Diageo opens first malt whisky distillery of scale in over 30 years – Roseisle

On 11 October, Diageo opened the doors of its new £40 million distillery in Speyside, Scotland for the first time.

The Roseisle distillery is the first malt distillery of scale to be opened in Scotland in over 30 years and has been built in response to the high demand for Scotch whisky brands such as Johnnie Walker and Buchanan’s around the world. The award-winning distillery will be formally opened by Diageo Chief Executive Paul Walsh on 11 October, but was opened yesterday to allow the world a glimpse of its stunning design, which combines centuries of accumulated distilling knowledge and expertise with cutting-edge design and technology, to produce quality spirit for Diageo’s brands. The £40 million investment in Roseisle is part of a capital investment programme in Scotland which has totalled £600 million over the past six fiscal years and has focused on building high quality capacity to meet growing international demand for Diageo’s iconic brands.

Paul Walsh emphasized that the distillery clearly demonstrates Diageo’s commitment to the future of Scotland and Scotch. He commented: “Economic growth and consumer demographics present a great opportunity for the Scotch whisky industry and for Diageo’s outstanding brands, especially in the developing markets. The construction of Roseisle will allow Diageo to supply the growth in demand of its premium international Scotch brands as well as spotlights our firm commitment to both the growth of the category and the Scottish economy.”

Bryan Donaghey, Managing Director of Diageo Scotland, added: “The Roseisle malt whisky distillery represents one of Diageo’s biggest investments into the Scotch whisky category and forms part of our £100 million three year investment programme in the development of Scotch. This official opening is a true celebration of the fantastic expertise and knowledge that we have in our business.”

Roseisle has been built at a time when the global Scotch whisky market remains buoyant with the Scotch Whisky Association (SWA) reporting exports to have risen by 3% in value to £3.13bn, contributing £99 every second to the UK trade balance in 2009. Over the same period, export volumes increased by 4% worldwide, with the equivalent of 1.1bn 70cl bottles of Scotch whisky shipped. The SWA reported that Scotch whisky enjoyed continuing success in Brazil (+44%), Mexico (+25%) and Taiwan (+14%), each a significant developing market in 2009.

Roseisle has been designed to build on best practice from Diageo’s other 27 malt distilleries and it’s grain distilleries to improve efficiency and performance, building on centuries of distilling experience and knowledge. The distillery has already won two awards in the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) Scotland 2010 Awards – Sustainability Project of the Year and the overall Project of the Year. It also features 14 copper stills crafted by Diageo’s coppermiths at Abercrombies, Alloa and has a production capacity of 10 million litres of spirit per annum. The liquid produced at Roseisle will be used in Diageo Scotch whisky blends from 2012. Roseisle has also been constructed using a combination of modern environmental technologies and traditional distilling techniques, making it one of the most environmentally sustainable Scotch whisky distilleries.

The majority of the by-products will be recycled on site in a bioenergy facility, helping the distillery to generate most of its own energy and reduce potential CO2 emissions by approximately 13,000 tonnes (equivalent to 10,000 family cars) through direct savings on fuel use for steam raising. The 3,000m² distillery was constructed on time and on budget, with work starting on site in October 2007 and completed in Spring 2009. Diageo worked closely with its partners for the development of the distillery. Austin-Smith:Lord (ASL) were the architects commissioned for this project. The lead designer and structural engineers were AECOM and Rok were the main contractors. The £14 million bioenergy facility was developed in conjunction with Dalkia.