isn’t really wide enough, so we’ll have to build upwards instead.”

The result is Scotland’s first vertical distillery, a 40-metre steel tower in Edinburgh’s revitalised port district of Leith, where cruise ships call in and a new tramline runs to the city centre. This waterfront distillery has a famous neighbour: the Royal Yacht Britannia, the late Queen’s former floating palace, now a tourist attraction permanently moored here.

“Leith has changed so much since I was a kid,” says Ian. “I remember it being very run down, although as a port it always had an international character. My mum is Italian and there was a deli in Leith that was about the only place she could find olive oil. Now it’s a real food and drink hub, with lots of exciting young businesses, microbreweries and Michelin stars.”

A wine merchant by trade, Ian returned to Edinburgh after a spell in London, where he and lifelong friend, business partner and finance director Paddy Fletcher developed a penchant for spirit making, experimenting with concoctions in their gardens. The pair opened their Lind & Lime Gin Distillery in Leith last year, while their new distillery will focus on whisky, reviving an old neighbourhood tradition. “For much of the 19th and 20th centuries, Leith was the unofficial capital of Scotch whisky,” says Ian. “Big brands would mature, blend and bottle their whisky in the area’s bonded warehouses.”

The Port of Leith Distillery’s tasting tours differ from the ones you’d do at the more established whisky producers in the Scottish Highlands. Roaming the building’s nine storeys, you’ll learn about its inception, unique design and whisky production, and you’ll get to fill your own miniature bottle of Ian and Paddy’s new-make spirit – the clear, colourless tipple that comes off the still after distillation.

“In Scotland, whisky must be matured for at least three years, so you won’t be tasting our finished product yet,” says Ian, guiding me past the shiny copper stills. “But you’ll get a sense of what we’re trying to do, the role of yeast and fermentation, how we’re looking to inject more flavour into our spirit even before it goes into the cask to mature. We’ll also be sharing guest whiskies from the more inventive distilleries in Scotland that have inspired us.”

Whether you do a tour or not, the distillery’s top floor bar is a must. Open daily, serving whiskies, cocktails, small plates and more, it looks out over Leith docks, the Firth of Forth (an inlet of the North Sea), and back towards central Edinburgh and the castle. Peeking down, you’ll glimpse the Royal Yacht Britannia, where visitors can board to see where the royals and their crew slept, ate, worked and socialised.

Bidding Ian farewell, I explore a Leith that’s a far cry from the neglected district I read about in Trainspotting, Irvine Welsh’s darkly humorous 1993 novel. Gentrification has swept in, with the edgy backstreets, housing blocks and no-nonsense pubs now joined by new-build apartments, warehouse conversions and contemporary murals.