Suntory Global Spirits has abandoned its controversial £150 million plan to build a massive whisky maturation facility at South Drumboy farm in Kilmarnock, East Ayrshire. The drinks giant, which holds a portfolio of iconic Scotch whisky brands including Laphroaig, Bowmore, Auchentoshan, Teacher’s, Glen Garioch, Ardmore, and Ardray, said it will redirect investment toward a different local maturation site.
The proposed Kingswell facility would have stored 500,000 barrels of spirits and was expected to inject roughly £150 million into Ayrshire’s economy while creating approximately 45 jobs.
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Scottish government ministers granted planning permission last year, overruling both environmental objections and the recommendation of government planning reporter David Buylla.
Buylla had criticized the scale and design of the facility and said he was not satisfied that more suitable alternative sites could not be found.
Ministers disagreed, stating that Suntory had provided sufficient reasons why no proposed alternatives would work and that the design went “beyond a utilitarian warehousing development.”
Despite that approval, the company has now walked away from the project.
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Suntory said in a statement: “While we are no longer progressing with the Kingswell project, we are redirecting investment to a local maturation facility. Our investment in Scotland will continue as we remain focused on the long-term sustainability of our operations, brands and contribution to the economy.”
The firm has not yet provided details on where or how the redirected investment will be deployed.
Local residents had raised significant concerns about the original proposal, including potential noise levels, the impact on private water supplies, and the risk of black mold caused by ethanol evaporation from aging whisky barrels.
Baudoinia compniacensis, also known as ‘whisky fungus’, uses ethanol vapors as a nutrient source, allowing the fungus to grow up to hundreds of yards away from warehouses.
As reported by BBC News, one resident, who declined to be named, said: “There was a lot of concerns here about the potential effects on water supply and the way planning and approval was handled.”
Suntory Global Spirits, which also owns American bourbon brand Jim Beam, remains one of the largest investors in Scotland’s whisky industry. The company operates multiple distilleries across the country, and its continued commitment to Scottish maturation capacity signals confidence in long-term Scotch whisky demand despite the shelving of this particular project.
