Scotland's Smallest Distillery: Inside Stirling's Historic Revival

There is a small building in the heart of Stirling, tucked beneath the castle rock, that is quietly making whisky history.

Stirling Distillery opened in 2019 as a gin producer. The plan was always to move into whisky once the business had found its footing. On 3 October 2023, that plan became reality. The first brewing mash went in, the first gravity reading was taken that evening, and whisky production returned to Stirling for the first time since 1852.

That gap of 171 years is not a typo.

The City That Lost Its Whisky

Stirling was once a significant whisky town. The original Stirling Distillery operated in the city through the 18th and early 19th centuries before closing in 1852. What followed was more than a century and a half of silence. While Speyside boomed, while Islay built its reputation, while the Lowlands slowly revived, Stirling had nothing.

Cameron and June McCann changed that. The couple founded Stirling Distillery in the Old Smiddy building, a historic forge at the foot of Stirling Castle. They started with gin, won awards, built a visitor following, and then turned their attention to the harder, slower work of making whisky.

Scotland's Smallest Whisky Distillery

The numbers tell the story clearly. Stirling Distillery targets a production of around 10,000 litres of alcohol per year. For context, a mid-sized Speyside distillery might produce two million litres. Glenfiddich produces around 13 million.

That small scale is not a limitation. It is a deliberate choice. It means every cask gets personal attention. It means the distilling team knows each batch intimately. It means the whisky that eventually comes out of those casks will carry the character of a place and a process that cannot be replicated at volume.

The spirit has already been recognised. Stirling Distillery won Best Scottish New Make Whisky at the World Whiskies Awards 2025. That is the industry's most rigorous blind tasting competition, and winning it with a new make, before the whisky has even gone into cask, is a serious statement.

The VI Casks for King James

The first single malt release is planned for June 2027. Only 320 bottles will be produced. That is not a marketing strategy. That is simply all the whisky there is.

Members of the King James Cask Club get first refusal. The club is built around the VI Casks for King James collection, a six-bottle set drawn from six distinct cask finishes: Bourbon, Sherry, Port, Rum, Red Wine, and Madeira. Each set is released bi-annually from 2027, with just 300 memberships available. At the time of writing, fewer than ten remain.

The name is a nod to King James VI of Scotland, who was born in Edinburgh Castle and crowned at Stirling. The connection between the castle, the city, and the distillery is not incidental. It runs through everything they do.

Visiting Stirling Distillery

The Old Smiddy is open daily from 11am to 5pm. Tours run throughout the day, covering the full production process from grain to glass. The Gin School is one of the most hands-on distillery experiences in Scotland, where visitors blend their own gin using the distillery's botanical range.

Stirling itself is one of Scotland's most underrated cities for a whisky trip. The castle is one of the finest in Europe. The Old Town is compact and walkable. And now, for the first time in 171 years, you can walk out of the castle gates and into a working distillery.

The whisky is not ready yet. But the story already is.

Plan Your Visit

Stirling Distillery is located at the Old Smiddy, Stirling, FK8 1EJ. It is a 10-minute walk from Stirling train station, which has direct services from Edinburgh (45 minutes) and Glasgow (30 minutes). Booking tours in advance is recommended, particularly at weekends.

For the full listing, visitor information, and opening hours, see the Stirling Distillery listing on Cask-It.