A Moray distillery has toasted a dram to celebrate its growing success after opening two new warehouses to handle increased stocks.
The warehouses at Benromach Distillery in Forres were built using modern materials in the traditional dunnage style, which will allow casks to be stowed two or three high on an earthen floor.
Yesterday, former distillery worker Tom Anderson officially opened the warehouses by unveiling a special commemorative plaque and rolling the first cask of Benromach inside.
Michael Urquhart, managing director of whisky firm Gordon and MacPhail, said: “We are absolutely delighted to be opening our new warehouses at Benromach.
“These are exciting times for our classic, hand crafted single malt whisky but whisky is a long term business and the foundations for our success were laid down when Tom worked here and in the years before that.
“The completion of the new warehouses almost doubles our storage capacity at Benromach from 8,000 to 15,000 casks.”
The Elgin-based firm revealed plans for the additional warehouses and the recruitment of a third distiller to allow production to be expanded last year.
Moray MSP Richard Lochhead welcomed the completion of the works, and said: “Benromach is a fantastic product and since Gordon and MacPhail, a long established Moray company, took over the distillery and re-launched distillation on the site, the brand has seen sustained growth and success worldwide.
“That success is amply demonstrated by Gordon and MacPhail’s investment in the distillery with the new warehousing facilities being a very obvious sign of that investment.”