Banff
The distillery was built by James Simpson Jr. in
1863 to replace a distillery of the
same name from 1824.
Banff practiced triple distillation
before converting to the double
distillation method. Banff had a
rich and unique history, the
distillery was plagued fires, and
was damaged by a severe blaze in
1877. During World War 2 an enemy
plane bombed the site, destroying
warehouse number 12. The Banffshire
Journal reported that thousands of
gallons of whisky were lost and it
is said that Boyndie burn ran with
so much whisky that farm animals
became intoxicated. In 1933 the
distillery came under the ownership
of SMD and was closed and demolished
in 1983. Banff can still be readily
had through independent bottlings.
Established: 1863
Pronunciation: Banff
Region: Speyside
Tours: No longer in operation /
Silent Still
Phone: None
Location: No longer standing
Style
Light, grassy
Range
None from the distillery but
available in independent bottlings
(try Signatory or cadenhead)
http://www.wmcadenhead.com/
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Ben Wyvis
A closed distillery that was only
open from 1965 and 1977. The single
malt is extremely rare and difficult
to find. Ben Wyvis’ stills live
on and are now part of the Glengyle
distillery.
Gaelic Meaning: the terrible hill
Established: 1965
Pronunciation: Ben Wyviss
Region: Highlands
Tours: Closed / Silent Still
Phone: none
Location: Invergordon, Ross-shire,
IV18 0HP
Style
Light, dry
Range
None from the distillery, try
Signatory
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Braeval (Braes
of Glenlivet)
Braeval, is one of the three distilleries in the
glen of the Livet, and was once
known as Braes of Glenlivet until
its name was changed in 1995. It has
no maltings on site but sports an
artificial pagoda roof that helps
the distillery blend into its local
surroundings. The distillery is
unusual in that it has no warehouse
or cask filling facilities on site,
the spirit is shipped to a warehouse
in Keith. One source claims that
Braeval is 1,100 feet above sea
level, which if true would make it
higher than Dalwhinnie, who normally
claims the title of highest
distillery in
Scotland.
Gaelic Meaning: Hillside
Established: 1973
Region: Speyside
# of Stills: 6
Tours: Not open to the public
Location: Chapeltown, Ballindalloch,
Banffshire, AB37 9JS
Style
Light & sweet
Range
None from the distillery but
available in independent bottlings
(try Gordan and Macphail’s
Connoisseurs Choice)
www.chivas.com
http://www.gordonandmacphail.com/op_brandsConnoisseurs.html
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Brora
Brora was originally built in 1819
by the Duke of Sutherland. The
distillery was known as Clynelish
until the present Clynelish
distillery was built next door in
1967. The distillery was renamed
Brora (Clynelish A for a time) until
sadly the distillery closed in 1983.
The stills remain at the distillery
so hopefully the distillery will one
day reopen. Brora was unique in that
it was a heavily peated malt, more
so than virtually any other Scottish
mainland whisky. Brora is nothing
like its neighbor Chynelish in the
appearance of the distillery or the
whisky it once produced. Brora
should become very popular with
collectors so it may be wise to
obtain a bottle now.
Established: 1819 (known as
Clynelish until 1967)
Region: Highlands
# of stills: Closed Silent Still /
Stills remain
Tours: Closed
Phone: None
Location: Brora, Sutherland, KW9
6LR
Style
Firm, chewy, peaty
Range
30 year old (rare & released in 4
different bottlings)
Can be found in several independent
bottlings
www.malts.com
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Caperdonich
Caperdonich distillery was originally built in
1897 as Glen Grant No.2 to serve as
a back up to the mighty Glen Grant
Distillery. However following the
Pattison's crash the distillery soon
closed as the demand for whisky
disappeared. In 1965 the distillery
reopened as Caperdonich and was
later purchased by Seagrams in 1977.
Caperdonich and Glen Grant share the
same water source but the whiskies
are not similar. Caperdonich is
lighter and tends to be smokier then
Glen Grant.
