Work is underway on a new £15 million whisky and gin distillery in the Averon Valley near Inverness.

The new Ardross Distillery is being developed by Morrison Construction at Ardross Mains Farm.

Encompassing a 50-acre site, the project involves refurbishing and extending the 19th century dilapidated farm complex.

Features include retaining the steading buildings, farm house and cottages for the distillery, while stone and slate will be salvaged from collapsed buildings and used to rebuild the development's walls and roofs.

In addition, walls at the rear of the main steading will be removed and rebuilt to increase the size of the building for a two-storey still house, tun room, mash house and milling area. The building will also surround two large courtyards with parking to the front.

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Offices and staff accommodation will be provided via two detached one-and-a-half storey cottages to each side of the main steading. An old dairy building behind the staff accommodation will become a blending and product development lab, while a three-storey house at the rear of the site will be turned into a vaulted cask storage area and marketing suite. The boiler house will also be located at the side of this building.

Two large copper stills and other process equipment for the distillery will be transported to the site early next year, with Ardross Distillery planning to launch its first product onto the market in late 2018.

Donald Mclachlan, Morrison Construction Managing Director, said: "Beginning construction is an exciting time and we look forward to continuing our work with Ardross Investments on this new distillery in the Highlands.

"We are proud to be working on this development, which reuses existing materials onsite, preserving the character of historic buildings.

"We will continue our engagement with local schools and wider community throughout construction ensuring the development has a lasting positive impact."

(LM/CD)