National Scotch Day - As Scotland’s Iconic Industry Barrels Ahead

As the United States marks National Scotch Day today, I welcome ONS figures showing a near tripling in the number of distilleries in Scotland over the last decade, growing from 65 to 235 since 2015.

The figures also show a substantial growth in the number of breweries, from 75 to 155 over the same period.

In my own constituency I am proud to have Isle of Arran Distillers, an independently owned producer of Single Malt Whisky on the Isle of Arran.

As well as the Lochranza distillery which opened in 1995, production began at Lagg Distillery on Tuesday 19th March 2019.

Located in the South of Arran, producing heavily peated malt with a rich smoky flavour, while Lagg is a sister to Lochranza Distillery, which produces Arran Single Malt.

Despite really challenging circumstances over the last 10 years, including Brexit, COVID, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and tariffs, Scotland's distilleries and breweries are thriving.

Our iconic national drink is taxed far more heavily than other alcoholic products like beer and cider.

There is clear evidence that the high spirit duty is economically damaging for this vital Scottish product and the many thousands of jobs it supports.

Cutting Whisky duty would support continued investment in production facilities and jobs.