Chivas Brothers whisky batch flushed away by mistake

Chivas Brothers has lost a significant sum of money after workers accidentally flushed thousands of litres of aged whisky down the drain.

The mistake is understood to have happened at Chivas’ Dumbarton bottling plant during Tuesday’s night shift, when workers mistook the whisky – likely to be of various ages – for waste water.

Media reports speculate that around 18,000 litres of alcohol was washed away, although a Chivas Brothers spokesman declined to comment on how much was wasted, he told The Spirits Business “it’s not as much as that”.

Chivas Brothers, the Scotch whisky arm of French multinational group Pernod Ricard, produces Scotch brands Chivas Regal, The Glenlivet and Ballantine’s, the second largest Scotch brand in the world.

“We are currently investigating an accidental loss on the 26th of February at our Dumbarton site, where some spirit was released to the local water treatment plant,” the group said in a statement.

“There has been no release of spirit to the River Leven or any other local water course. We have informed Scottish Water and all other relevant authorities.”

It is likely that the company is insured against such a loss.

The news comes just as Pernod Ricard announced Chivas Brothers CEO Christian Porta is to leave the group to head up Pernod Ricard Europe as CEO in a job swap with Laurent Lacassagne.