Name Meaning: Secret Source
Pronunciation: Coper Donich
Established: 1897
Region: Speyside
# of Stills: 4
Tours: Not open to the public
Location: Rothes, Morayshire,
AB38 7BN
Style
Medium bodied, slightly smokey,
dried apricots
Range
None from the distillery but
available in independent bottlings
(try Gordan and Macphail’s
Connoisseurs Choice or Duncan &
talyor)
www.chivas.com
http://www.gordonandmacphail.com/op_brandsConnoisseurs.html
www.dtcscotch.com
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Coleburn
A closed distillery that is typically only
available from independent bottlers.
The original distillery was founded
in 1897 and then sold in 1916 to the
Clynelish distillery. The Distillery
was closed in 1985, and its license
was cancelled in 1992 and it’s
unlikely that it will ever open
again.
Established: 1824
Pronunciation: Cole Burn
Region: Speyside
Tours: No longer in operation /
Silent still
Phone: None
Location: Longmorn by Elgin, Moray,
IV38 8GN
Style
Dry, fruity sweet
Range
None from the distillery but
available in independent bottlings
(try Gordan and Macphail’s
Connoisseurs Choice or Signatory)
http://www.gordonandmacphail.com/op_brandsConnoisseurs.html
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Convalmore
Convalmore was established 1894 and rebuilt in
1910 due to a fire. A continuous
column still was installed at this
point, with the intention of using
this still for producing malt
whisky. This turned out to be a
failure and the still was not used
after the First World War.
Modernised in 1965, the distillery
operated until its closure 20 years
later. In 1992 William Grant & Sons,
who own the neighboring Glenfiddich
and Balvenie distilleries, bought
Convalmore to use as warehousing for
their maturing whisky stocks.
Established: 1894
Pronunciation: Con Vun Loor
Region: Speyside
Tours: No longer in operation /
Silent still
Phone: None
Location: Dufftown, Banffshire, AB55
4BD
Style
Fruity, malty
Range
None from the distillery but
available in independent bottlings
(try Signatory)
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Dallas Dhu
Dallas Dhu was closed in 1983 but can still be
found in numerous independent
bottlings. Located on the outskirts
of Forres, the Dallas Dhu distillery
has been preserved in the form of a
Historic Scotland museum and it’s
unlikely that the distillery will
ever reopen. The distillery was
built in 1898 by Alexander Edward
under the name of Dallasmore.
Established: 1898
Pronunciation: Dallas Due
Region: Speyside
Tours: Opened as a museum in 1988
Phone: 01309 676548
Location: Forres, Morayshire, IV36
2RR
Style
Smooth, delicate, honey notes
Range
None from the distillery but
available in independent bottlings
(try Gordan and Macphail’s
Connoisseurs Choice, Signatory or
the Rare Malt Collection)
http://www.gordonandmacphail.com/op_brandsConnoisseurs.html
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Glen Albyn
Glen Albyn had an on and off again
existence since it opened in 1846.
The distillery was eventually closed
in 1983 and can still be found in
independent bottlings.
Established: 1846
Region: Highlands
Tours: Closed / No longer stands
Phone: none
Former Location: Inverness,
Inverness-shire, IV3 5LD
Style
Light, Citrus
Range
None form the distillery but try
Gordon & MacPhail
www.gordonandmacphail.com
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Glencraig
Glencraig isn’t an actual distillery but a
whisky that was produced at
Glenburgie distillery between 1958
and 1981. Existing bottlings may
become quite valuable since the
stills the spirit was made in no
longer exist. Glencraig was named
after Willie Craig the Ballantines
director of Highland Malt
Distilleries, making him one of very
few people to have a single malt
whisky named after them.
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Glen Flagler
Built within the Moffat grain
distillery in the South of Scotland
as recentl as 1965, Glen Flagler had
one of the shortest life spans of a
whisky distillery. In 1985 the
distillery was closed. Another malt
whisky called Killyloch was produced
at the distillery and bottlings
Garnheath Grain can also be found
from time to time. |
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Glenglassaugh
The Glenglassaugh Distillery was founded in 1875
in the village
of Portsoy. The distillery was
closed in 1986 and primarily
produced whisky for blenders. At one
time the whisky contributed to Cutty
Sark, Famous Grouse and Laing's.
