Permission granted for distillery and visitor centre development
THE firm behind single malt whisky The Macallan has been granted planning permission for a new £100 million distillery and visitor centre.
Moray Council approved Edrington Group’s plans for the Speyside site earlier this month, allowing work to get underway on the new facility which is scheduled to open to the public in spring 2017.
Once completed, it is expected the new site will increase production capacity, which Edrington said will ensure the brand can meet what it described as the “growing demand from existing and new international markets” for the whisky.
Graham Hutcheon, group operations director at Edrington, said the new distillery will not affect the quality of the liquid and that The Macallan will continue to be produced using distillation equipment from Forsyths of Rothes.
“Only the external appearance of the distillery will change; the exceptional quality of The Macallan, which has been produced for many years using copper stills from Forsyths, will not be compromised,” said Hutcheon.
“This permission enables us to forge ahead with our work on site.”
The new development will be designed by architecture firm Rogers Stirk Harbour & Partners and built by construction company Robertson, which was appointed to the project after a competitive tendering process.
Robertson chief executive Bill Robertson said the distillery will “become the benchmark for others to aspire to”.
