Distilleries

Glen Keith Distillery: Chivas Brothers' Own Laboratory

Glen Keith spent decades as Chivas Brothers' own experimental distillery, then sat silent for fourteen years. We bottled one of its rare aged casks ourselves, here is the full story of Speyside's q...

Glen Spey Distillery: The Oatmeal Mill That Still Feeds J&B

Glen Spey is one of five distilleries packed into Rothes, built from an old oatmeal mill and fitted with rare purifier stills that keep its spirit light enough for J&B. We bottled two casks fin...

Cardhu Distillery: The Single Malt Hiding Inside Johnnie Walker

Cardhu quietly ranks among the best-selling single malts in the world, yet almost everything it makes goes into Johnnie Walker. Here is the story of the farm that started it, the 2003 controversy t...

Glendullan Distillery: Diageo's Biggest Secret

Glendullan produces around 3.7 million litres of spirit a year for Diageo, yet Whiskybase lists barely 300 independent bottlings of it. We bottled one ourselves, here is the full story of Scotland'...

Cragganmore Distillery: Speyside's Deliberate Outlier

Diageo picked Cragganmore to represent Speyside's whole range of character, not just its honeyed side. Flat-topped stills and old-fashioned worm tubs give it a savoury, meaty style unlike its neigh...

Tormore Distillery: Speyside's Extravagant Comeback

Tormore looks like nowhere else in Speyside, and spent sixty years as an anonymous blending malt despite it. We look at its extravagant design, its 2022 sale to Elixir Distillers, our own cask note...

Aberlour Distillery: History, Casks & Whisky

Aberlour is one of Speyside's most sherry-driven distilleries, and one of the least visible by name. We look at its history, its sherry cask policy, the two independent casks we've bottled ourselve...

Glen Moray Distillery: The Wine Cask Pioneer on Elgin's Gallows Hill

Glen Moray guide: the Elgin brewery that became Speyside's great experimenter — gallows-hill history, Chardonnay-cask pioneering, La Martiniquaise's expansion, what it tastes like, our own cask-str...

Glenlossie Distillery: The Top-Class Malt Almost Nobody Bottles

In 1974 the blending industry ranked just a dozen Scottish malts as top class, and Glenlossie was one of them. Here is the full story of the quiet Speyside workhorse behind Haig, and the family of ...

Mortlach Distillery: Speyside's Beast of Dufftown

Six mismatched stills, worm tub condensers and a nickname it never tried to shake off: Mortlach is Speyside's meatiest whisky, and one of the region's longest-standing favourites among independent ...