Glenmorangie sculpture celebrates 20 million bottles

Glenmorangie has marked 20 million bottles passing through its Livingston plant with a new sculpture.

Artist Barry Grove stands atop his creation “Reveal” – a sculpture marking 20 million bottles passing through Glenmorangie’s bottling plant

Commissioned by The Glenmorangie Company, the 20-tonne artwork is said to pay homage to the Scotch brand’s Highland roots, as well as this milestone figure.

The sculpture, named “Reveal”, was created by Ross-shire based artist Barry Grove who was asked by the brand to showcase its ancient Celtic heritage.

Created over the course of two years using traditional hand-tools, the 300-year-old sandstone sculpture stands two metres high and just over three metres long outside the Livingston plant.

It depicts blowing leaves and an ancient Celtic symbol from the Pictish tribe dating back to 800AD.

Grove said: “The sheer size and scale of this project has presented a real challenge but I wanted to stay true to the spirit of the enterprise by using traditional stonemason’s tools.”

Since opening in 2010, 20 million bottles have been produced in Glenmorangie’s production facility, which was part of a multi-million pound investment strategy by the group.

“We are very proud to have a major public artwork by a leading artist sited outside our modern production facility,” said Peter Nelson, operations director for The Glenmorangie Company.

“It also comes at a time when Scotland’s favourite malt whisky is becoming more and more popular in export markets, with the US reaching an important milestone this year of 100,000 cases.”

The sculpture was unveiled earlier this week by West Lothian Council provost Tom Kerr.