Duke of Rothesay toasts Moray whisky success

His Royal Highness Prince Charles, Duke of Rothesay, has been in Speyside to mark further expansion of the Scotch Whisky industry.

HRH opened the Helius CoRDe biomass combined heat and power plant in Rothes and the Glen Grant bottling plant.

HRH The Duke of Rothesay was welcomed by representatives of the industry today (Tuesday), including the trade body the Scotch Whisky Association (SWA).

He was also greeted by many community representatives, as well as youngsters from Rothes Primary School.

The Helius CoRDe plant is the first of its kind, and is described as another example of the achievements of the Scotch Whisky industry Environmental Strategy which was launched in 2009.

The plant is a modular power station that uses by-products from nearby single malt whisky distilleries to generate 8.32 megawatts of electricity, enough to power 9,000 homes.

It also produces animal feed supplement – pot ale syrup. It is a joint venture, part-owned by Diageo, Edrington, Chivas, Inver House, John Dewar’s, Campari and Ben Riach.

HRH The Duke of Rothesay visited Glen Grant Distillery to open its bottling plant. He took a tour of the distillery and bottling hall and met a number of staff. Glen Grant has been distilling in Rothes, Speyside for more than 170 years. It is now home to the largest distillery bottling hall in Speyside.

Gavin Hewitt, chief executive of the Scotch Whisky Association, said: "It was a pleasure to welcome HRH The Duke of Rothesay to Speyside today, and to show him the level of commitment and investment in the Scotch whisky industry."

For more on this story, and a full picture spread, see this Friday's 'Northern Scot'