Oh, the humanity! A machine error at John Dewar & Sons’ bottling complex in Glasgow saw precious Scotch whisky flushed away down the drains.
According to BBC Scotland, the mishap took place last Wednesday at the company’s London Road site. A mechanical fault meant whisky earmarked for bottling was instead sent off with rainwater and wastewater through the factory’s drainage system.
Thankfully, environmental watchdog Sepa was quickly informed, and Bacardi (which owns John Dewar & Sons) confirmed there was no environmental impact. In other words, the Clyde was not about to become Scotland’s biggest cocktail mixer.
This was the life that whisky deserved.
John Dewar & Sons loses Scotch down the drain!
Reports claimed the spill was worth around £200,000 (more than 5,000 bottles). However, Bacardi has batted those numbers away as “heavily exaggerated”. The company declined to give an exact figure, but whichever way you pour it, it’s a lot of lost drams.
Sepa is now investigating the incident, while Bacardi has launched its own internal review. For a company that’s been making whisky since 1846, this isn’t exactly the kind of history-making moment anyone wanted.
The good news? The whisky that went astray didn’t flow straight into the River Clyde. Instead, it entered the same treatment process as standard wastewater before being returned to the environment. The bad news? It still means someone somewhere pulled the wrong lever and accidentally baptised a sewer in single malt.
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The Last Drop
John Dewar & Sons has survived world wars, Prohibition, and more than 175 years of ups and downs. So a rogue machine won’t sink the ship.
But it’s a sobering reminder that even in whisky making, not every drop gets to fulfil its destiny. We’ll raise a glass to the whisky that never made it into one. Goodnight, sweet prince.
