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Plans for a
£30million expansion of its Clynelish
Distillery in Sutherland announced
today.
Diageo announced today plans
for a £30million expansion of its Clynelish Distillery in Sutherland, in
the North-East of Scotland.
In the latest major milestone in
Diageo’s £1billion programme to increase
Scotch whisky production, plans have
been submitted to Highland Council for
the major expansion of Diageo’s most
northerly Scotch whisky distillery.
The Clynelish expansion will take the
on-going capital investment by Diageo in
the Highland Council region alone to
almost £150million, including major
expansions at Glen Ord and Teaninich
Distilleries and plans to build a new
distillery at Alness.
Keith Miller, Diageo Director of
Distillation and Maturation, said:
“The plan to expand Clynelish Distillery
is another major milestone in Diageo’s
£1billion investment to increase Scotch
whisky production capacity to help meet
the future growth in global demand for
our brands.
“Clynelish is a very special distillery,
producing spirit which is highly prized
for its quality and character and is an
important part of our Scotch whisky
blending inventory, so this is an
important part of our investment
programme.”
Clynelish Distillery produces single
malt whisky unique in both taste and
texture which is highly prized by
Diageo’s master blenders for use in
world-leading Scotch whisky brands such
as Johnnie Walker. Clynelish is also a
highly regarded as a single malt whisky
in its own right. The distillery is also
home to one of Diageo’s 12 distillery
visitor centres, welcoming more than
5,000 visitors each year. Clynelish is
near the Sutherland town of Brora.
Doubling production capacity
Under the plans submitted, Clynelish
Distillery will see the installation of
an additional mashtun, 10 new washbacks
and six new copper stills. This adds to
the 10 washbacks and six stills which
the distillery currently has, and will
effectively double the production
capacity to nine million litres of
alcohol per annum, whilst retaining the
unique character and quality of the
spirit. A bio-energy plant is also
planned for the site to provide
non-fossil fuel energy to power the
distillery.
As part of the planning process Diageo
will hold a community engagement session
in February to share further details of
the Clynelish proposals with the local
community.
Diageo announced its £1billion Scotch
whisky investment programme in June
2012. As well as the distillery
expansions the company is also investing
in new warehousing to store the
additional spirit, with a major new
bonded warehouse site being developed at
Cluny in Fife.
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