Brora’s pot stills on their way to be refurbished

About a month ago, you could read here that the planning permissions for the renovation and reopening of the Brora Distillery had been granted. The still house, which is to be removed stone by stone and carefully rebuilt, will be equipped with the old distilling equipment. Today, Diageo announces in its news that the stills have now been removed and transported over 200 miles to Alloa. There, the coppersmiths of the company Diageo Abercrombie will take care of them and make them fit again for their revival in the whiskey distillery.

A bit of loving care for two old acquaintances

The traditional company Abercrombie can look back on almost 200 years of company history. Old craftsmanship is combined here in Alloa near Stirling with modern technologies. The coppersmiths have already monitored the transport of the stills. Senior Chargehand Coppersmith Jim McEwan (The name parity with the well-known master distiller of Islay is probably pure coincidence...) said: "Abercrombie has worked on these stills in the 1980s, before the distillery has closed its doors. Therefore, it is a great honor for us to work on them again now and get them ready to produce spirit again. They are beautiful stills and they are really in very good condition, but after 35 years of being mothballed they need a bit of loving care to get ready for their distilling job again. It will be a real pleasure to work on these stills."

£35 million investment in Brora and Port Ellen

Stewart Bowman, Brora Distillery Project Implementation Manager, said it was a very emotional moment to watch the stills on their first step into their new lives. Diageo is well on their way to refurbishing the Brora Distillery, which is part of the £35 million investment package that also includes the reconstruction of the Port Ellen Distillery on Islay. The remaining Port Ellen and Brora bottlings will ones be joined by new ones that are planned to resemble the old style.

Picture: Diageo