Construction work on the distillery at Roseisle, a flagship development for whisky firm Diageo, is progressing well and is on course for production to start next January.

The distillery, the first to be built in Scotland in over 30 years, will produce up to 10 million litres of spirit each year.

That will make it the largest distillery operation in the Diageo network of 27 distilleries and two grain distilleries.

The largest producer is currently Dufftown Distillery which produces six million litres a year.

The spirit created at Roseisle will go towards blending and particularly the increasingly popular Johnnie Walker and Bell's brands which are spearheading Diageo's worldwide export push.

Mr Jappy said Diageo has chosen to make an environmental statement with the building of the distillery at Roseisle.

"We could have knocked £10 million off the price if we had just done a conventional kind of build but the whole point of what we are trying to do is make as green a distillery as we can," he said.

By-products from the spirit-making process will be used to generate power for the distillery, with up to 66% of its energy needs coming from renewable sources, reducing drastically the use of oil.

The draff left over after the malt has been mashed would normally to produce animal feeds, however, this will instead be used to fire the distillery boilers.

The pot ale left after the first phase in the distillation process would also normally go towards animal feed, however, that will be put through a three stage process which will produce clean water which the company will re-use for steeping purposes at nearby Burghead Maltings.

Another by-product from the distilling process is hot water, hundreds of gallons of it, and this will be fed through radiators at the adjacent maltings to produce hot air to dry the malt.

Building the distillery next to the maltings also cuts down on lorry journeys in transporting malt to the distillery.

A glass wall design will afford people a unique view of the stillhouse in operation.

The development is a first for the whisky industry and is set to create 25 new full-time jobs, the bulk of them at the distillery but also some support staff at Diageo's headquarters in Elgin.

There are no plans to produce a single malt from the distillery, which has yet to be named, and it will be at the heart of an expansion in the growing blended market, particularly in countries like India and China.

The main contractor is Inverness-based ROK construction and the project is also generating a lot of work for local sub-contractors.

Construction is due to be completed by the end of this year, with the commissioning process beginning in January and the distillery in full production by the Spring.

MORAY'S £40 million green distillery will use the ultimate in recycling technology in a bid to be fossil fuel neutral, says project director Mike Jappy.

Project director Mike Jappy views the distillery plans as work progresses in the background. NS

Construction work on the distillery at Roseisle, a flagship development for whisky firm Diageo, is progressing well and is on course for production to start next January.

The distillery, the first to be built in Scotland in over 30 years, will produce up to 10 million litres of spirit each year.

That will make it the largest distillery operation in the Diageo network of 27 distilleries and two grain distilleries.

The largest producer is currently Dufftown Distillery which produces six million litres a year.

The spirit created at Roseisle will go towards blending and particularly the increasingly popular Johnnie Walker and Bell's brands which are spearheading Diageo's worldwide export push.

Mr Jappy said Diageo has chosen to make an environmental statement with the building of the distillery at Roseisle.

"We could have knocked £10 million off the price if we had just done a conventional kind of build but the whole point of what we are trying to do is make as green a distillery as we can," he said.

By-products from the spirit-making process will be used to generate power for the distillery, with up to 66% of its energy needs coming from renewable sources, reducing drastically the use of oil.

The draff left over after the malt has been mashed would normally to produce animal feeds, however, this will instead be used to fire the distillery boilers.

The pot ale left after the first phase in the distillation process would also normally go towards animal feed; however, that will be put through a three stage process which will produce clean water which the company will re-use for steeping purposes at nearby Burghead Maltings.

Another by-product from the distilling process is hot water, hundreds of gallons of it, and this will be fed through radiators at the adjacent maltings to produce hot air to dry the malt.

Building the distillery next to the maltings also cuts down on lorry journeys in transporting malt to the distillery.

A glass wall design will afford people a unique view of the stillhouse in operation.

The development is a first for the whisky industry and is set to create 25 new full-time jobs, the bulk of them at the distillery, but also some support staff at Diageo's headquarters in Elgin.

There are no plans to produce a single malt from the distillery, which has yet to be named, and it will be at the heart of an expansion in the growing blended market, particularly in countries like India and China.

The main contractor is Inverness-based ROK construction and the project is also generating a lot of work for local sub-contractors.

Construction is due to be completed by the end of this year, with the commissioning process beginning in January and the distillery in full production by the spring.

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