Established: 1875
Pronunciation: Glen Spey
Region: Speyside
# of stills: Silent Still / Closed
Tours: Silent Still
Phone: none
Style
Fruity, malty
Range
None from the distillery but
available in independent bottlings
(try Gordon and MacPhail)
http://www.gordonandmacphail.com/ob_gordonMacPhail.html
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Glen Keith
A fairly new distillery built in 1957 on the
bank of the River Isla opposite
Strathisla. The majority of Glen
Keith’s operation is automated that
began in 1980. There is no
warehousing at Glen Keith, the
spirit is matured at a main
warehousing facilities a few miles away. Glen Keith draws
it’s water from the Balloch Hill
spings.
Established: 1957
Pronunciation: Glen Keith
Region: Speyside
# of stills: 6
Tours: Not open to the public
Phone: 01542 783042
Location: Keith, Banffshire AB55 3BU
Style
Fruity, Tart
Range
10 year old
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Glenlochy
Glenlochy is distillery that didn’t
survive the down turn in scotch
consumption of the early 1980’s. The
distillery was closed in 1983 and
can be found in independent
bottlings.
Established: 1898
Region: Highlands
Tours: Closed / No longer stands
Phone: none
Former Location: Inverness,
Inverness-shire, IV3 5LD
Style
Fruity, light peat
Range
25 year old Rare Malts
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Glen Mhor
Glen Mohr was established in 1892 in partnership
with James Mackinlay of the
Leith blending house. Glen Mhor was
the first the first Scottish
distillery to convert from
traditional floor maltings to
mechanical maltings. The distillery
was closed in 1983 and demolished in
1986.
Gaelic Meaning: Great Glen
Established: 1892
Pronunciation: Glen Verw
Region: Speyside
# of stills: Silent still / no
longer in prodcution
Tours: No longer standing
Phone: None
Location: Inverness,
Inverness-shire, IV3 5LU
Style
Sweet
Range
Only available as an independent
bottling
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Glenugie
The first record of Glenugie
is from the early 1830Æs, where as
many distilleries are converted from
breweries into distilleries,
Glenugie was converted into a
brewery in 1837. The distillery was
converted back to a distillery in
1873 and had two stills. The
distillery is situated near
Peterhead where the river Ugie meets
the sea. It was sold to a consortium
from the oil industry but
unfortunately their ambitions were
never fulfilled and the distillery
closed in 1983. It has since been
demolished, and the auction prices
reflect its scarcity. |
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Glenury Royal
Captain Robert Barclay, who
was the first man to walk 1000 miles
in 1000 hours, built Glenury Royal
in Stonehaven, a little South of
Aberdeen. The first spirit flowed
from the distillery on January 5th
1833. Barclay was the local Member
of Parliament and it was through his
friend ôMr. Windsorö that the
distillery was granted the right to
use the Royal suffix by King George
IV. The distillery was purchased by
DCL in 1956 and largely rebuilt
between 1965 and 1966 with the
building of a new mill room, mash
house and tun room, with the number
of stills also doubled from two to
four. It was mothballed however in
1985 and was then subsequently sold
for a housing development. A 12 year
old bottled by J Gillon & Co has
performed well at auction.
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Hillside
Located in Montrose, on the
River Esk, The Hillside distillery
is also known by the name of Glen
Esk. The distillery started life as
a Jute mill, becoming a distillery
in 1898. The distillery, which
contributed significantly in the VAT
69 blend, closed in 1985. As much of
the whisky went into blends, and it
is rarely found as a single malt. |
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Imperial
Imperial closed several times in its
history before it was finally
mothballed in 1998. Built in 1897
the distillery operated 2 stills
until it expanded to 4 in 1965.
Imperial is still available at a
reasonable price from many
independent bottlers.
