Gordon & Macphail profits dip as whisky firm anticipates tax rise

Hello and welcome to our daily digest of business, financial and economic news from around Scotland.

1. Profit and turnover have dipped at an independent whisky bottler and distiller while it is also facing a six-figure rise in its national insurance bill.

Speymalt Whisky Distributors, which trades as Gordon & Macphail, also warned of the potential for import tariffs in the United States to result in a “significant hit” to its operations.

The family-owned company runs the Benromach and The Cairn distilleries as well as bottling its own whiskies under the Gordon & Macphail brand.

Results for the 12 months to February this year showed turnover of £34.4 million and a pre-tax profit of £4.3 million. Sales of 80-year-old bottles of single malt, which