Artisanal Spirits Company rolls out barrel for official launch of £2.5m bottling plant in Uddingston

The Artisanal Spirits Company (ASC), which owns the Scotch Malt Whisky Society, has toasted the formal launch of its major £2.5 million bottling plant in Lanarkshire – a move it describes as a “milestone”.

The London-listed firm says the hi-tech Masterton Bond production facility in Uddingston was completed on time and on budget, and has been fully operational since November, but has now been officially declared up and running by chief executive Andrew Dane and chairman Mark Hunter.

It added that production has already increased exponentially since the facility, which has 14 full-time employees on site and will also provide cask storage, fulfilment and distribution of the group’s whisky and other spirit products such as rum and gin, became operational. ASC signed a ten-year lease on the plant in October 2021.

Mr Dane, who took the CEO reins earlier this year, toasted the official opening, adding: “It seems poignant that, as we [this year] celebrate 40 years of The Scotch Malt Whisky Society, we look ahead to an exciting new era of providing more whisky than ever before to our membership worldwide.

From left: Gary McGrath, Masterton Bond operations manager and Artisanal Spirits Company boss Andrew Dane. Picture: Artisanal Spirits Company/Peter Sandground.

“Masterton Bond is in line with our long-term business plan, utilising funds raised from our [initial public offering] in 2021, to evolve our cask storage and bottling requirements. This improvement to our capacity for bottling marks a real milestone for our supply chain efficiency and performance.”

Gary McGrath, operations manager at Masterton Bond, said: “To date, we have already bottled over 70,000 bottles on the line and we will soon be making shipments to all our key markets internationally, including China, the United States, Australia, Germany, France and Japan, from here in Uddingston.”