Ian Macleod scales back Scotch production
As full-year sales drop, Ian Macleod Distillers has slashed its annual production levels at Scotch distilleries Glengoyne and Rosebank by 30% due to low demand.
Scottish spirits company Ian Macleod noted during its financial statement for the year to 30 September 2025 that it had cut production at the two whisky distilleries due to the ‘lower forward demand outlook’.
The Spirits Business has approached Ian Macleod for comment regarding the production cuts but the company has not responded.
The firm’s financial report also highlighted that annual production at its other Scotch distillery, Tamdhu in Speyside, ‘remained at recent output levels due to the timing of significant onsite engineering works’ in recent years.
Ian Macleod added that its single malt distillery in the city of Una in Himachal Pradesh, India, will continue to distil throughout the year. The Indian arm of the company made ‘steady returns’ due to the supply of bulk blended malt for use in Indian whisky brands.
The company’s visitor centres also experienced ‘tough trading’, which it blamed on lower tourist demand and the fact that two of the sites are relatively new.
Lowlands distillery Rosebank opened to the public in June 2024 after millions of pounds of investment, followed by the opening of Edinburgh Gin’s flagship site in the Scottish capital in December that year.
“The required staff resource compared to visitor demand was hard to predict, and in the event staff resourcing was more than ideal when compared to actual visitor footfall. This led to losses at the new sites,” Ian Macleod said in its annual statement.
In September, Ian Macleod revealed plans to cut an undisclosed number of jobs at Rosebank due to low visitor numbers. At the time, it said production – which began in July 2023 – would not be affected.
The company said the underperformance of its visitor centres will be managed by cutting opening hours and staffing levels at its new sites. “The performance of these sites will be closely monitored and continuously adjusted so better returns are made,” it added.
In April this year, Ian Macleod opened the Laggan Bay Distillery on Islay, expanding the company’s presence across Scotch whisky regions. Glengoyne Distillery, on the border between the Scottish Lowlands and Highlands, was acquired by Ian Macleod in 2003, while Tamdhu joined the portfolio in 2011.
The company noted that it would take several years before the distillery investments at Rosebank and Laggan Bay lead to their own branded revenue streams and ‘create a strong future growth platform’. It believes its older malt distilleries, Glengoyne and Tamdhu, will ‘generate sufficient returns to support the business’.
Furthermore, Ian Macleod has paused its plan to build maturation warehouses at Banddeath in Stirlingshire.
It also added that its joint venture business, Broxburn Bottles, which blends and bottles spirits, has been impacted by ‘subdued demand’ for Scotch.
The lower production throughput led to the group’s share of the loss being £1.37 million (US$1.83m), it warned, adding that the bottling plant has a high fixed overhead in staff and premises costs.
Furthermore, it noted that the Taiwanese subsidiary continues to make a small profit but faced ‘significantly reduced trading in a challenging marketplace where trading profit reduction was offset by lower marketing costs’.
Ian Macleod’s new China arm has also made its initial sales.
Profit after tax plummets
In terms of turnover, the business reported a 9% full-year drop to £118m (US$157.6m) for the 12 months to September 2025. Profit for the year after tax plunged by 53% to £5.46m (US$7.3m).
“Cased goods demand was mixed where increases in North American business exceeded the continued decline in the Asian and European markets,” the company warned. “Bulk revenue continued to be challenged by reduced demand in the UK trade for older malts and single casks; export demand for bulk held. These two product lines account for the majority of the group’s turnover.”
The company said it has seen a reduction in trading last year, in line with the wider spirits industry. Strong demand for packaged and bulk single malt Scotch reached its peak in 2022 and 2023, the group said.
The business noted it would continue to identify appropriate market and brand opportunities.
It also emphasised that the company would ‘continue to adapt to the lower trading levels which, supported by its strong asset base, will allow it to maintain a strong relative market position’.
The firm added that it would ‘continue to invest in sales and brand resources and production facilities that support sustainability, long-term growth and future brand value’.
Ian Macleod has already enhanced heat recovery systems using thermal vapour recompression at Tamdhu and Laggan Bay. There are plans to install a combined heat and power system at Tamdhu, which would reduce the number of shipments to a local biomass plant.
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