Whisky Focus - Tobermory Distillery To Close For two Years For Refurbishment

The Tobermory distillery on the Isle of Mull to close for 2 years for refurbishment but visitor facilities will remain open throughout the period.

The Distell Group, the South African owner of the Tobermory distillery on the Isle of Mull have announced that the distillery will stop production on 31st March 2017 to enable refurbishment work to the distillery to go ahead.

The refurbishment will see the distillery stills replaced but the production capacity will not be increased. The refurbishment will also be focused on improving the visitor facilities.

The distillery which operates in two production cycles produces both Tobermory and  the peaty Ledaig single malt will be closed for 2 years during the refurbishment work, the visitor centre which is very popular amongst visitors to Mull will remain open and continue to welcome guests and host tours throughout this period although the visitor experience will surely be somewhat diminished due to the distilling side of the distillery being in shutdown. The refurbishment will also be focused on improving the visitor side of things which in recent years has become a big source of income for whisky distilleries who offer a quality visitor experience.

Distell’s European Managing Director, Fraser Thornton commented, "Whisky tourism continues to thrive with numbers across the industry increasing on average by 20% over the past five years. Tobermory has demonstrated even stronger growth in visitors and we want to invest in the only distillery on the island and continue to ensure it produces some of the best island malts in Scotland, as well as a truly memorable experience for visitors.

"We recognise the time during which the refurbishment is taking place will create substantial change for the distillery team and that is why we have come up with different options to accommodate people’s personal situations and continue to financially support them during this time. We are delighted to have a new General Manager for Malts joining us in the coming weeks who will provide some fresh impetus for our malt portfolio generally and Tobermory and Ledaig specifically. An exciting new chapter will be revealed at the end of this and we want everyone to continue to be part of this journey."

The availability of both Tobermory and Ledaig single malt whisky will not be effected during the the refurbishment and can be found in specialist online whisky shops such as Master of Malt
 

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