Chivas Brothers, the Scotch whisky arm of Pernod Ricard, recently announced an £88-million investment into its Aberlour and Miltonduff single malt distilleries.
A statement from the company explains that the investment is intended to upgrade sustainable distillation technologies at the Speyside distilleries, along with production capacity expansions to meet the growing global demand for Scotch.
The upgrades will boost Chivas Brothers’ total production by 14 million liters of alcohol a year. The investment comes at a time when global demand for whisky has seen exports increase across all regions, including market gains in Latin America, Middle East, Africa and Asia.
The distillery expansions are also part of Chivas Brothers’ goal of reaching net zero distillation by 2026, this with the installation of new bio plants and high-efficiency Mechanical Vapor Recompression fan technology for pot still distillation across both sites.
The new tech will enable greater energy recovery by compressing the vapor which in turn increases the temperature and is then sent back to heat the wines during the distillation process.
The pilot study of this technology at Chivas’ Glentauchers Distillery resulted in energy reductions of 90 percent on a single pot still there.
Jean-Etienne Gourgues, chairman and CEO of Chivas Brothers said, “Scotch has demonstrated its resilience as a category over the past few challenging years and in the process has opened new avenues for growth. This expansion will allow us to increase our volume to capitalize on the increased demand and interest in Scotch, but also supports our drive to reduce emissions in line with our sustainability ambitions. We’re once again betting big on the future of Scotch so we can bring in new consumers to the category and continue to shape a sustainable future of whisky.”
The Aberlour Distillery, which dates back to 1879, will see its production capacity double to 7.8 million liters of alcohol a year. The distillery will also get an upgraded visitor center and a new still house equipped with large windows providing visitors with views into the nearby woods and the River Spey, the water source for the spirit.
Trending Stories
Miltonduff’s expansion will see a new, sustainable distillery built next to the existing facility. It will include a bio plant and evaporator and add 10 million liters of alcohol a year to the total production capacity.
Miltonduff single malt is one of the foundations of Ballantine’s blends and is a key component of other blended whiskies in the Chivas Brothers portfolio.
Both sites are expected to be operating at full capacity by mid-2025.
For more information, check out www.chivasbrothers.com.
Latest News