Prince distils his twin passions

Charles, known as the Duke of Rothesay in Scotland, was at Glen Grant distillery and the Helius Corde plant in Rothes, Moray at the start of a three-day visit to the north of Scotland.

At the distillery he met staff and toured the site to see how the whisky is matured and bottled.

Charles unveiled a plaque on a pyramid of whisky barrels outside the distillery and quipped: “Is this the emergency supply?” The new plant produces 2,000 bottles an hour which are mainly exported to mainland Europe and Asia.

Glen Grant managing director Dennis Malcolm said: “Our last royal visit was by Princess Margaret in 1959 so it was nice to have another member of the family up today to mark the new site,” he said.

“The prince is certainly a big whisky fan and I think he asked more questions about the bottling hall than I’ve done. .”

Earlier in the day Charles opened the new Helius Corde heat and power biomass plant, designed to recycle waste created from making whisky.

It takes by-product from 12 distilleries around Speyside and recycles it as animal feed. It also creates electricity by burning by-products and woodchip.

Operators say it will generate 8.32 megawatts a year, enough to power 9,000 homes.