Whisky collectors prove a dram nuisance on Moray road

Police have been forced to close a road after an influx of whisky collectors headed to a distillery desperate to get their hands on a limited edition bottle.

AA traffic reports for the area around the Macallan Distillery in Craigellachie said around 300 cars were in the area on Tuesday morning.

Fans travelled from around the UK and were said to have camped overnight in some cases to try and snap up a bottle of the limited edition Macallan Genesis, on sale at 10 am.

Police closed a section of the B9102 as cars were parked on verges and began to block the road.

Motorists tweeted their anger at the organisational problems, posting photos of the make-shift car park.

The road re-opened shortly before 10 am but whisky fans continued to voice their anger online.

A spokeswoman for the distillery said procedures would be reviewed, adding: "We recognise that due to the demand and limited availability some of our customers may be disappointed not to have been successful in purchasing one"

"Whilst every effort was made to communicate to our customers that there would be no access to the site prior to 9.30am on 14th August, a number of people hoping to secure one of these limited bottles gathered at the gates causing a local road to become blocked"

"After we contacted local police to help minimise any disruption, the road was swiftly cleared and sales got underway at the distillery when it opened at 10am"

"We are grateful to Moray Police for their assistance and in light of the issues, we are reviewing our procedures"