BenRiach Distillery: Sixty-Five Years of Silence, Then Three Styles at Once

John Duff built BenRiach in 1898 on a small hill, a "ben," at the site of the old Riach farm in north Speyside. It ran for barely two years before the Pattison Crash tore through the whisky trade and closed it along with dozens of others. What followed was not demolition but something stranger: sixty-five years of silence, with the stills cold while the floor maltings kept working, quietly supplying malted barley to the neighbouring Longmorn distillery by a small private train.

BenRiach at a glance

History of BenRiach

BenRiach's stills stayed cold from 1900 until 1965, when its then owner, Glenlivet Distillers Ltd, renovated the site and started production again. Seagrams bought the distillery in 1985 and doubled capacity from two stills to four, before mothballing it again in 2002. A consortium led by Billy Walker bought it in 2004, formed the new Benriach Distillery Company, and filled its first cask that September. Brown-Forman, the American spirits group behind Jack Daniel's, bought BenRiach along with sister distilleries GlenDronach and Glenglassaugh in 2016.

Dr Rachel Barrie joined as Master Blender across all three distilleries in March 2017, bringing more than 26 years in the industry and, by her own account, over 150,000 malt whisky casks sampled. BenRiach was named Global Whisky Distiller of the Year by the Icons of Whisky Awards in 2015, the year before the Brown-Forman sale.

How BenRiach makes its whisky

What sets BenRiach apart from most Speyside distilleries is that it runs three distinct styles rather than committing to one. Peated distillation began in the early 1970s using barley smoked with Highland peat, and peated batches are still made every year during what the distillery calls its Smoke Season. Triple distillation started as a small-batch experiment in the 1990s and continues as a once-a-year run, producing a lighter, more fruit-forward spirit than the standard double distillation most of its neighbours use. The classic unpeated style sits alongside both, matured across an unusually wide range of cask types.

BenRiach and independent bottlers

BenRiach's long dormant period means pre-1965 stock barely exists, but the distillery has released official bottlings up to 30 years old from its post-revival stock, and independent bottlers have followed with single cask releases across all three house styles, peated, triple-distilled and classic, giving collectors an unusually wide spread to choose from for one distillery.

BenRiach and The Single Cask

We don't currently hold a BenRiach cask. Speyside stock moves quickly through our warehouse, so get in touch directly if that's the region and style you're after and we'll tell you what we have on hand right now.

Plan a bottling inspired by BenRiach

Few distilleries demonstrate as plainly as BenRiach that a single site can hold more than one identity. If that kind of range interests you for your own bottling, whether peated, triple-distilled or classic, start with our whisky casks available page, or read about buying a whisky cask and the four steps to bottling your own whisky. For something under your own name, our private label whisky service covers that end to end. For more on the Speyside region, see our guides to Glenfiddich, Longmorn and GlenDronach.

We hold a wide range of casks to sell to independent bottlers and private customers, drawn from many different distilleries, finished in a variety of wood types from sherry and port casks to bourbon and rum, with real differences in yeast and production style from one distillery to the next. If you are an independent bottler looking for stock, or you have always wanted a cask of your own, talk to us about what we currently hold in the warehouse. Where we don't hold the exact distillery featured in this guide, we say so honestly, and we're usually able to point you toward something close in style from what we do have.

If you have questions about any of this, or about BenRiach in particular, our contact page is the fastest way to reach us.

Frequently asked questions

Why was BenRiach closed for 65 years?

It closed in 1900 after the Pattison Crash devastated the whisky trade. Its floor maltings kept running throughout, supplying neighbouring Longmorn, but distillation itself did not resume until 1965.

Who owns BenRiach now?

Brown-Forman, the American spirits company, since 2016.

Does BenRiach make peated whisky?

Yes. Alongside its classic unpeated style, BenRiach makes a peated expression every year during its Smoke Season, a practice dating to the early 1970s.

What is BenRiach's triple-distilled whisky?

A small annual batch, distilled three times rather than the usual two, producing a lighter, more fruit-forward spirit. The practice dates to the 1990s.

Who is BenRiach's master blender?

Dr Rachel Barrie, who joined in March 2017 and also oversees sister distilleries GlenDronach and Glenglassaugh.

Does The Single Cask sell a BenRiach cask?

Not at the moment. Contact us directly for our current Speyside stock.