Drought forces Tobermory to cease production

Tobermory Distillery has been forced to halt production after the Isle of Mull has been named the driest place in the UK.

Tobermory Distillery has ceased production until water levels are restored

The Scottish island received only 1.8 inches of rainfall in March – the lowest of anywhere in Britain – forcing the Scotch distillery that has just been sold to South African group Distell to temporarily cease production.

The low rainfall has failed to replenish the level of water in a small, private loch used by the distillery to create its single malt Scotch.

Ian MacMillan, master blender and distilleries manager, told the Press and Journal:  “Over the last three weeks we have seen the water level occasionally dip to such an extent that we have temporarily halted production in order to preserve the quality and consistency of our whisky.

“The purity of the water we use is critical to the quality of our whisky and we won’t take any risks in compromising quality, so have now decided to suspend production until a proper rainfall replenishes the loch to a satisfactory level.

“Tobermory single malt drinkers need not panic. When we had to stop production last year due to the driest summer for 30 years we simply increased production when it started raining again to make up the shortfall.”

He underlined that Tobermory has enough stock to ensure supply is not affected.

It was announced earlier today that Burn Stewart Distillers, owner of Tobermory Distillery, has been sold to Distell for £160m.