Established: 1897
Pronunciation: Imperial
Region: Speyside
# of stills: 4
Tours: Mothballed
Phone: 01340 810276
Location: Aberlour, Banffshire,
AB43 9QP
Style
Fruity, some smoke
Range
None from the distillery but
available in independent bottlings
(try Gordon and MacPhail or
Cadenhead)
http://www.gordonandmacphail.com/ob_gordonMacPhail.html
http://www.wmcadenhead.com/
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Inverleven
The distillery complex was
built by Hiram Walker in 1938 and
contained Inverleven distillery and
Dumbarton grain distillery. This was
recently dismantled and the boys
from Bruichladdich removed alot of
the equipment, thereby saving it
from scrap. In 1959 Inverleven was
fitted with a third still: the first
Lomond still which was known as
Lomond and was heavier in character.
The malt side of the operation
ceased production in 1991. Neither
of the two malts has ever been
bottled by the distillery owners,
but independent bottlings are
available.
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Kinclaith
Kinclaith was one of
Glasgow's distilleries. Established
as recently as 1957, it was
dismantled in the 1970's. The
distillery's malt went mainly into
blends, although some was bottled as
a single by Cadenheads and Gordon &
MacPhail in the 1980's and '90's
(Signatory may soon join that short
list). It is very rare whisky and
commands very high prices so if you
find a bottle tucked away somewhere
it's time to celebrate: miniatures
go for over £100 at auction! |
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Littlemill
One of several distilleries
with a legitimate claim to being the
oldest distillery in Scotland,
Littlemill is situated near Bowling
on the north bank of the Clyde close
to Glasgow. The first claim of the
distillery's existence is from at
least 1772 when accommodation was
built for the distillery's excise
officers to live in. However new
evidence has emerged suggesting that
the distillery was purchased by
George Buchanan in 1750 when he
bought Auchterlonie estate. Up until
the 1930Æs the distillery's produce
was triple distilled. The stills in
the distillery were of unique
design, attributed to Mr Thomas the
owner of the distillery, being pot
stills with rectifying columns at
their neck (much like the ones you
would expect to see at a grain
distillery). The hope was that this
would make a whisky which could
mature more quickly. At one stage
the distillery made three different
types of malt whisky, Littlemill,
Dunglass and Dumbuck. From 1972
however the distiller concentrated
on producing solely Littlemill. The
distillery has had many owners
throughout its history but is now
owned by Loch Lomond Distillery Co.
It was reopened for a short spell in
1989 but has since been closed and
the distilling equipment partly
dismantled. Constant rumors that the
present owners plan to reopen the
distillery on a small scale were
sent up in flames in September 2004,
when a major fire destroyed the
distillery building.
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Lochside
The Lochside distillery in
Montrose was the main malt in the
McNab blend. The distillery which
started out as Deuchar's Brewery,
distilled whisky from 1957 until it
was closed by owners, Allied
distillers in 1992. Although the
warehouses have been demolished, the
distillery still stands on the
corner on the way north out of
Montrose. Mostly bottled by
independent bottlers, Lochside
single malt is not widely available.
Described by Murray McDavid as "the
Springbank of the East". |
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Mosstowie
Miltonduff distillery was build in 1824 and is a
big part of the Ballantine blends.
At one time the distillery operate
two Lomond stills and produced a
heavy, oily whisky called Mosstowie.
These stills were removed in 1981
and replaced with traditional
stills. Mosstowie can be found in
independent bottlings and should be
very collectable in the future.
Established: 1824
Pronunciation:
Region: Speyside
# of Stills: 6
Tours: Not open to the public
Phone: 01343 547433
Location: Elgin, Morayshire, IV30
3TQ
Style
Sweet, nutty
Range
10 year old
15 year old
1968 (rare)
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North Port-Brechin
Brechin is Scotland's
smallest city, located on near the
East coast, about 20 miles north of
Dundee. It was once walled, and this
distillery took its name from its
location, close to the North gate
(or North Port) to the city.
Distilling commenced at North Port
in 1820, under the ownership of The
Townhead Distillery Company, and
locally the distillery was often
known as 'Townhead'. The company was
purchased by DCL in 1922, and
suffered a periods of closure from
1928 until 1937, and during the war
years.
