Last distillery's expansion plans

Glencadam in Brechin is the only distillery left in Angus

An expected surge in demand for whisky in China, India and Russia is leading the only remaining distillery in Angus to draw up expansion plans.

Bosses at Glencadam in Brechin want to build 16 new warehouse units to store the spirit while it matures at a local business park.

If planning permission is granted, the aim is to have the first units ready by March next year.

It is hoped an extra 10 jobs would be created by the expansion.

Distilleries manager Robert Fleming said: "There is a resurgence in Scotch whisky at the moment and everybody's looking to increase production capacity.

"We've noticed that the emerging markets are China, India and Russia - they're the ones that the big boys are targeting.

"And as Scotch whisky needs to be left for a number of years to mature, if those markets really take off then these guys don't want to be left behind saying, 'Oh well, we don't have enough stock to satisfy those demands.'

"So they've predicted that these emerging markets will be lucrative in the future."

However, Mr Fleming warned that not everything was rosy in the whisky industry as the increasing costs of raw materials and energy were causing problems.

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