‘This is an exciting time!’ How Scotland’s whisky industry went from bust to boom

‘You can’t replace single malt scotch; it’s the gold standard.’ Photograph: Irina Naoumova/Alamy

On the eighth floor of the Port of Leith distillery, the latest chapter of the boom-and-bust story of Scottish whisky is under construction. This week, lifts are being installed in what will soon be the UK’s only vertical whisky distillery. The copper stills were supposed to have arrived from Elgin but this is a team as accustomed to delays as whisky distillers are to waiting for their spirit to mature. “No one has built a building like this before,” says Port of Leith co-owner Ian Stirling.

Port of Leith distillery under construction. Photograph: PR