Edradour back in Scottish hands

Edradour Distillery, part of Pernod Ricard’s massive empire for more than 20 years, was taken over by the Edinburgh-based firm yesterday.

Signatory’s managing director, Andrew Symington, said: "It is great to be bringing Edradour back to Scottish ownership, as it is one of the few traditional farmhouse distilleries still around."

He added: "Being such a small part of a large multinational company, the brand has begun to disappear, but we plan to develop it and grow our whole business."

Edradour produces just eight casks of malt whisky each week, equivalent to 2,000 litres or 240,000 bottles per year. Many large distilleries produce similar amounts in one week.

It has the smallest whisky still endorsed by Customs and Excise.

Symington said Signatory plans to boost export sales of Edradour’s whiskies from their current figure of about 1,800 cases to 8,000 cases, using the firm’s existing distribution outlets in 27 countries across the world.

He also plans to launch new ranges of limited edition whiskies.

Symington said: "John Reid, the distillery manager here, has been wanting to experiment with new ideas for the past three or four years, but the previous management didn’t see the need to make any changes.

"At the moment we only produce one 10-year-old malt. We’ll definitely introduce a cask strength whisky and work on other new ideas."

He added: "Peaty Islay malts are doing well in the market at the moment, so we may produce our own peaty Highland malt."

More than 20,000 bottles of malt are sold through Edradour’s visitor centre each year. By arranging new contracts with coach tour operators, Symington plans to boost visitor numbers to the distillery by up to 20 per cent to 120,000.

Signatory claims to be the second largest independent whisky bottler behind Gordon & Macphail, producing a wide range of malts which it sells to specialist retailers across the world.

But Symington said that the 13-year-old company, which now has annual turnover of around 3.2 million, was set up with the intention to ultimately buy a distillery.

He added: "I have tried to buy several other distilleries over the years, but they tend to change hands from one multinational to another which makes it difficult for a smaller player to get involved.

"This is a dream come true for me really."

The deal, which will see Edradour’s bottling operations switch from Pernod Ricard’s plant in Kilwinning to Signatory’s base in Edinburgh, was backed by Bank of Scotland.