A consignment of 14 gleaming new copper stills has been delivered and installed at Roseisle, Moray, as part of the construction of Scotland's first distillery in more than 18 years.

A consignment of 14 gleaming new copper stills has been delivered and installed at Roseisle, Moray, as part of the construction of Scotland's first distillery in more than 18 years.

During the past few weeks, the pot stills have been shipped 170 miles north in several consignments from Alloa, Clackmannanshire, to Roseisle, where drinks giant Diageo is investing £40m to build the distillery.

The construction of the distillery, part of a £100m investment in Scotland by Diageo, is on schedule with the first spirit expected to run through the stills in early 2009.

The new distillery will also feature cutting- edge sustainable technology as part of Diageo's multi-million-pound drive into green processes for spirit distilling operations.

Each of the stills - weighing around six tonnes and scaling four metres in diameter and eight metres high - took coppersmiths at Diageo's Abercrombies workshop around four months to craft.

Diageo said the stills were transported in sections before being assembled on site at Roseisle.

Diageo, one of the world's biggest spirits companies, yesterday announced plans for a bio-energy scheme at Scotland's largest distillery at Cameronbridge in Fife.