Pernod Ricard To Build New Single Malt Distillery On Islay
October 3, 2023Pernod Ricard’s Chivas Brothers unit has announced plans to build a new distillery on the Scottish island of Islay. The new site will focus on smoky single malt Scotch in the Islay style, complementing the existing The Glenlivet, Royal Salute, Chivas Regal, and Ballantine’s brands in the Chivas portfolio. The planned investment in the distillery was undisclosed.
Islay malts have grown in popularity in recent years, led by brands like Lagavulin, Laphroaig, Bruichladdich, Ardbeg, and others. Chivas Brothers’ Islay distillery will be located on Gartbreck Farm, west of Bowmore at Saltpan Point on the shore of Loch Indaal, facing Bruichladdich and Port Charlotte across the loch. The distillery will be carbon neutral, in line with Chivas Brothers’ plans to be carbon neutral in distillation across all of its sites by the end of 2026.
“This is an important new chapter in the Chivas Brothers story,” said Jean-Etienne Gourgues, chairman and CEO of Chivas Brothers. “The introduction of an Islay whisky completes our comprehensive and award-winning Scotch portfolio. As a business built on hundreds of years of heritage, it also gives us the opportunity to do something we rarely do, which is to start from scratch.” Chivas Brothers’ Glenlivet brand is the largest single malt globally at 1.7 million cases, according to Impact Databank, including a half-million cases in the U.S., where it also leads the malt market.—Daniel Marsteller
Subscribe to Shanken News Daily’s Email Newsletter, delivered to your inbox each morning.
