Distilleries

Knockando Distillery: The First Distillery Lit by Electricity

Knockando was reportedly the first distillery in Scotland built with electric lighting in 1898, and it later lent its name and casks to J&B Ultima, a 128-whisky blend. History, production and h...

Roseisle Distillery: The £40 Million Giant Built to Stay Anonymous

Roseisle cost Diageo around £40 million to build in 2010, in what's usually called the largest malt distillery ever built in Scotland in one go, though not the largest by output. Its history, scale...

Parkmore Distillery: The Best-Preserved Ghost in Speyside

Parkmore stopped distilling in 1931 but was never demolished. Its stone buildings and pagoda roof still stand near Dufftown, one of the best-preserved closed distilleries in Speyside. History and h...

Convalmore Distillery: The Speyside Ghost That Became a Rival's Warehouse

Convalmore closed in 1985 and was bought by its Dufftown neighbour William Grant & Sons for warehouse space in 1992. History, the 1909 fire, tasting notes and how to find a bottle today.

GlenAllachie Distillery: The Speyside Workhorse Billy Walker Turned Into an Award Winner

For the better part of fifty years, GlenAllachie made whisky that almost nobody ever tasted on its own. Built in the late 1960s to feed blended Scotch, it passed between three different owners with...

Tamdhu Distillery: The Speyside Malt That Went All-In on Sherry

Tamdhu sits on the banks of the River Spey at Knockando, in the thick of Speyside's distillery country, but it looks slightly different from its neighbours the moment you see it from the air. There...

Speyburn Distillery: The Pagoda on the Hill of the Gibbet

Speyburn sits in a wooded glen just outside Rothes, tucked against a hillside below a spot the locals have long called Cnock na Croiche, the hill of the gibbet, which is how the distillery picked u...

Benromach Distillery: The Independent Bottler That Bought Its Own Distillery

Benromach spent most of the twentieth century opening, closing and changing hands, and by 1983 it had stopped altogether. What makes it worth a proper look now is who brought it back. Gordon & ...

Ballindalloch Distillery: Inside Scotland’s First Single Estate Distillery

Ballindalloch calls itself Scotland's first single estate distillery, Ballindalloch calls itself Scotland’s first single estate distillery, reflecting the unusually close connection between the far...

Coleburn Distillery: The Speyside Ghost That's Coming Back

Most of the closed distilleries in this series stay closed. Coleburn is the exception worth watching. It shut in 1985, had its distilling licence formally revoked in 1992, and spent the following t...