How to Start a Distillery in the UK

Gin is the faster product to bring to market: you can buy in neutral spirit and redistil it with botanicals, and gin has no minimum maturation period. Whisky cannot be sold as whisky until it has matured for at least three years in wooden casks, so a whisky distillery has to fund years of stock before that income arrives. Many sell gin or other spirits in the meantime.

The legal definitions decide what you can call the product. Gin must taste predominantly of juniper and be bottled at 37.5% ABV or more. “London gin” is a production method (botanicals redistilled together, no added colour, almost no sweetening), not a place. Whisky must be at least 40% ABV, and Scotch must be made and matured in Scotland in oak casks.

Decide early whether you will own your brand, distil under contract for others, or lead with visitors and a tasting room; many small distilleries combine them. If you only want a brand, a contract distiller can make the spirit for you under its own HMRC approval.

Since 1 February 2025 the old distiller's licence (form DLA1) is withdrawn. New producers now apply for the Alcoholic Products Producer Approval (APPA) before they start producing, and register for the Alcohol Wholesaler Registration Scheme (AWRS) if they sell to other businesses for resale. Spirit duty is £33.99 per litre of pure alcohol (from 1 February 2026), and the old duty stamps ended in May 2025.

Read the detail in our distiller's licence (APPA) guide, including timelines and spirit duty.

You need premises with the right planning use, and you must assess and control the fire and explosion risk of flammable vapour under DSEAR, as well as carry out a normal fire risk assessment. HMRC wants a plan of the premises with the duty-suspended areas and fire exits marked. Register with the local authority as a food business at least 28 days before you start trading, and plan ventilation and drainage with the building.

Your still decides what you can make and how much. Most small UK distilleries buy from specialist makers in Germany (Arnold Holstein, CARL, Kothe), the Netherlands (iStill, which builds in stainless steel), Spain (Hoga) or from UK fabricators. As a rough budget, a micro gin still can cost around £20k and a larger production pot still £50k–£250k, before installation and the rest of the kit. Get quotes for your capacity.

Our estimate for a micro gin distillery is roughly £70k–£255k to open; a whisky-capable build needs £500k+ before the cost of holding maturing stock. See the full breakdown — equipment, premises, licensing, stock, branding and working capital — in our startup costs guide.

Spirits sold in the UK must come in one of the prescribed bottle sizes between 100ml and 2 litres (700ml is the standard; a US 750ml bottle is not allowed). The label needs the legal product name, strength (% vol) and net quantity in the same field of vision, plus the name and address of the business responsible and any allergens.

Once your group turnover passes £1m and you handle more than 25 tonnes of packaging a year, you also have Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) packaging duties. Most new distilleries start below that line.

Employers' liability insurance is a legal requirement once you employ staff (with narrow exceptions). Beyond that, check that any policy names distilling and covers the still, duty-suspended stock, flammable vapour and visitors on site; general business policies may not. Line up specialist distillery insurance before you fill the still, then plan your route to market: direct-to- consumer, wholesale, on-trade, and a tasting room or gin school.