Chivas Bros Plan New Speyside Distillery On Imperial Site

[William]

Chivas Brothers has announced its intention to build a new malt whisky distillery and has begun the planning process for a site in Speyside. The company is consulting the local community and planners regarding a location on the banks of the River Spey near Carron on the site of the silent Imperial distillery.



The new distillery would supply high quality Speyside malt whisky for the Chivas Brothers portfolio of blended whiskies to be sold around the world. It will benefit from the latest innovation and environmental expertise, such as heat recovery technology and provide a first class working environment.

Read more here:
www.scotchmaltwhisky.co.uk/chivascarronspeysidedistillery.htm
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There's no bad whisky. Just good whisky and better whisky.

[Samson]

If they get the go ahead i wonder will it then be called Imperial

[albo]

This could be interesting always nice to see new distilleries opening. Though this must be seen as a risk, at the moment the whisky industy is booming, given that I'd guess at a couple of years to open a new distillery and then at least a decade to start to produce and bottle anything that will actually sell in quantity, they are looking at probably 2025 before this turns anything out. Must be confident about what the whisky market place will look like going forwards.

[bifter]

[albo]

I hope it goes well too, the more options available out there the more choice for us consumers.

[Carson]

I think they wont see it as a risk as it will be a modern efficient distillery and if there was a downturn in the market in the future i guess they would simply mothball a less efficient distillery

[albo]

I can't see the mothballing an older distillery if it's a recognised brand then they need to keep it going, they could possibly mothball the newer distillery if needed, but it begs the question of it really being needed in the first place.

I'm sure those at the top understand better than you and I

[bodger]

Albo I agree when the recession in the whisky industry came late 70/80ts it was some of the small uneconomic units which shut for good .But also note it was also nearly all the concrete monsters they built from 1960 onwards. The Victorian distillerys were unique thats where your best drams come from .What they are building now is whisky factories. Imperial was never a sucess in the past ( it spent many years non productive) and they will be using the same water supply so will probably get the same results. Yours Bodger

( awa tae fill ma Dog)

[Archer]

The new distillery will be to mainly supply the demand for blended whisky i think, i wonder if they will use the Imperial name for the new distillery but i dont think it will be a major concern to Chivas as the new distillery is simply a feeder distillery for the blends and the single malt market will be a secondary consideration

[Genuine Risk]

[Islay Pete]

Even though they only mothballed the Imperial distillery in 1998 it is in a bit of a mess. the stills are unusable due to copper thieves.





There are some more images of the Imperial distillery here:
http://www.derelictplaces.co.uk/main/showthread.php?t=19401

[Quaich1]

[Blackadder]

I doubt they will be using those stills again

[bodger]

Onlyhalf mad ,Whisky is made out of water .If water was not important, production would be moved out of the Northern half of Scotland ,Now the big companies only produce spirit in the north and tanker it south. Once opon time whisky was produced ,bonded and matured on speyside creating local employment Every Malt Distillery on speyside that I know of use their own individual water source and pipe it quite a few miles to the distillery This is one of the resons ever whisky is differen.t Even if a distillery is using tap water in England it will never be known as Scotch whisky Yours Bodger

[Genuine Risk]