Earlier this year, our Whiskymaker Neil MacLeod Mathieson wrote about a decision that had been some years in the making: bringing maturation, blending and bottling together on a single 50-acre site near Jedburgh, in the Scottish Borders.
"For some time, our maturation warehouses, blending operations and bottling lines have operated across separate locations. The decision to bring them together onto a single, integrated 50-acre site is a natural progression in how we see the business evolving.
Over the next eighteen months, our team will undertake the transfer of approximately 50,000 casks from our existing storage locations to the new site. Each barrel will be inspected in full before being laid down again, whether in racked, dunnaged or palletised warehousing. The diversity of warehouse types reflects the different maturation behaviours we look to preserve and encourage across our stocks.
This is a transformative moment for the business. Centralising our operations at Jedburgh gives us the space to invest properly in long-term quality, sustainability and scale. It provides the capacity to nurture our whiskies with care while ensuring the infrastructure is in place for the next phase of growth."
Neil MacLeod Mathieson, Whiskymaker
That plan has now reached its first defining milestone. The buildings are up. Five purpose-built warehouses stand on the site, and the shape of what Jedburgh will become is finally visible on the ground.
Alan Philp our Director of Group Whisky Production, has been leading the project:
"We're incredibly excited to be taking the next step in our journey with the completion of our new purpose-built warehousing, blending and bottling facility near Jedburgh. This is a major milestone for the business and reflects our continued growth, providing the space, infrastructure and capability we need to support the next stage of our development.
The new site has been designed with the future in mind. Comprising five purpose-built warehouse buildings, the facility will allow us to significantly expand our storage capacity while creating a more efficient flow through our production operations. One warehouse will house our bottling line, dry goods and finished products, another will be dedicated to whisky vatting and racked cask storage, and the remaining three warehouses will provide extensive palletised cask storage.
Perhaps most excitingly, the new facility will allow us to bring several key operations in-house for the first time, including new make spirit tanker reception and cask filling. This gives us greater control over our production process, improves efficiency and creates an excellent platform for future growth."
For the first time in the company's history, maturation, blending and bottling will sit side by side. As Neil put it earlier this year, the practical gain is efficiency in how we work; the more important gain is closer oversight of the whisky at every stage of its development.
Completion of the buildings, though, is a starting line rather than a finishing one:
"Although the buildings are complete, this is really just the beginning. Over the coming weeks and months we'll be installing racking, positioning and connecting our vats, commissioning equipment and putting all the infrastructure in place that will transform these buildings into a fully operational production facility. Watching the site come to life is going to be incredibly exciting.
This investment is about much more than additional warehouse space. It's about creating a modern home for our production team, strengthening our capabilities and building a facility that will support the business for many years to come. I'm hugely proud of what has been achieved so far and look forward to seeing the first casks arriving, the first bottling runs and the first spirit flowing through what will become the heart of our production operations."
Alan Philp, Director of Group Whisky Production
The Jedburgh development remains the most significant whisky infrastructure project undertaken in the Scottish Borders. Once fully operational, it will become the centre of our production and maturation activities, supporting our established brands, including Torabhaig, and those that will follow.
The first casks are yet to arrive. The first bottling run is still ahead of us. But the home they are coming to is now standing, and that is worth marking.
We'll be sharing the journey as it unfolds, from the racking going in to the first cask laid down. Keep an eye out for more from Jedburgh over the coming months.
