A whiskey distiller in Dumbarton, Scotland is investigating the mix-up that led to thousands of liters of whiskey being flushed down the drain.

It happened earlier this week during the night shift at Chivas Brothers.  Workers about to clean the equipment in between batches of booze, and were supposed to drain away wastewater.  But instead they flushed out 18,000 liters of bulk whiskey.  And no one even noticed until 11:00 AM the next day.

The bosses were said to be “furious”.

The company says it all went to the local sewage treatment plant and not into The River Leven and the water agencies have been informed.

The distillery produces Chivas Regal and Ballantine’s, which is the world’s number two selling whiskey.