From farm steading to distillery
In 2021 Dariusz Plazewski and Ewelina Chruszczyk sought planning permission to turn Wester Green Steading into a distillery, and on 26 July 2021 they announced Moray Council's approval.1,2
Peated
Dunphail is a distillery in converted farm buildings south of Forres, set up by the founders of London's Bimber.1,2,3 It made its first spirit on 6 October 2023 and is owned by Dunphail Distillery Ltd.1,4,5 It malts its own barley on a malting floor, the first newly built at a Speyside distillery since 1898.1,6,7
In February 2024, Plazewski gave up all his roles at Bimber and Dunphail.4,9 Ewelina Chruszczyk and Matt McKay took over leading both distilleries.4,9 McKay left in December 2024.1,9
The sprouting grain is turned by hand twice a day.1,6,7 It makes both peated and unpeated spirit.1,5 Fermentation lasts 144 hours in 12 Douglas fir washbacks, the vessels where sugary water from the mash becomes a beer called wash.1,5,6 It has two wash stills for the first distillation and one spirit still for the second, all copper pot stills heated by direct fire, using gas.1,5,6 All three hold 2250 litres, and the distillery says their design gives a high volume of copper contact and a crisp, clean and refined spirit.1,6 The water comes from an on-site borehole.1,6 The distillery describes its spirit as fruit-forward.6,7 It can make 200,000 litres of alcohol a year.7,10 In 2025 it made 100,000 litres of spirit, half its stated capacity.1
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