Drinks colossus Pernod Ricard is to sell its Tormore Scotch whisky brand and distillery to Elixir Distillers, a company co-founded by entrepreneurs Sukhinder and Rajbir Singh for an undisclosed price.
The Tormore distillery, a listed building built in 1960, has capacity for nearly five million litres of alcohol per annum.
The Tormore associated brand has single malts including its 14 and 16-year-old editions.
The brothers are also building a separate distillery on Islay with a current planning application with authorities for 16 houses in a bid to attract staff to the island when the operation starts in 2024.
The agreement marks a further development in the relationship between Pernod Ricard and the Singh brothers, who co-founded whisky specialist Elixir Distillers in 2017 and created online spirits retailer The Whisky Exchange, which was acquired by Pernod Ricard in 2021.
“Active portfolio management is an integral part of our long-term strategy,” said Pernod Ricard chairman and CEO Alexandre Ricard.
Pernod Ricard handing over Tormore to ‘two friends’
“The sale of the Tormore brand and distillery follows the recent announcement of our investment behind the Aberlour and Miltonduff facilities, which will increase our Scotch production capacities by 14m litres of alcohol per annum.
“We are delighted to be handing Tormore over to Sukhinder and Rajbir, two friends and truly creative entrepreneurs and look forward to finding new ways to collaborate in the future.”
For his part Sukhinder Singh told the Press and Journal: “Islay will not be ready for a few years (so) the team is dying to get its teeth into something.
“There are five full-time employees in Tormore… we will have to strengthen the team. We need to go through the stocks and come up with our own recipe – we have got quite strong views on how whisky should be bottled.
Tormore is one of the most visually-stunning distilleries in Speyside.”
Sukhinder Singh
“We are doing something on Islay – to try and balance that with something on Speyside, we felt that was quite important.
“Tormore is one of the most visually-stunning distilleries in Speyside. It produces a beautiful spirit and fits with the Elixir Distillers flavour-first philosophy.
“We are hoping to build on the work that’s been done by Pernod Ricard to bring to life the magic of Tormore and show consumers around the world just what a hidden gem it is.
“We couldn’t have asked for a better distillery to welcome to the Elixir family alongside our new Islay distillery, Portintruan.”
Mr Singh also outlined some of the distillery developments on Islay which will require a considerable number of staff – hence the need for affordable housing.
“We are putting in a visitor centre, shop, bar and restaurant,” he said, adding: “We will have a decent number of staff there, my gut feeling on Islay, we will be around 20 staff.
“One of the key concerns which came out of a lot of committees, the feedback was housing, there is not enough. We are about to submit an application on Islay for 16 houses, we are building (them).
“The idea is either rent or provide it as a service to employees.”
Elixir Distillers
Founded by Sukhinder and Rajbir Singh, Elixir Distillers is a creator, blender and bottler of spirits with specialism in Scotch whisky and rum.
The company also works with Japanese whisky, tequila and other spirits. Core brands include Port Askaig, Elements of Islay, Single Malts of Scotland and Black Tot which are exported to 30 global markets.
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