ANNANDALE Distillery officially opened its on site bottling facility last Friday.
The £400,000 investment is latest step in the growth of the award-winning distillery, which now houses its whole operation in Dumfries and Galloway.
Owners Professor David Thomson and Teresa Church said: “Distillation, maturation and now bottling means not only can we keep the entire production process here on site but reduce our carbon footprint and create more skilled, roles within the group.
“Annandale Distillery do not provide jobs, rather we provide career opportunities and with the opening of this new bottling hall we are able to provide more of these opportunities. This is the next step in the continued growth of Annandale Distillery and we are extremely proud of the whole team that have been able to get us here; making this idea leap from paper to plant.”
The first bottles filled on the new line were ‘Callum 529 by Annandale’ in partnership with Ian Callum CBE, who not only cut the ribbon to open the new facility but also designed the limited edition ceramic bottle. Ian said: “This is something truly special, historical – to be here as the first bottles are being filled is a moment I will never forget. The creation of ‘Callum 529 by Annandale’, has been an amazing journey, and to see it at this point is incredibly humbling.
“My father passed away a few years ago, but I know he would have a smile on his face knowing that his name is on this unique type of whisky.
“I am extremely honoured to be the one that cuts the ribbon to officially open this exciting new phase in the growth of Annandale Distillery, which continues to grow from strength to strength.”
The creation and opening of the bottling hall will see five new roles created before the end of the year. Group general manager David Ashton-Hyde added: “These are brand new roles which will allow us to do more than ever before including expanding our range of award-winning single cask, single malt scotch whiskies.”
