Breaking the sounds of silence – Glen Keith distillery re-opening

Breaking the sounds of silence

THE boom in Scotch whisky manufacturing is continuing, One of the latest signs came last month when Scottish Government cabinet secretary for rural affairs and environment Richard Lochhead re-opened the Chivas Brothers-owned Glen Keith distillery.

The distillery has been silent since 1999, but has re-opened to help the company meet increasing demand for its whiskies, which include Chivas Regal and Ballantine’s.
The Glen Keith re-opening is one phase in a programme that Chivas promises will see £40m of annual capital expenditure on its operations.
Other recent investments included the £10 million expansion of The Glenlivet Distillery in 2010, which increased its distillation capacity by 75%. In 2012 it carried out expansion work at Glenallachie, Longmorn, Glentauchers and Tormore distilleries, as well as the Glen Keith project, which increased the company’s malt distillation capacity by 25%. And in Paisley it opened a new bottling hall, for hand-packaging of its most expensive whiskies.