Rising demand for deluxe scotch whisky in China, Taiwan, Korea and other Asian countries has promoted Bacardi to invest more than $250 million to expand production of its Dewar's brand in Scotland.

The Bermuda-based company intends to add a new maturation warehouse and blend centre in the Scottish city of Glasgow, which will include new bottling lines and packing equipment.

Bacardi is also finalising options to buy a 100-acre site in central Scotland for a second maturation and blending facility.

The Dewar's brand of whisky includes 12-year, 15-year and 18-year maturities and therefore any increase in production has to be planned with a significant lead-up time. It is anticipated the $250m investment will be spread out over the next 10 years.

Bacardi is the largest privately-held spirits company in the world. It bought the Dewar's brand in 1998 and has five distilleries in Scotland.

The company has seen a surge in demand for quality brand whisky in the booming economies of Asia, where people now have greater purchasing power and are seeking the best whiskies they can buy.

And with changes to spirit duty restrictions in India another massive market has become more accessible.

Imports of scotch whisky to China jumped 27 percent last year to more than $110m, making the country one of the ten most valuable export markets in the world for scotch, according to the Scotch Whisky Association.

"Demand for whisky is more favourable today," said Joaquin Bacardi, senior global brand director for Dewar's.

Speaking to The Royal Gazette, he said conditions were now favourable for customers in Asia to go out and buy high quality whiskies, and Dewar's 12-year blend is one of those premier regarded products.

Andreas Gembler, president and CEO of Bacardi Limited, said: "Demand for Dewar's premium whiskies has grown significantly, especially in Asia and other emerging markets where the brands were launched only in the past three years.

"To support our growth, we will invest more than $250m in additional capacity to meet these needs, creating an entirely new infrastructure to support higher inventories of maturing whisky and increasing our blending, bottling and packing capabilities."

He added: "Bacardi has a rich history of investing in our brands and their heritagethe backbone of our fine spirits. This substantial plan demonstrates our clear commitment to Scotland, known around the world for its quality whisky, and to our Dewar's brands, favourites among consumers."

The redevelopment of the existing Dewar's site at Parkhead, Glasgow, together with a planned second maturation and blending facility in the central Scotland region will increase jobs and provide knock-on benefits for the Scottish economy including the sourcing of packaging and purchasing materials from suppliers within the country, according to Bacardi.

As well as the increasing demand for the Dewar's whisky range in Asia, Dewar's is the number one selling blended scotch in the US.