Following the war It operated in
continual production until 1983,
when it was one of the victims of
the many distillery closures that
year. Sadly, too much of the
workings have gone for this once
great distillery to distil again,
and bottlings of North Port are
becoming hard to find.
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Pittyvaich
Pittyvaich was the sister distillery to the much
more popular Dufftown. Pittyvaich
was modeled after the Dufftown
distillery even down to the stills.
The two distilleries even shared
warehouse space. Pittyvaich had a
very short life span, it was opened
in 1975 and closed in 1993.
Established: 1975
Pronunciation: Pitty Vaith
Region: Speyside
# of Stills: Closed / Silent Still
Tours: Closed
Phone: None
Location: Dufftown, Banffshire, AB55
4BR
Style
Fruity, malty, sherry
Range
12 year old Flora Fauna
Some independent bottlings exist
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Port Ellen
It seems unthinkable that
Port Ellen should be closed, with
Islay whiskies as popular as they
are now. Still, it is and will not
reopen in its current form so it is
looking like a hot tip to collect.
Built in 1825, the Distillery has
had a difficult past, closed from
1929 and only re-opened in 1967 to
enjoy only a seemingly final 17
years production. Acquired by UDV,
Port Ellen became surplus to
requirements with the company's
presence in Lagavulin providing an
Islay malt for the group and Caol
Ila generating output for blended
whiskies.
Much of the inner workings of the
Distillery and the exterior building
remained standing for a long time,
but sadly, the stillhouse was
demolished in 2003. Bottles have
performed well at auction, with an
1891 bottling reaching £11,000 in
2001.
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Rosebank
Situated on the banks of the
Forth-Clyde Canal between Edinburgh
and Glasgow lies Rosebank
distillery. The present distillery
dates back to 1840, although there
are records of distillation under
the name of Rosebank taking place
locally prior to this. With the
regeneration of the canal (driven by
the Falkirk water wheel) it has been
muted that the distillery could
become a focal point of the area's
industrial heritage, but most likely
as a museum rather than a
distillery. Truly, the Queen of the
Lowlands this distillery closed in
1993. It remains intact, so could
potentially distil again...we live
in hope!
distillery closed in 1993, although
remains intact, so could potentially
distil again...we live in hope! |
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St. Magdalene
The original buildings of
this closed distillery are on the
Glasgow to Edinburgh railway line at
the eastern end of Linlithgow, by
which name its malt is sometimes
known as. The site had several uses
before it became a distillery in
1798. It was originally a hospital
opened in the 12th Century used to
treat lepers. It was then converted
in to a convent known as St
Magdalene convent or Lazar House.
The distillery was built adjacent to
an existing distillery known as
Bonnytoun (at one time there was
five licensed distilleries in
Linlithgow). The owner of Bonnytoun
bought St Magdalene around 1800 and
shifted his emphasis onto St
Magdalene, as it was the more
successful of the two distilleries.
So successful was it that expansion
followed Bonnytoun was absorbed into
one big complex. In 1914/1915 the
distillery became one of the
original five distilleries that
merged to form the Scottish Malt
Distillers, the other four being
Clydesdale, Glenkinchie, Grange and
Rosebank. Sadly Glenkinchie is the
only one out of the original five
still in production. St Magdalene
closed in 1983 and has been
converted into flats. We will miss
this elegant whisky in the future.
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Tamnavulin
Tamnuvulin has had a fairly short
existence, founded in 1966 and
closed in 1996. There is hope that
the distillery will reopen one day.
The distillery was built in response
to the rising demand of malt whisky
for blending. Tamnavulin is a very
modern distillery except for its
visitor center which is located in
an old mill. Tamnavulin is a sweet
floral malt that hopefully will fire
up the still once more.
Gaelic Meaning: the mill on the hill
Established: 1996
Region: Speyside
Pronunciation: Tam na Voo lin
# of Stills: 6
Tours: Currently closed and not
prodcuing
Location:
Ballindalloch, Banffshire, AB37 9JA
Style
Floral
Range
12 year old
24 year old
28 year old
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