Diageo to invest £3.5m on Caol Ila distillery

Published: 28 March, 2011

Diageo is to invest £3.5million in expanding and upgrading its Caol Ila distillery.

The project is part of Diageo's rolling programme of capital investment across its Scottish sites, amounting to £600 million over the past six fiscal years and will bring both contracting work and other financial benefits to the local economy.

The Caol Ila distillery will see its production capacity increased by 700,000 litres per year from 5.7 million litres per annum (mla) to 6.4mla.

Refurbishment work is scheduled to take six months beginning in June and will include two new 62,000litre washbacks installed in addition to its current eight, and key equipment upgraded, including the replacement of the distillery's mash tun and a new control system installed in the stillhouse.

The Caol Ila project builds on £3million which Diageo has already invested in upgrading and developing its Port Ellen Maltings on Islay over the past three years.

Bryan Donaghey, managing director of Diageo Scotland, said: "Over the past six years Diageo has made around £600 million in capital investment in Scotland, largely aimed at building our capacity to meet the growing demand for Scotch whisky around the world.

"Last year we opened our new £40 million distillery at Roseisle in Speyside and the expansion of Caol Ila demonstrates our commitment to another of Scotland's great whisky-making locations. The success and growth of our Islay distilleries is central to our ambitions for the Scotch whisky industry and demonstrates again our confidence in and commitment to the future of Scotland and Scotch."

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