Bill Farrar, the chairman of whisky maker The Macallan Distillers and a main board director of parent group Edrington, enjoyed a 38% top- up in his pay package to more than £450,000, The Herald can reveal.

Bill Farrar, the chairman of whisky maker The Macallan Distillers and a main board director of parent group Edrington, enjoyed a 38% top- up in his pay package to more than £450,000, The Herald can reveal.

Farrar's pay hike was disclosed in The Macallan's annual accounts alongside a rise in the Speyside malt producer's pre-tax profits to £39.5m for the year to the end of March 2008, compared with £37.1m the year before.

Turnover at The Macallan, which is distilled at Craigell-achie, Banffshire, grew 8.2% to £83.3m, against £77m last time.

Farrar, 50, who has been with Edrington since 1989, is not only the chairman of The Macallan Distillers subsidiary but also the sales and marketing director of the Glasgow-based parent, whose brands also include Famous Grouse, Highland Park single malt and for-export Cutty Sark blended label. His pay package covers both positions.

The parent company last year did not disclose The Macallan's contribution to the group's total core profits of £75.6m. Although Mac-allan's £39.5m pre-tax profit figure is more than half of the parent's core profit, this comparison does not take into account substantial inter-company transactions between subsidiaries.

The directors said they "regard the results of the company for the year, and the company's financial position, as satisfactory".

At the same time, The Macallan Distillers' latest set of accounts, obtained by The Herald from Companies House, reveal that Edrington veteran Farrar earned a salary of £0.5m in the year to March, compared with £0.3m last time.

However, the figures were rounded, and Farrar's actual salary climbed 38% to £455,000 from £328,000 a year earlier.

The accounts reveal that Farrar had at March 31, 2008, "accrued an annual pension" of £48,500, compared with £43,000 last time.

It is understood that the bulk of increase in Farrar pay is the result of long-term incentive plans and other payments, which the company said are "based upon demanding targets set by the company's remuneration committee".

Farrar's pay package is keeping pace with Edrington chief executive Ian Curle's remuneration, which excluding payments in lieu of pension following his withdrawal from the group pension scheme, rose to £712,000 in the year to the end of March, 2008, compared with £475,000 during the previous 12 months.

In addition, Curle received £127,000 in benefits, including a "non-pensionable salary supplement" in lieu of pension scheme membership.

Nonetheless, The Mac-allan is now the third-largest single malt Scotch whisky in terms of volume sales worldwide, behind Glenfiddich and Glenlivet, but is number two by value.

It sells more than 500,000 cases a year with solid growth in the key markets of the US and Asia.