A WHISKY business with links to 1920s US prohibition has continued its growth.

Spey Whisky has launched its Royal Choice single malt in the Tower of London.

The company has North-East roots and last year signed a £140,000 deal with Chicago-based importer Stoller to sell its drink in the US.

It was the first time the firm had been been back in the country since Sunderland-born John McDonough's grandfather, Alec Harvey, moved casks of the whisky from Seaham Hall, in east Durham, to ships in the harbour.

Last year, Mr McDonough told the Northern Echo he was delighted his family link to the US had been revitalised, and said the company, which has headquarters in the North-East, hoped to create jobs.

He said the new product marked another success point in its history.

Mr McDonough said: “This Royal link continues today Royal Choice and we are delighted to take it into new global markets.

“We are confident it will be as well received as it has been at the Royal palaces.”

Mr McDonough previously said Spey was the third-biggest seller of whisky in Taiwan and was being primed for new markets in Russia, France, Brazil and the Middle-East, after his firm, Harvey's of Edinburgh, bought Speyside Distillery.

Family legend says Mr Harvey set up a warehouse in the cellars of the abandoned building, selling and moving their Spey whisky while doing business across the Atlantic in illegal speakeasies.

The legend adds Spey has a Royal link dating back nearly 200 years when Lord Byron gave King George III a barrel of Spey whisky to celebrate his marriage to Annabella Milbanke in 1815 at Seaham Hall.

Records show the barrel was dispatched to the King’s family home at Kew Palace, in Surrey.

Mr McDonough, chief executive of Harvey's of Edinburgh, added: “The last time Spey was drunk in the US may well have been by Al Capone and his cronies.

“The country is experiencing a huge renaissance in single malt Scotch whisky sales.

“My grandfather was quite a character, and up to all sorts of stuff, so I'm sure will be pleased at our successes.

“He did a lot of trade in the North-East, including the exports to the US, but this is big and the scotch whisky market is vibrant.”