Balblair distiller hits a major milestone
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Martin Macdonald has been an ever-present figure at the distillery since starting there at 17.
Mr Macdonald from Tain said: “It’s been so quick, I don’t know where it’s gone. It’s not what I’ve done it’s what I’ve seen, so much has changed over those 40 years.”
The distillery thanked Mr Macdonald for his years of service with a celebratory lunch where they presented him with a bottle of 40-year-old single malt and an engraved quaich.
The operator said since he began working at the distillery much more of the process has become automated and where there were once 14 operators there are now only six, who collectively have more than 160 years of experience.
Since he was hired in 1979, Mr Macdonald has seen many changes in the company including its ownership: “When I started the distillery used to be owned by a Canadian company with the initials HWS which we dubbed ‘hard working souls’.
“I still remember my first day, I began in the warehouse filling casks and we filled 140 casks and near froze to death as it can get below -10C in there.”
Balblair distillery is now owned by International Beverage Holdings whose parent company ThaiBev.
