Diageo Inaugurates £40 Million Roseisle Mega-Distillery

Some will lament it as the industrialization of scotch whisky production. Others will hail it as the answer to growing demand for scotch around the world. But whichever way you look at it, Diageo's enormous Roseisle distillery is now up and running.

Culling expertise from the 27 distilleries currently owned by the drinks consortium, Roseisle is the product of three years of construction. It cost Diageo £40 million to build, employs 25 workers and encompasses 3,000 square meters of space. On the premises Diageo expects to produce 10 million liters of whisky each year through fourteen new stills crafted by the coppersmiths at Abercrombie, Alloa.

The Speyside facility was built not to replace the individual distilleries under the Diageo umbrella, but to supplement them, in response to increased market demand which those distilleries have been struggling to meet. The spirits produced there will be used in Diageo's profile of blended whiskies, which include Johnnie Walker, J&B, Bell's and Black & White. No plans have been announced to ever bottle a single malt from Roseisle, but you never know what time may bring.