An artist's impression of the upgraded facility ©Bunnahabhain Distillery
Bunnahabhain Distillery has invested £10.5 million to upgrade its distillery on the island of Islay, Scotland.
The three-year upgrade programme will restore a number of the original buildings at the site, while others will be removed and relocated to create more space at the facility.
A new visitor centre will be created, which will feature a café and retail space and will act as the ‘brand home’ for Bunnahabhain’s range of whiskies. Bunnahabhain estimates that the centre will be open by 2020.
The main production building will also be refurbished and a new filling store will be added, while six cottages will be built alongside the distillery, which will serve as holiday accommodation.
99% of the materials processed during the demolition process have been recycled, with the majority retained for re-use at the distillery.
Derek Scott, brand director for Malts at Distell International, said: “Our investment programme, here at Bunnahabhain, is about improving the operational side of our distillery for the long term future.
“We are restoring our buildings to their former glory and providing a visitor experience where we don’t just welcome visitors, after the long winding journey to get here, we help them enjoy a piece of Bunnahabhain life.
“The plans aim to make the navigation of the site much easier for the visitor and to, in simple terms, declutter it. This will ensure the buildings are more efficient from a storage point of view and located in better suited, more accessible locations to the production buildings.
“Furthermore, we are committed to reducing the environmental impact of the works. The whisky industry is starting to be more environmentally aware and our achievement of recycling over 99% of materials shows, with a little bit of extra effort, it is remarkable what we can achieve.”
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