The National Manufacturing Institute Scotland (NMIS) is validating its own robotic sensing kit, developed at its Digital Process Manufacturing Centre (DPMC) in Irvine, on a Boston Dynamics Spot robot at the Bacardi-owned John Dewar & Sons maturation site near Glasgow. The initiative is also supported by the Scotch Whisky Research Institute (SWRI).

The system uses a sensor, held by a 3D-printed arm created by NMIS engineers, to detect ethanol vapour levels as the robot follows a defined path through the warehouse. As part of the collaboration, Bacardi helped design the experiment and led baseline testing ahead of the trial.

The early-stage trial explores how autonomous inspection could be applied across multiple industries – from whisky to chemicals and energy. While the focus here is on whisky casks, the same sensing approach could also help improve efficiency on other routine inspection tasks in different manufacturing environments.

Ethanol evaporation is a natural part of the whisky maturation process, which happens as the liquid sits in the barrel to age for a minimum of three years before it legally becomes Scotch whisky. This loss is known as the “angel’s share” and requires careful monitoring to ensure as much liquid as possible is kept in the barrel, as well as ensuring safety.

Traditional inspection involves significant manual handling and reliance on visual cues, which is time consuming and prone to inconsistency. Robotics could offer a repeatable, data-driven alternative – though NMIS is clear this is an early-stage proof of concept rather than a live operational system.

The next step could see the similar sensor technology trialled in a different type of robot, this time embedded directly into the machine rather than mounted on an arm to deliver greater reliability and improved functionality.

Family-owned spirits company Bacardi has operated five distilleries across Scotland – Aultmore, Aberfeldy, Royal Brackla, Craigellachie, and Macduff – for more than 25 years, nurturing and respecting the heritage of each, while continuously innovating and embracing the latest technology to reduce environmental impact and increase efficiency and quality. Most recently, the company added three new state-of-the-art aging warehouses at its 200-acre blending and maturation centre, Poniel in southeast Glasgow where these trials have taken place.

Angus Holmes, Whisky Category Director at Bacardi said: “Craftmanship and heritage remains at the heart of our production of DEWAR’S® Blended Scotch whisky and our portfolio of single malts, but there is also great potential for innovation and technology to support the industry to become more efficient and data-driven.

“We’re proud to be playing our part to pioneer this new technology in the whisky industry and look forward to progressing from these trials to developing a live system that can be used at our sites in the future.

“The team loved having the robot dog around so much we gave him his own Bacardi name – ‘Royal Bark-la’ in homage to our ROYAL BRACKLA® Single Malt.”

Andrew Hamilton Head of the Digital Process Manufacturing Centre (DPMC), added: “Our aim here is to validate our own sensing kit and see whether robots can take on this type of inspection work.

“The early results are promising, and it shows how manufacturing technologies being developed in Scotland are relevant across many sectors including the whisky industry.

“It’s been fantastic to work with Bacardi on this – a great example of a company embracing and contributing to innovative new approaches for the industry.”

Officially opened earlier in 2025, the DPMC, based in North Ayrshire, supports the process manufacturing industries with next-generation technologies, funded in part through the £251 million Ayrshire Growth Deal. Delivered by NMIS, which is operated by the University of Strathclyde and part of the High Value Manufacturing (HVM) Catapult, the DPMC is a partnership between NMIS, North Ayrshire Council, and CPI, working together to drive innovation and growth across Scotland’s process manufacturing sector.