Traditional Highland smokehouse in Ullapool producing artisan Scottish smoked salmon and trout using local fish, whisky-barrel oak and time-honoured methods.
Location: Ullapool, Highland
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Our Story
On Scotland's rugged north-west coast, Ullapool Smokehouse is keeping alive a craft that has been part of coastal life for generations: preserving and flavouring fish slowly with salt, time and wood smoke.
The story begins with Highland fisherman Ian Boyd. Long before starting the smokehouse, Ian's working life revolved around the sea, from lobster fishing and scallop diving to mussel farming. Smoking fish began as an interest pursued alongside that career, with years spent experimenting and refining the process before he finally decided it was good enough to become a business.
Ian established Ullapool Smokehouse at around the age of 65, initially as something of a retirement sideline. Instead, the business grew. From its base in the fishing village of Ullapool it developed a loyal following for traditionally smoked Scottish salmon, supplying customers directly as well as selected hotels, restaurants and local food businesses.
Older accounts of the smokehouse also identify Andy Reeve working alongside Ian, with the pair bringing more than 60 years of combined experience in salmon, herring and traditional smoking. Their philosophy was simple: smoked fish should taste like an artisan food rather than a mass-produced commodity.
That principle remains at the heart of Ullapool Smokehouse today. Scottish Highland fish, traditional curing, a brick smoking kiln, oak from whisky barrels and plenty of time combine to create smoked salmon and trout with a genuine sense of place.
Meet The Team
Ullapool Smokehouse was founded by Ian Boyd, a Highland fisherman whose knowledge of fish was earned over a lifetime working in and around the waters of north-west Scotland.
Before becoming a professional smoker, Ian had worked as a lobster fisherman, scallop diver and mussel farmer. He began experimenting with smoking fish in his spare time, gradually developing and refining his methods before establishing Ullapool Smokehouse when he was around 65 years old.
For many years Ian worked alongside Andy Reeve. Contemporary accounts describe the pair as having more than 60 years of combined experience with salmon, herring and smoking, while doing much of the work themselves, from smoking and slicing through to packing, selling and dispatching.
It's this hands-on knowledge that gives Ullapool Smokehouse its character. The business wasn't created around a marketing concept; it grew from a fisherman's understanding of seafood, traditional preservation and the flavours that can be created when good fish is treated with care.
How It's Made
At Ullapool Smokehouse, making smoked salmon is deliberately a slow process. The techniques draw on traditional methods once used to preserve fish long before refrigeration, although today the purpose is to develop flavour and texture.
The salmon is first dry-cured using coarse sea salt and brown sugar. The cure draws moisture from the fish while beginning to develop its flavour and texture. After curing, the salmon is left overnight in chilled conditions, allowing a slightly tacky surface known as the pellicle to develop. This helps the smoke adhere evenly to the fish.
The salmon then goes into a traditional brick kiln, where it is exposed to smoke from smouldering oak shavings taken from used whisky-barrel staves. Rather than relying on artificially warmed air or forced ventilation, the traditional kiln allows the smoke and time to do the work.
For its signature cold-smoked salmon, Ullapool Smokehouse adds another distinctly Scottish element with its malt whisky cure. Other recipes include hot-smoked salmon and trout cured with flavours such as Scottish heather honey.
The result is deliberately different from industrial smoked salmon: carefully cured Scottish fish, traditionally smoked over whisky-barrel oak to create depth of flavour without overwhelming the character of the salmon itself.
Sustainability
For Ullapool Smokehouse, provenance starts close to home. The fish used by the smokehouse is Scottish and sourced from Highland producers, with current suppliers including Wester Ross Salmon and Loch Duart.
Both producers have built their reputations around lower-impact approaches to salmon farming, giving Ullapool Smokehouse a supply chain closely connected to the waters and communities of the Scottish Highlands.
Historically, the smokehouse sourced salmon from nearby Wester Ross Fisheries, where fish were reared in the sea lochs of the north-west Highlands. Older accounts specifically highlight the proximity of this supply and the welfare standards under which the salmon was raised.
