Diageo are investing £35 million in reopening two mothballed distilleries – Port Ellen on Islay and Brora in Sutherland. The company announced its plans today (9th October) and a company’s statement said it was a “powerful statement of confidence in the future of Scotch whisky.”
It’s been 34 years since Brora and Port Ellen were closed, and since then the whiskies they produced have become some of the most highly prized and sought after liquids in Scotch whisky, renowned for exceptional quality and character; elevating the ghost distilleries to cult status amongst whisky enthusiasts and collectors.
For many years whisky fans around the world have called on Diageo to reopen these closed distilleries. The decision is partly a response to those demands from existing enthusiasts but it also reflects the strong growth in the single malt Scotch market and the opportunity to create new generations of whisky consumers.
Port Ellen Distillery on the famous whisky island of Islay, and Brora on the remote eastern coast of Sutherland, will both be reinstated to distil in carefully controlled quantities, with a meticulous attention to detail, replicating where possible the distillation regimes and spirit character of the original distilleries. Cask filling and traditional warehousing will also be included on the sites of both distilleries.
The distilleries will also have dedicated Brand Homes to welcome guests and they are expected to become iconic attractions in the Scottish tourism landscape, attracting whisky pilgrims from around the globe.
Dr Nick Morgan, Diageo’s Head of Whisky Outreach, announced the plans on behalf of the company, saying, “This is a truly exceptional moment in Scotch whisky. Port Ellen and Brora are names which have a uniquely powerful resonance with whisky-lovers around the world and the opportunity to bring these lost distilleries back to life is as rare and special as the spirit for which the distilleries are famous.
“Only a very few people will ever be able to try the original Port Ellen and Brora single malts as they become increasingly rare, so we are thrilled that we will now be able to produce new expressions of these whiskies for new generations of people to enjoy.
“Scotch whisky is Scotland’s gift to the world and the rebirth of these distilleries is a great gift to malt whisky lovers everywhere.”
David Cutter, Diageo President of Global Supply & Procurement, who is responsible for leading the capital investment programme to reinstate the distilleries, said, “This is no ordinary Scotch whisky distillery investment. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to bring these iconic distilleries back to life.
“We will take great care to be true to the spirit of the original distilleries in everything we do and to operate them with all the knowledge, skill, craft and love of Scotch that our people and our company has gathered through centuries of whisky-making.”
While Cristina Diezhandino, Diageo’s global Scotch Category Director, said, ““It is thrilling that, as the spirit from the original distilleries becomes vanishingly rare, our distillers at Brora and Port Ellen will be carefully crafting new whiskies to delight and inspire new generations of Scotch lovers around the world.”
The new Brora and Port Ellen distilleries will be among Diageo’s smallest distilleries, capable of producing 800,000 litres of alcohol per year. They will replicate as closely as possible the previous taste profiles of Port Ellen and Brora, with medium peated character at both sites.
Subject to planning permission and regulatory consents, detailed design, construction and commissioning work, it is expected the distilleries will be in production by 2020.
The value of rare Scotch whisky sold in the UK has topped £5 http://buylevitra24.com million for the first time, with iconic brands dominating sales.
In the first six months of 2016, collectable bottles sold on the open market rose to £5.771m, more than a 25% increase compared to last year – according to figures released by whisky analysts Rare Whisky 101.
The number of collectable and limited edition bottles saw an even bigger rise of 28.5 per cent http://buylevitra24.com to 26,527 bottles.
Whisky investment analyst and co-founder of Rare Whisky 101, Andy Simpson, said that rare http://buylevitra24.com whisky investment will peak in 2016.
Based on current trends, he predicts the UK rare Scotch auction market to exceed http://buylevitra24.com a total value of £12m, with sales reaching to 55,000 bottles for the full year, and ten times the http://buylevitra24.com volume sold in 2010.
Leading rare whisky brands, Brora and Dalmore, retain their positions http://buylevitra24.com as the top two ranked investor distilleries, while Macallan and Ardbeg occupy the same positions http://buylevitra24.com in the collectors’ rankings.
Simpson said, “For some in the broader Scotch category, export and sales figures still appear challenging. However, the secondary market for rarities shows little of this stress.
“The lack of truly collectable new product releases in recent years continues to fuel demand for older http://buylevitra24.com and discontinued releases where quality and rarity are powerful motivations for purchase.”
He added that the market continues to be heavily polarised, with collectables and limited editions from less sought-after brands declining in value as buyers stick to better-known brands.
Diageo has announced plans for a £30million expansion of its Clynelish Distillery in Sutherland, Diageo’s most northerly whisky distillery. It’s the latest major milestone in Diageo’s £1 billion programme to increase Scotch whisky production.
The Clynelish expansion will take the on-going capital investment by Diageo in the Highland Council region alone to almost £150 million, 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 £1 billion 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.
“I’m particularly pleased at the investment we are making in the Highland region. From Muir of Ord to Brora the investment in our distilleries is now almost £150 million, which we believe is bringing great benefit to the local economies and communities.”
The Clynelish announcement came as six new copper stills were delivered to the Glen Ord Distillery as part of the £25million expansion plan which is doubling the size of that distillery to over 10million litres per annum. Diageo is also doubling the capacity at the Teaninich Distillery in Alness and is progressing plans to build a new malt whisky distillery and renewable energy plant on land adjacent to Teaninich. In total these projects represent a capital investment of nearly £150million across the Highland Council area.
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.
Plans have been submitted to Highland Council and 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.
Under the plans submitted Clynelish Distillery will see the installation of an additional mashtun (the vessel for soaking the malted barley) 10 new washbacks (vessels for the fermentation process) and six new copper stills for distilling the spirit. 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.