Sustainability at Royal Lochnagar Distillery

We’re thrilled that our sustainability efforts at Royal Lochnagar have been recognised by the UK’s top eco-tourism body. We’ve been awarded the prestigious Green Tourism Gold award, the highest level of certification, for our commitment to sustainable tourism.

Our sustainability journey began at the distillery in 1990s with the establishment of the Royal Lochnagar Nature Reserve. The award-winning project included creating habitats for local nesting birds, planting trees and putting up bird and bat boxes amongst other projects. The team have worked year upon year to introduce new methods to be more environmentally friendly. By incorporating water and energy efficiency methods, such as LED motion sensor light replacement programme, natural production breaks to limit energy use and using Biofuel, in the form of a by-product of rapeseed oil, to fuel its boilers, we’ve been able to reduce our water and energy use significantly at Royal Lochnagar distillery.

We’ve also continued our focus on nature conservation at the distillery to encourage natural wildlife in the area. We also ensure all distillery co-products are reused, such as draff (the left-over grain from distilling) being fed to local animals, and pot-ale (the yeast-rich liquid left after distilling) being spread on local fields as fertilizer. Royal Lochnagar also has a zero waste to landfill policy. Sustainability has always been such a huge part of our culture here at Royal Lochnagar and we’re delighted to have received this incredible award from the Green Tourism board. We’ve been working hard to exceed our sustainability targets to ensure a greener future for our local community and beyond. Our staff are passionate about creating a greener business and helping us come up with new ways to ensure we’re doing the best we can.