Briggs of Burton to Showcase Distilling Innovations at drinktec 2025

Looking at the upcoming drinktec 2025, there’s some genuinely exciting stuff happening on the technology front that’s worth paying attention to. Briggs of Burton is heading back to Munich this September with what they’re claiming are some pretty significant advances in distillation efficiency - we’re talking over 90% energy savings in malt whisky production, which if it delivers, could be a real game-changer for the industry.

The headline act seems to be their ThermoDrive system - essentially a next-generation Mechanical Vapour Recompression setup designed to help distilleries hit those increasingly important net-zero targets. They’re also pushing their Column Distillation technology and showcasing a 2Te modular distillery through their CIMC Liquid Process Technology arm.

Kevin Leach, their Chief Commercial Officer, is positioning this as part of a broader push toward “safe, sufficient, and sustainable engineering” - the kind of language we’re hearing more of as the industry grapples with environmental pressures while still needing to scale production and maintain quality.

What’s interesting is they’ll be exhibiting alongside the full CLPT Group family - Ziemann Holvrieka, DME Process Systems, and McMillan Coppersmiths among others. It suggests they’re really trying to present a comprehensive end-to-end solution rather than just individual pieces of kit.

You’ll find them in Hall C2, Stand C2-202 from September 15-19, complete with what sounds like a properly done cocktail bar for their daily happy hours. For those of us watching how production technology is evolving in Scottish whisky, this could be worth a proper look - especially if those energy efficiency claims hold water.