Latest news with #OldPulteney
Daily Record
19-05-2025
- Business
- Daily Record
Spirits business International Beverage completes £7m expansion programme at Airdrie headquarters
Six new state-of-the-art bonded warehouses built at the site as part of upgrade of storage and logistics capabilities. Global spirits business International Beverage has concluded a major expansion programme at its headquarters in Airdrie, completing the build of six new state-of-the-art bonded warehouses at the site. Representing a £7 million investment, the new warehouses are part of an upgrade of storage and logistics capabilities across the business, supporting the company's long term global growth plans for its premium spirits portfolio, which includes Old Pulteney, Speyburn, Balblair and anCnoc single malt whiskies, Hankey Bannister blended Scotch whisky, Caorunn Gin and Phraya Rum. The 15-month project was managed in partnership with The Malcolm Group, one of the UK's leading providers of logistics, construction and maintenance services. The new facility can house 60,000 casks, taking the Airdrie site's warehousing capacity to approximately 700,000 casks overall, and providing much-needed extra maturation space for spirit from International Beverage's five Scottish distilleries. Positioned on the east side of the site, each warehouse measures 900m2 and has been constructed to the highest technical, production and safety specification, using steel portal frame fabrication. The design also includes a full surface water drainage system, plus high-tech CCTV and alarm systems. Toasting the milestone, International Beverage managing director Malcolm Leask said the investment indicates the company's confidence in the future of its award-winning brands, despite what has been a challenging few years for the Scotch whisky sector. He added: 'The completion of this new warehousing is another major step forward for our business following a busy period of acquisitions and new additions to our spirits portfolio. 'We now have some of the industry's most modern, high-quality bottling and storage facilities at our Scottish headquarters, allowing us to manage stocks of our premium Scotch whiskies with greater efficiency and scale. 'Whilst current trading conditions in our industry are challenging, whisky is a resilient sector and I'm very proud to be building for the future - and to see the ongoing evolution of our Airdrie site as a thriving hub at the heart of our global business.' Ian McDonnell, senior project manager, construction division, at The Malcolm Group, said: 'Our business is known for its expertise in industrial projects, and we have brought the very highest levels of design, construction and technology to this new facility. 'The spec and quality we have delivered for these warehouses is at the forefront of what's possible in the Scotch whisky industry and we're very pleased to have played our part in ensuring the continued production of high-quality spirits for International Beverage.' *Don't miss the latest headlines from around Lanarkshire. Sign up to our newsletters here.
Glasgow Times
19-05-2025
- Business
- Glasgow Times
Global spirits company invests £7m in Airdrie expansion
International Beverage completed the construction of six new bonded warehouses at the site on Monday, May 19. The warehouses form part of a wider plan for increased storage and upgraded logistics to further the company's long-term global growth plans. With this investment, the firm aims to support its premium spirits portfolio, which features Old Pulteney, Speyburn, Balblair, and anCnoc single malt whiskies. (Left to right) Malcolm Leask from International Beverage + Ian McDonnell from The Malcolm Group (Image: Supplied) The 15-month project was managed in collaboration with The Malcolm Group – a key provider of logistics, construction, and maintenance services in the UK. The newly built facility can accommodate 60,000 casks, increasing Airdrie's total warehousing capacity to a substantial 700,000 casks, and providing much-needed maturation space for spirit from International Beverage's five distilleries in Scotland. Malcolm Leask, managing director at International Beverage, said: "The completion of this new warehousing is another major step forward for our business, following a busy period of acquisitions and new additions to our spirits portfolio. "We now have some of the industry's most modern, high-quality bottling and storage facilities at our Scottish headquarters, allowing us to manage stocks of our premium Scotch whiskies with greater efficiency and scale." The state-of-the-art warehouses have each been constructed measuring 900 m2 and built to the highest specification, using steel portal frame fabrication. They also include a full water drainage system and high-tech CCTV and alarm systems. Mr Leask added: "Whilst current trading conditions in our industry are challenging, whisky is a resilient sector and I'm very proud to be building for the future - and to see the ongoing evolution of our Airdrie site as a thriving hub at the heart of our global business." Ian McDonnell, senior project manager of Construction Division at The Malcolm Group, said: "The spec and quality we have delivered for these warehouses is at the forefront of what's possible in the Scotch whisky industry and we're very pleased to have played our part in ensuring the continued production of high-quality spirits for International Beverage."
