when high quality whisky flowed in the drain !

An interesting one, though I am not qualified to write on this !

Negligence (Lat. negligentia, literally "not to pick up something") is a failure to exercise the care that a reasonably prudent person would exercise in like circumstances.  It could include acts of both commission and omission – that of people not exercising reasonable care that is expected to think of the potential harm that they might foreseeably cause harm to other people.

India perceivably has no drinking culture and is more of a habit introduced by its colonial rulers.  One such drink is ‘whisky’, a distilled alcoholic beverage, distilled from fermented molasses. Alcoholism is prevalent, perhaps more of arrack and less of whisky.  Understand that some of the best varieties are : Officer's Choice, McDowell's No.1, Bagpiper, Royal Stag, McDowell's No.1, Old Tavern, Teachers  and Original Choice. The finest is stated to be scotch whisky, whose value is steadily rising. This certainly is no post on ‘which whisky is good, which one sells most or the price of the brands’ [again Yours Truly is not qualified to comment on any of these !]

Dumbarton meaning "fort of the Britons", is a town in Scotland. The town lies on the north bank of the River Clydewhere the River Leven flows into the Clyde estuary. Dumbarton functioned as the capital of the ancient Kingdom; and has emerged from the 19th century as a centre for shipbuilding, glassmaking, and whisky production.

Sewerage, waste water and sometimes rain water flows in the drain, for they are constructed for that………. ~ there is news that quality whisky flowed in the drain of Dumbarton, making it the news.  The cause – ‘negligence of workers’.  Newspaper reports suggest that bungling workers flushed thousands of litres of whisky down the drain at a bottling plant by accident. Staff are thought to have dumped the spirit by mistake during a night shift while they cleaned equipment. Instead of emptying out waste water, they chucked out the whisky. The boozy smell was so strong that sewage workers reported the odour. Scottish Water is quoted as stating: “We are continuing to closely monitor our Dumbarton waste water treatment works to ensure that the treatment has not been compromised.”

It reportedly occurred at Chivas Brothers, manufacturer of qualify whisky. The West Dunbartonshire plant employs 600 workers and produces Ballantine’s, the world’s second biggest-selling brand of whisky. Chivas Regal is a blended Scotch whisky produced by Chivas Brothers, owned by Pernod Ricard. Chivas Brothers was first established in 1801. It is the market-leading Scotch whisky aged 12 years and above in Europe and Asia Pacific.

Their regal lines include : Chivas Regal 12 Year Old: Blended from whiskies matured for at least 12 years; Chivas Regal 18 Year Old and Chivas Regal 25 Year Old.  From a grocery store in Aberdeen in 1801 to its present day status the Company has transformed a lot.  In the early 1900s, Chivas Brothers decided to create their most aged blended Scotch whisky to export to the U.S, where the booming economy after the turn of the century was fueling demand for luxury goods. The whisky was named Chivas Regal.

It is at their plant in Dumbarton that thousands of litres of fine whisky was reportedly flushed down the drain. Instead of draining away waste water, the workers on duty somehow flushed out thousands of litres of bulk whisky.  One of my friends remarked that it would make a whole lot of difference, if it had been accidentally mixed to the water tank rather than the drain………..

Here is malt flowing mixed with running water… after a road accident to truck carrying malt in gunny bags…….. and that is the Marine connection…..

With regards – S. Sampathkumar

1^st  March 2013.