SPEYBURN TEAMS UP WITH CHARITY TO CONSERVE SCOTTISH WILDLIFE

Speyburn Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky has today (? July) announced it will be joining forces with the Spey Foundation to support their ongoing conservation work along the River Spey. The one year partnership will fund a project that opens up the Spey burns to wildlife by overcoming in-river obstacles that prevent salmon and sea trout from spawning. The project will also include protecting and restoring the catchment’s natural features to help improve the habitat and biodiversity of the area and the river bank.

To sponsor the conservation initiative, Speyburn will launch a nationwide ‘Salmon Run’ campaign that will be driven by sign-up to Clan Speyburn – the whisky’s free online member’s community. For every person who signs up over a one year period, the whisky brand will donate £1 to the Foundation. Clan members will also receive a welcome pack, regular newsletter, exclusive discounts and offers (including special clan bottlings) and their name added to the ‘Book of the Clan’ which is kept at the distillery.

To promote the campaign, the award-winning whisky will launch a series of initiatives, including an on-pack promotion which will be rolled out in the UK and internationally next month.  All Speyburn bottles will feature a new Salmon Run neck tag which will outline the collaboration, and a series of promotional and marketing material will be developed to support it. An innovative new nationwide competition will also launch later in the year to further encourage sign-up.

Regarded as the ‘classic salmon river’, the River Spey extends to 107 miles together with approximately 560 miles of its tributaries. The Spey Foundation plays a vital role in conserving both the burns and its wildlife through extensive research into salmon and all aquatic species within the Spey fishery.  It is this commitment that makes them the perfect partner for Speyburn single malt which is crafted in the only distillery to use water from the Granty Burn, a tributary of the River Spey, famed for its purity and its world class salmon fishing.

Pamela Stewart, Speyburn’s Brand Manager says: “Speyside water is at the heart of our single malt, so we are delighted to collaborate with the Spey Foundation to sponsor some of the truly fantastic work that they do. Our whisky has always had a deep rooted connection to fishing and the great outdoors due to the distillery’s picturesque Speyside location.

 Our new campaign encourages whisky fans to reconnect with the home of the brand through supporting the Spey Foundation and with each other through joining the Clan and sharing the whisky experience.”

Spey Foundation Director Roger Knight says: “There are numerous in-river obstacles around the Spey catchment, such as distillery weirs that may now be redundant, but which prevent salmon and sea trout from accessing the rivers and burns above these obstacles to spawn.

We are delighted that Speyburn will be helping us to overcome some of these problems, which will open-up burns not just to spawning fish, but to other wildlife as well.”

Notes

Speyburn Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky was first distilled on December 15, 1897, the diamond jubilee year of Queen Victoria. Today, Speyburn continues to use the time-honored traditional distillation methods that created the single barrel of the 1897 vintage. Speyburn is matured in American and Spanish oak casks in traditional stone-built warehouses. The result is a classic Speyside single malt; golden amber in color with a floral and citrus nose. It is medium-bodied and easy to drink, with a delicate, fruity character and a dry, complex finish. The portfolio includes Speyburn 10 year old, Speyburn 25 year old and Speyburn Bradan Orach expressions. (http://www.speyburn.com)

The Spey Foundation is a charitable Company Limited by Guarantee and is a transition of the Spey Research Trust, which was formed in the mid-1970s and since 1981 operated as a Registered Charity, administered by a Research Committee. The aim of the Spey Foundation is to advance the study of and research into salmon and all other aquatic species within the Spey Fishery. The Foundation’s work, like the Trust’s before it, plays a vital part in informing and advising the Spey Fishery Board of developments within the river and helps to determine the Board’s approach to fishery management.

The ‘Opening Up Spey Burns to Wildlife’ project will focus on overcoming in-river obstacles and improvements to the habitat within the Spey catchment, by protecting and restoring the natural features. Damage to these natural features is often caused by diffuse pollution and sediment deposition through bank erosion.  The restoration may involve fencing off areas which have been damaged by livestock, planting trees to create pockets of shade, re-instating gravel beds, moving rocks or introducing wood structures to restore the morphology and to re-establish a natural habitat area for fish to spawn and for other wildlife.  The overall effect of these works will help to improve the biodiversity of the area and the river bank.