Prince Charles opens new Girvan distillery

Jan 23 2009 by Edwin Lawrence

A ROYAL VIP opened a new malt whisky distillery at Girvan on Monday.

Prince Charles was the special guest of William Grant & Sons.

The heir to the throne, who has Earl of Carrick as one of his titles, spent over an hour touring the new Ailsa Bay distillery.

The plant is located next to Grants’ grain distillery, built in 1963.

And it was built in nine months – the same construction time as 46 years ago.

Ailsa Bay distillery was named by company employees after Ailsa Craig.

It contains four wash and four spirit stills, producing high quality malt whisky for the company’s award-winning b lends.

Grants’ chairman Peter Gordon said: “We were honoured to show the Ailsa Bay distillery to His Royal Highness, and he was able to meet some of our team.

“We have opened Scotland’s newest malt whisky distillery to increase capacity for blending.

“By driving forward the quality of our blend, we hope to ensure the long-term future of our Girvan site and 130 employees.”

Prince Charles also visited the ‘gin palace’ at Girvan, where Hendricks Gin.

The increasingly-popular gin is infused with cucumber and rose petals.

The Prince completed his tour of the 380-acre site at Girvan by filling one of four casks with newly-made Ailsa Bay spirit.

This will be matured and will be later bottled for the Prince’s Trust.