Whisky-maker Edrington, which has its headquarters on Great Western Road in Glasgow, said the “restructuring follows a decision … to rebalance its malt whisky production levels in direct response to the global economic recession, which has affected all of the Scotch whisky industry”.

The company said that as part of the restructuring, 31 jobs would be cut across five sites – Macallan and Glenrothes distilleries on Speyside, Highland Park in Orkney,

its Buchley warehouse in Bishopbriggs, as well as Tamdhu.

The company said it was currently consulting with the employees who would be affected by the proposals, and that it hoped “any job losses required could be achieved through voluntary measures”.

Meanwhile, the Tamdhu distillery – which is situated in the town of Knockando, Banffshire, and joined the Edrington stable with the group’s £601 million takeover of Highland Distillers in 1999 – is to be put on a “care and maintenance” basis, along with its malting operation, the company said yesterday.

Tamdhu is the only distillery in Speyside to malt all its own barley on the premises.

The last distilleries to be mothballed were Springbank and Glengyle distilleries in the once-famous whisky-making area of Campbeltown, as the rocketing cost of fuel, transport and barley had forced its owners, J&A Mitchell, to call a halt to distillation of spirit for a period of up to two years, in the hope that the cost of the raw materials used to make whisky will eventually fall and allow the company to start distilling again.

Asked about the impact of Tamdhu’s closure on essence and taste of Famous Grouse, the spokesman said: “Famous Grouse is made from a secret recipe, and there are many different constituents that go into it. We have a range of other malt whiskies and they will be sufficient for our blended products.”

Tamdhu’s traditional single-malt bottling does not mention its age, but a recent addition to its product line included a 10-year-old distillery bottling.

Edrington said that the proposed changes, which are scheduled to come in to effect in April next year, would see production concentrated at its three core distilleries

– Macallan and Glenrothes in Speyside and Highland Park on Orkney.

Earlier this year, Ian Curle, Edrington’s chief executive, said while announcing the group’s annual results that there had been a softening of demand in a number of main markets because of the global economic slowdown.

The company also went on to say that this would affect the group’s growth ambitions in the short