Whisky Forum - Macallan To Build New Distillery and Vistor Centre

William

I received a press release telling me that The Macallan plans to build a new distillery and visitor centre. Edrington plans to invest over Â£100 million in The Macallan estate.

Over time the distillery is expected to deliver additional capacity to meet the growing demand from existing and new international markets.

Subject to receiving planning consent, work on the project will begin in autumn 2014 and is due to be completed in spring 2017.

I am just heading out just now but i had a few questions about the new distillery which i have sent off to the Macallan but i will post more details later.
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There's no bad whisky. Just good whisky and better whisky.

Quaich1

Keith · Posted: Thu Nov 28, 2013 6:47 pm Post subject:

Very interesting, didnt the Macallan just increase the number of still at the Macallan a few years ago.

whisky_rob · Posted: Thu Nov 28, 2013 6:49 pm Post subject:

With this not being completed until 2017 and costing Â£100 million Macallan must be confident that the so called 'whisky bubble' isn't going to burst anytime soon.

Although with a large increase in production, Macallan will have an interesting stock holding regarding still having limited older casks which may push prices up further for the older more limited casks/bottlings for the foreseeable future as they can't even call anything they produce from this new facility whisky until 2020!

William · Posted: Thu Nov 28, 2013 7:05 pm Post subject:

Fergie · Master Of Malts Joined: 02 Dec 2006 Posts: 1743

They must be planning on it being significantly bigger if it is a whole new distillery they are building, of course it will be more modern and efficient.

Grant M · Posted: Thu Nov 28, 2013 9:04 pm Post subject:

Does the Scotch Whisky Association just let Edrington build a new distillery and then declare it is Macallan when i would assume the old distillery will still exist.

John · Moderator Joined: 21 Apr 2006 Posts: 876 Location: UK

Kenny M · Master Of Malts Joined: 21 Apr 2007 Posts: 860

Quaich1 · Posted: Thu Nov 28, 2013 11:14 pm Post subject:

Last year I had the oportunity to speak to and enjoy a tasting with Marc Laverdiere,
The Macallan & Highland Park Ambassador at The Edrington Group for Canada who represented Specialties:The Macallan and Highland Park Single Malt Scotch; The Famous Grouse Malt Whisky.

He really represented to me a forward thinking ambassador for a forward thinking company and it's core brands. Thus, this recent planning strategy does not surprise me.
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"Always carry a large flagon of whisky in case of snakebite and furthermore always carry a small snake."
W.C. Fields (1880-1946)

William · Posted: Thu Nov 28, 2013 11:20 pm Post subject:

I added a piece about the new Macallan distillery here:
www.scotchmaltwhisky.co.uk/macallannewdistillery.htm

I did try to get some info about the number of stills and planned output capacity of the new distillery but Ken Grier, Edrington's director of malts wasnt revealing any details
_________________
There's no bad whisky. Just good whisky and better whisky.

Big Mac · Posted: Fri Nov 29, 2013 4:20 am Post subject:

wow this is big news. William surely they will be installing identical stills in the new distillery if they dont that would be like messing with the recipe. It is odd how they couldnt say how many stills will be in the new distillery, if they havent decided that yet they have a whole lot of planning to still do.

I could see this increasing the value of Macallan bottlings which one day may be considered bottling from the old Macallan distillery, perhaps it will have a Brora effect. Maybe i should stop drinking mine and start looking on them as an investment, on second thoughts i have no will power to stop drinking the Macallan.

albo · Master Of Malts Joined: 22 Mar 2011 Posts: 1888

I agree I think the bottles from the 'old' distillery could very well shoot up in value, especially if they pull the plug on that distillery and move all output to the new Macallan.

I also wonder if they do ramp up output what happens to thier cask management. They make a big thing about cask selection and ensuring they only have the best of the best etc. Ramp up the output and that has to suffer surly?

Mark · Master Of Malts Joined: 27 Sep 2006 Posts: 1664

Great to hear of this amount of investment and job creation but I am surprised they can simply build a new distillery and declare it as the Macallan. And it is odd that they wont make any comments on the stills in the new distillery, are they changing the size of them and dont want to comment.

albo i believe distilleries such as the Macallan with such a high use of sherry casks often pay sherry producers to mature sherry in casks so they can then use them for their whisky