A global drinks giant is planning to shift the bottling of its Irish whiskey brands to Scotland and Spain.

Suntory Global Spirits (SGS), which owns leading Scotch whisky brands such as Laphroaig, Auchentoshan and Bowmore, has signalled its intention to relocate bottling activity for its Irish brands from Cooley Distillery in County Louth.

Cooley Distillery, which was acquired by SGS through its Beam Inc predecessor in 2011, makes the Kilbeggan, Tyrconnell and Connemara whiskey brands.

According to the Irish Independent, SGS informed staff at Cooley Distillery of the plans to relocate bottling activity to other group sites in Spain and Scotland last month.

READ MORE:

Scotch whisky chief: Value of industry 'not fully understood'

Whisky firm eyes expansion after securing £35 million lending package

Scotch whisky chief steps up at global industry giant

The move would see SGS bottle its Irish whiskey brands at its operational sites in Springburn, Glasgow and Segovia, Spain.

SGS is one of the world's leading premium spirits companies,  with annual global sales of approximately $5.5 billion as a total business. It employs roughly 400 people in Scotland.

In an interview with The Herald back in July, Robbie Millar, then President of Global Whiskies & Prestige at SGS, described Scotch whisky as a “massive success story” for Scotland.

However, he contended that he does not “always think the value of the industry is fully understood, whether for the international sales it generates, or the employment and in-bound tourism it creates.”