This experimental micro distillery is not open for the public. It is situated within the Leven bottling plant of Diageo in Fife.

There are two different types of mills: four steel roller mill and and hammer mill for both malted barley and grain. At present there is no column still in operation. The semi lauter mash tun may also be operated as a mash cooking vessel. The two pot stills are largely smaller copies of the Royal Lochnagar pot stills in the Highlands.

Leven experimental distillery is also the only licensed pot still distillery in Scotland without a spirit safe as it is used only for experimental distillation processes.

Experimenting with different sorts of malted barley - peated, non-peated, short and long roasted - various yeast strains and produce, changing cutpoints, temperature curves the distillery is test trying various approaches of making new spirit styles for Diageo before they are tested at a larger scale in the 28 other Diageo distilleries in Scotland.

„The Leven Pilot Plant is modelled on Royal Lochnagar, at around 25% of the size,“ Nicholas Morgan of Diageo explains.

Photos courtesy of Nicholas Morgan, Head Whisky Outreach at Diageo.

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