One of Moray’s largest distilleries has received the go-ahead to spend £18million on dramatically increasing production.
Diageo intend to double the capacity of Mortlach Distillery near Dufftown to 7.6million litres of whisky a year.
The investment is yet more evidence of the region’s whisky boom, as worldwide sales of the drink continue to grow.
The proposals have been given the all-clear by Moray Council’s planning committee.
A Diageo spokesman said: “We really welcome the decision to grant planning permission. The expansion is going to double the amount of whisky we can produce at the site.
“Mortlach has a very unusual distilling regime in that it has six stills of all various shapes and sizes.
“In the new still house we will be building exact replicas of them all.
“The investment won’t see a large increase in jobs as much of the operation is automated, however there will obviously be benefits to the local area in the construction stage.”
The spokesman added that no date had yet been yet for the work to commence. However, he said that it was expected to begin later in the year.
Welcoming the announcement, Mike McConachie who is one of the town’s representatives on Moray Council, said: “It’s good news for the distillery and good news for Dufftown.
“The expansion is going to bring more transport coming into and going out of the town, which will have knock-on effects for local employment.”
In 1823, Mortlach was the first distillery to be built at Dufftown, now one of the epicentres of Speyside whisky distilling.
Last year, Diageo completed £14million of expansion work at its Linkwood and Mannochmore sites in Elgin. In addition, it also began work early on this year on a £12million bio-gas plant at Glendullan on the outskirts of Dufftown.