New distillery in Speyside heads up £40m spend by Chivas

By PERRY GOURLEY
Published on 19/10/2012 00:00

Chivas Brothers, the Scotch whisky and gin arm of Pernod Ricard, has announced plans to build a further distillery in Speyside as part of its £40 million investment programme in Scotland to meet demand from emerging markets.

The new facility will occupy the site of the former Imperial Distillery which has been inactive since 1998 and was acquired by Chivas in 2005.

The company is already in the process of expanding production at four other Scottish sites to cope with increased demand.

Chivas chairman and chief executive Christian Porta said the latest distillery would supply “high quality Speyside malt whisky” for many of the company’s blends in the years to come.

“Our success in growing our brands across the world, in existing and new markets, to many historical highs means that creating new distillation capacity is a key next step for our business,” he added.

Chivas’ brands include Ballantine’s, the Glenlivet and 100 Pipers which are proving especially popular in emerging markets such as China, where drinking whisky has become a status symbol for the growing middle classes.

Earlier this year, Chivas Brothers said it would expand its Glenallachie, Glentauchers, Longmorn and Tormore distilleries on Speyside, as well as reopening its Glen Keith site, mothballed in 2000.

Those investments alone will grow its malt whisky distillation capacity by some 25 per cent in the coming months.