PLANS for the first new first grain distillery in Scotland in 10 years have been given the go-ahead.

St Boswells Distillery, based at Charlesfield Industrial Estate in the Scottish Borders, will be built to serve the growing demand for grain spirit for Scotch whisky blending, as well as to supply grain neutral spirit for gin and vodka. It will have the capacity to produce 20 million litres of pure alcohol per year.

Jackson Distillers, which is behind the plans, declared the facility will be Scotland’s lowest carbon grain distillery, using up to date distilling technology, add value to locally grow cereals, and send zero waste to landfill.

Construction of the distillery is scheduled will start in 2022, with the first spirit to be produced in 2024.

Trevor Jackson, founder and chief executive of Jackson Distillers, said: “This is another significant step forward in the process to create the Scottish Borders’ first major grain distillery.

“We have had great support for our proposals from local stakeholders across the region and have worked closely with Scottish Borders Council to ensure we created plans that fit into the landscape, present climate change mitigation opportunities and support the local community. We are grateful to everyone who has helped us to get to this stage and will continue to work with local stakeholders as we now progress with construction.

“At the heart of the distillery project is its environmental impact. The site will take high-quality local cereals from the surrounding Tweed Valley and process them efficiently and sustainably with renewable energy into the spirit. The cereals, once spent, will be passed to the adjacent anaerobic digestion plant, where they will be converted into methane, with the remaining material being used as soil conditioner for the crops. In addition, process water from an on-site bore-hole will be efficiently recycled to minimise the use of this important resource.”