Ian Macleod Distillers has reduced annual production at its Glengoyne and Rosebank distilleries by 30% amid declining global demand for whisky.
Turnover at the scotch whisky business fell by 8% to £118.0m in the year ended 30 September 2025, while profits before tax slumped 45.8% to £8.6m, newly filed accounts at Companies House showed.
Ian Macleod said it had experienced “significant double-digit” declines for bulk whisky and “lower demand from UK-based industry buyers for single casks, young grain, and older blended malt whisky”.
The impact was comparable to that “experienced by most competitor businesses across the sector”, it insisted, adding that turnover of packaged whisky had grown “modestly” over the period.
Production at its Tamdhu Distillery “remained at reduced output levels” following “significant on-site engineering works across recent years”.
“The broader trend is that Tamdhu’s output profile will mirror that of the other two distilleries,” it added.
Meanwhile, the group’s Scottish-based visitor centres had “experienced tough trading”, thanks partly to the visitor centres at Rosebank and Edinburgh Gin “being at the early stages of their commercial evolution” and lower demand from tourism.
“The required staff resource compared to visitor demand was hard to predict and in the event staff resources was more than ideal when compared to actual visitor footfall,” Ian Macleod Distillers said.
The performance of the sites, and staffing levels would be “closely monitored and continuously adjusted so that better returns are made,” it added.
It comes with the scotch whisky category suffering from a global downturn in sales, driven by tariffs, declining alcohol consumption and cost of living pressures.
In 2025, scotch exports fell by 0.6% in value on volumes down 4.3%, SWA figures released earlier this year showed.
This April, Ian Macleod Distillers opened Laggan Bay, a new distillery based on Islay.
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