Dunphail Distillery
A Strange Story from Speyside
Dunphail is a brand new distillery in Speyside. It is the brainchild of Dariusz Plazewski, who founded Bimber Distillery in England in 2015. Bimber whisky – branded as a London Whisky (I guess trying to follow the line of London Gins) – has been getting some great reviews. They have had a lot of releases with some cask wood experiments that seem to work. Plazewski is also Bimber’s master distiller, and filled the distillery’s first casks on 26 May 2015. Three years later, in September 2019, the producer released its first single malt whisky, aptly called The First. Comprising just 1,000 bottles, every one was snapped up within three hours. By the way, Plazewski is Polish. And Bimber in Polish translates to Moonshine in English.
And now we have Dunphail. A stunningly beautiful building on the site of an old farm. And a full process distillery to boot, malting their barley on site. Let’s take a deeper look.
The Dunphail Story
Dunphail is a resolutely traditional distillery, dedicated to crafting the finest whisky. Their mission is to “produce world-class full-bodied, fruit-forward single malt whisky using the full range of processes, each one shaped by generations of rich distilling heritage”. Well, they have managed that at Bimber so we can hope for the same at Dunphail.
All of the barley is prepared inside their own traditional malthouse, with working kiln and iconic pagoda roof. They are using long fermentations, applying direct fire to the pot stills, and paying attention to cask quality.
This all builds excitement for the first whisky which should be out late next year.
Dunphail Distillery has been constructed from a one-time farm steading, and sits in the beautiful countryside of the Speyside region. The refurbishment and expansion of the site have been conducted using local, heritage materials such as Scottish Douglas Fir and original stonework. Throughout development, they have incorporated technologies that respect the natural environment, including the generation of all electricity needs through solar power as well as significantly reducing the need for water.
The buildings comprise the iconic malthouse, a building for whisky production, and a visitor centre. Construction started in 2021 and the first spirit was produced on October 6th 2023.
The People Behind Dunphail
Distilling is in Dariusz Plazewski’s blood; his family has been making moonshine for generations in his native Poland. Watching his father and grandfather in action sparked curiosity in Plazewski, who also dabbled in brewing and making wine. He moved to the UK 20 years ago looking for “something new; an adventure”.
Under the name Dariusz Plazewski (I will come back to that), he founded Bimber Distilleries in 2015 and began construction of Dunphail Distillery in late 2021.
Matt McKay is the distillery’s director of whisky creation and outreach. McKay had previously been closely involved with the development and promotion of London’s Bimber Distillery.
Matt has been a leading voice in whisky communication for a number of years, writing the popular website www.thedramble.com. He holds the IBD General Certificate in Distilling and is a Founding Chartered Practitioner and Chartered Assessor at the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR).
The third person leading the charge is Ewelina Chruszczyk. She has had extensive experience in interior design and I am sure that has had an influence over the design of Dunphail’s lovely buildings.
A Bump in the Road
In February 2024, it was reported that Dariusz Plazewski had been arrested. Giving his real name as Lucasz Ratajewski, the report claimed he had been arrested by police in London in January 2024 and was facing extradition by the Polish authorities. The charges were conspiracy to murder and supplying drugs, as well as to serve the three-year prison sentence handed down for an original firearms offence. It emerged this week that Dariusz Plazewski had been living under pseudonym for 20 years after fleeing his native Poland in 2004 following his conviction for a firearms offence.
More recently, a spokesperson for Bimber and Dunphail distilleries said that Ratajewski — who was referred to as Plazewski in their statement — had relinquished all his responsibilities for both distilleries and had handed over all decision making and operational matters to the existing "experienced" teams. Leading these teams will be Bimber co-founder Ewelina Chruszczyk and Dunphail's director of whisky creation Matt McKay.
Distillery staff have declared that that they remain committed to serving customers with "excellence and dedication" in spite of the incident and have thanked customers, suppliers, and the whisky community for their "continued support and understanding".
Wow! In all of my Blog entries talking about distilleries that are centuries old, I have not come across anything like this! !!!
The Whisky
We will have to wait a while to try Dunphail whisky, but if the write ups on Bimber whisky are anything to go by, we could be in for a pleasant surprise. No matter what transpires with the distillery founder, the distilleries he has created in England and now Scotland look set to make their mark. I will let you know as and when I hear more ....