The smoking method itself remains deliberately traditional. Fish is cured and smoked slowly in a brick kiln using oak shavings from used whisky barrels, maintaining a craft process that relies on time, experience and simple ingredients rather than trying to reproduce traditional smoked flavour industrially.
Awards
For Ullapool Smokehouse, reputation has been built less around collecting awards and more around decades of practical experience, traditional craftsmanship and a loyal following for its Scottish smoked fish.
The smokehouse has attracted attention well beyond the Highlands. By 2019, founder Ian Boyd reported that the small team was processing around half a tonne of salmon each week, and the reputation of his traditional smoking methods had even resulted in an approach to help establish a smokehouse in Hong Kong.
Closer to home, Ullapool Smokehouse has become part of the food culture of the north-west Highlands, supplying smoked fish directly to customers as well as selected restaurants, hotels and local food businesses.
Where You'll Find Us
Ullapool Smokehouse is based in Ullapool, a fishing village on the shores of Loch Broom on Scotland's spectacular north-west coast.
It's difficult to imagine a more appropriate home for a traditional smokehouse. Fishing and seafood have long been part of life in Ullapool, while the surrounding sea lochs of the Highlands provide the provenance behind much of the Scottish fish used by the business.
Visitors can find Ullapool Smokehouse at its premises on Morefield Industrial Estate, where its range of traditionally smoked Scottish salmon, trout and other produce is available from the shop.
Ullapool Smokehouse
Unit 6A Morefield Industrial Estate
Ullapool
Ross-shire
IV26 2SR
Scotland
What customers think
Why Good Food Scout likes Ullapool Smokehouse
There aren't many producers where the connection between person, product and place is quite as clear as it is at Ullapool Smokehouse.
This is a smokehouse founded by a Highland fisherman, in a Highland fishing village, using Scottish fish and a process rooted in the traditional craft of preserving seafood with salt and wood smoke. Even the oak used for smoking comes from whisky barrels, adding another distinctly Scottish element to the story.
What particularly appeals to us is the refusal to turn smoked salmon into just another commodity. The fish is dry-cured, rested and slowly smoked in a traditional brick kiln, allowing time and smoke to develop the flavour rather than rushing the process.
Then there is Ian Boyd's story. Starting a smokehouse at around 65 after a lifetime working with seafood isn't the conventional route to building a food business, but perhaps that's precisely why Ullapool Smokehouse feels so authentic.
For Good Food Scout, this is Scottish artisan food with genuine provenance: knowledge accumulated over decades, quality Highland fish and traditional smoking carried out in one of Britain's great fishing communities.
FAQs
Where is Ullapool Smokehouse?
Ullapool Smokehouse is based in the fishing village of Ullapool on the north-west coast of the Scottish Highlands.
Who founded Ullapool Smokehouse?
Ullapool Smokehouse was founded by Highland fisherman Ian Boyd after a working life that included lobster fishing, scallop diving and mussel farming.
Where does Ullapool Smokehouse salmon come from?
The smokehouse uses Scottish fish sourced from the Highlands, with current suppliers including Wester Ross Salmon and Loch Duart.
How is Ullapool Smokehouse salmon smoked?
The salmon is traditionally cured before being smoked in a brick kiln over oak shavings from used whisky barrels. The slow process develops the distinctive smoky flavour while allowing the character of the salmon to remain at the centre of the finished product.
What is malt whisky cured smoked salmon?
Ullapool Smokehouse combines traditional smoked Scottish salmon with a malt whisky cure, bringing together two characteristically Scottish flavours without overpowering the fish.
What is the difference between hot-smoked and cold-smoked salmon?
Cold-smoked salmon is smoked at a low temperature and retains a silky, delicate texture, while hot-smoked salmon cooks during smoking, producing a firmer, flaky texture.
Does Ullapool Smokehouse make everything by hand?
Ullapool Smokehouse is a small traditional producer where the process has historically been extremely hands-on, including smoking, slicing, packing, selling and dispatching its products.
What else does Ullapool Smokehouse produce?
Alongside its traditional smoked Scottish salmon, the range includes hot-smoked salmon and trout, smoked cheeses and a selection of Scottish food and gift products.
