Distillery invests in washbacks
£500,000 (€800,000) in a move that will boost production capacity
in anticipation of an upturn in future sales.
Scottish whisky distiller Glenmorganie is set to invest nearly £500,000 (€800,000) in a move that will boost production capacity in anticipation of an upturn in future sales.
The West Lothian-based business will increase capacity at its Glenmorangie Distillery by one-third with the addition of two new washbacks, the huge vessels used to create the crude alcohol that is later distilled into whisky. This will take production at the Highlands facility from three million to four million litres per year.
The work will be completed by September, taking the number of washbacks to eight. That will match the number of stills at the site, following the last upgrading of the stillhouse in 1990.
Bill Lumsden, head of distilleries and maturation at Glenmorangie, said the investment was in response to rising demand for the Glenmorangie brand.
The largest market by far for Glenmorangie is the UK, accounting for about half of all the brand's sales. However, that percentage has fallen from nearly two-thirds of sales in recent years, following increasing exports of Glenmorangie into the US, France, Germany and Japan.
Lumsden said he could not identify particular markets that had prompted this latest investment, as the company was currently in its closed period.
"Obviously, we are looking to 10 years out with this," Lumsden said, referring to the popular Glenmorangie 10-year-old.
One of the major difficulties throughout the industry lies in predicting future trends and levels of demand, as whiskies must be laid aside to mature for many years before they are sold. Many distilleries operate well below their capacity, with utilisation estimates for the whole of the industry hovering around 60 per cent.
