Bladnoch Distillery owner David Prior reveals future plans

The new owner of Scotland's most southerly distillery has revealed ambitious plans for its future.

Australian businessman David Prior said he hoped to double production at Bladnoch Distillery, near Wigtown.

The single malt will be relaunched and he also has plans to introduce a new blend called Pure Scot.

Mr Prior said it would be aimed at a new generation of whisky drinkers in his homeland and hoped it would have a considerable local economic impact.

"I think there's some great things happening in other parts of the world with whisky - but it has got a long way to go to catch up with Scotch," he said.

"So I wanted to invest in that, I wanted to be part of that.

"I didn't want to try doing it back home or some other market, I wanted to do it here."

He said it was "very exciting" to have Bladnoch in his "stable of businesses".

"I suppose our vision is to see this as a very, very vibrant and big, functioning distillery creating a lot of employment for this region and to be the cornerstone of this community," he said.

"That is what we are working towards."

Mr Prior said he believed Bladnoch could become a "cornerstone of the community"

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