Mint
09-05-2025
- Business
- Mint
What the India-UK FTA means for whisky lovers — beyond Glenlivet and Glenfiddich
Barely hours after India and the UK finalised their multi-billion-pound Free Trade Agreement (FTA) on Tuesday, Hemant Rao's cellphone started buzzing with calls and emails. 'These were mostly from whisky exporters from the UK who wanted to get a better idea of the Indian market,' says Rao, founder of the Single Malt Amateurs Club (SMAC), which has about 7,500 members globally. 'This will come as a huge boost to Scotch,' he says of the FTA. The India–UK agreement aims to deepen trade ties by cutting tariffs across sectors. For whisky, it's a landmark move. India is the world's largest whisky market by volume, and Scotch its most coveted import. Under the FTA, the import duty on UK-origin whisky will drop from 150 per cent to 75 per cent immediately, and further to 40 per cent over 10 years — making premium and rare expressions as well as low-key brands such as Mortlach, Old Pulteney, and Tomatin far more accessible to Indian drinkers. While the development has unsettled Indian distillers — particularly those in the growing premium space — it also opens up new possibilities. Lower duties reduce the cost of imported Scotch used in blends, improving margins for many Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) brands. But for Indian single malt makers, who've spent the last decade building a reputation, this will mean tougher competition. 'This development is particularly promising for Indian whisky brands that depend heavily on bulk malt imports from the UK, positioning them for greater growth. While we've already seen strong momentum in premium malts over the past five years, I anticipate this progress will significantly accelerate, leading to an even richer and more competitive premium whisky landscape in India,' says Rao. And that means the whisky lover in India can now look beyond the Glenlivets and Laphroaigs and get introduced to both lesser-known but highly rated Scotch whisky brands as well as offerings from boutique and small bottlers. Low-key brands such as Mortlach, Old Pulteney, and Tomatin will soon become more accessible to Indian drinkers. Independent bottlers are family-run outfits that buy barrels from distilleries and release them under their own label. Names like Gordon & MacPhail, Douglas Laing, and Signatory Vintage rarely make it to our shores, mainly due to regulatory complexity and high duties. With the FTA lowering that barrier, one can expect these bottles to finally reach Indian shelves through specialty importers. 'Gordon & MacPhail have been recce-ing the Indian market for a while, and that is likely to happen now,' says Rao, who also expects the likes of Port Askaig to consider India more seriously. Port Askaig was set up by Sukhinder Singh, the London-based co-founder of The Whisky Exchange, the world's biggest online whisky retailer, and owner of Elixir Distilleries. Named after the port village on Islay's north coast, Port Askaig offers a range of expressions, including an 8-year-old, 100 Proof, and limited editions. Older Scotch has always been prohibitively expensive in India. Even 18-year-old expressions come with bloated price tags due to the duty structure. For the moneyed but cautious whisky lover, the Glenfiddich Gran Chateau 31 YO ( ₹ 2.5 lakh) will appear to be a lot less of an extravagance once the new prices kick in. The tariff reduction also makes it more viable for importers to bring in aged and rare stock, especially from distilleries like Glendronach, Ben Nevis, or Balblair, which aren't mainstream but have cult appeal. Scotch whisky isn't always about heritage, bagpipes, and pristine glens. There are some great new brands as well. Ardnamurchan Distillery, which commenced production in 2014, is one of them. Located in the Western Highlands, on the Ardnamurchan peninsula, the peaty, brine-y whisky is highly rated by aficionados such as Rao, who also expects English single malts such as those from The Lakes Distillery to find their way to India. 'The revised import landscape could finally make India commercially viable for smaller, boutique distilleries,' notes Rao. The Lakes single malt Blended Scotch is often perceived as inferior to single malts, especially in India, but there's a rising craft movement in the UK where new-age blenders are creating excellent small-batch blends. Brands like Compass Box and Woven are leading this shift. These could find a space as the market matures. Earlier this year, Diageo hosted several dinners across India for wealthy whisky lovers in order to gauge their appetite for the company's global Casks of Distinction programme. The programme allows clients to own a fully mature cask of whisky, sourced from a range of some of Scotland's most storied distilleries. While laws in India regarding cask ownership remain complex, the FTA could lead to greater participation from Indian buyers in such models, especially if partnered with luxury importers or clubs.
