This post is syndicated (?) from WhiskyCast
Glen Garioch (pronounced “Geery”), is one of the oldest whisky distilleries in Scotland, dating back to 1785. It is operated by Morrison Bowmore Distillers, which is owned by the Japanese company, Suntory. The distillery was mothballed in 1995, but reopened in 1997. Glen Garioch is a small distillery, situated in the Aberdeenshire village of Old Meldrum. The distillery takes its name from the Valley of the Garioch.
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The Glencadam Distillery is a distillery in Brechin, Angus that produces single malt Scotch whisky. The distillery is presently owned by Angus Dundee plc and produces one malt whisky, with the remainder of production sold to blenders or used within Angus Dundee plc for use in blended whisky brands.
The Glencadam Distillery was founded in 1825, about 200 yards from Brechin Distillery. The first recorded owner is David Scott, who was proprietor from 1827 to 1837. The distillery changed hands a number of times between 1837 and 1891. Gilmour, Thompson & Company Limited purchased the distillery in 1891 and used some of the Glencadam product in their Royal Blend brand of blended whisky. The distillery, as with most others, reduced production during World War II owing to fuel and grain rationing.
Hiram Walker bought the distillery in 1954, they were bought by George Ballantine & Son Ltd two years later, and ownership of the distillery eventually passed to Allied Domecq through further consolidation in the industry. Allied Domecq mothballed the distillery in 2000 before selling the distillery to the present owners, Angus Dundee plc in 2003. Angus Dundee also own the Tomintoul Distillery.
The present owners quickly resumed production and the product from the distillery is used in their own blended and vatted malt whisky products, as well as being sold to other blenders. Glencadam Malt Whisky is available in an official bottling aged 15 years, as a component of Ballantine’s and Stewart’s Cream of the Barley blended whiskies, Angus Dundee’s own blended and vatted whiskies, and in a number of other blended brands. Independent bottlings are also readily available, both as single malt and as vatted malts.
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Edradour distillery is located at Pitlochry, Perthshire, which is reputed to be the smallest in Scotland.
Established in 1825, the distillery has always been run by three men. Only twelve casks are produced each week. They have a free tour which includes a dram.
The stills are the smallest in use of any distillery in Scotland. Were they any smaller, they would be deemed by HM Customs and Excise to be portable, with the implicit capacity for illegal production.
There is a variety of whiskies available from the distillery. Most are chill-filtered, a process by which the esters and oils are removed, producing a cleaner look to the whisky, which when chilled or has ice added to it does not turn cloudy. There is also a non-chill-filtered 12-year-old malt, some of which goes into the “House of Lords” and “Clan Campbell” blends.
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Dalwhinnie distillery, in Scotland, produces Single malt Scotch whisky, classified among the Highland Single Malts. The distillery was founded with the name of the town it is near, Strathspey, in the late 1890s. The site was chosen for its access to clear spring water from Lochan-Doire-Uaine and abundant peat from the surrounding bogs. Set in splendid mountain scenery, Dalwhinnie is the highest distillery in Scotland. The name Dalwhinnie means meeting place, which refers to the meeting of ancient cattle drovers’ routes through the mountains.
In 1897, John Grant, George Sellar and Alexander Mackenzie founded the Strathspey distillery. Production started in 1898 but unfortunately the society was bankrupt the same year. The distillery was sold to A.P. Blyth in 1898 for his son who renamed it Dalwhinnie. Later, in 1905, the American Cook & Bernheimer took control over the distillery. The American distiller was looking for malts to produce blended whiskies for the American market. This is the very first American investment in the Scotch whisky industry. The American adventure continued until the prohibition in the United States in 1920, and the distillery returned to the Scottish fold by the buying up by Lord James Calder, shareholder of MacDonald Greenlees, a whisky blender. After MacDonald Greenlees has been taken over by the Distillers Company Limited, Dalwhinnie became part of another blenders group, James Buchanan, famous for his Black & White blended whisky.
A fire in 1934 stopped production for 3 years, and the reopening in 1938 was short-lived because the second world war brought restrictions on the supply of barley. Since reopening in 1947, the distillery has continued to operate through to the present day, although on-site malting ceased in 1968.
Dalwhinnie has became famous worldwide because it is marketed by its owners, United Distillers, under their Classic Malts brand, launched in 1988. Despite this, only 10% of the production is marketed as single malt, the remaining being used in the Black & White blends.
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The Dalmore is a single malt scotch whisky distilled in Alness, Scotland, about 20 miles north of Inverness. Its location and flavor qualify it as a “highland malt.” The distillery was founded in 1839 by Alexander Matheson.
The award-winning Dalmore Single Highland Malt Whisky Collection is matured in a wooden casks (either sherry wood or American white oak) which, along with the years and the climate, contributes to the flavor of each malt.
The waters of the River Alness are used to produce The Dalmore, and each of these four malts has its own unique character.
Established in 1839 by Alexander Matheson, The Dalmore Distillery, which employs 20 people, sits on the banks of the Cromarty Firth overlooking the Black Isle, the “big meadowland,” from which it takes its name. The distillery was bought by the Mackenzie family in 1886, and the ‘twelve-pointer stag’ was introduced from its clan crest–a symbol that still adorns each and every bottle of Dalmore to this day. The Distillery Manager is Andrew “Scottie” Anderson-Scott. In 2006, he became the youngest person to take the helm at the Dalmore Distillery; interestingly, he was born exactly 99 years after the Mackenzies produced the first spirit at Dalmore. Scottie’s team consists of Brewer Stuart Ross, Head Warehouseman Richard Woods, and Senior Tour Guide Morag Swanson. The small band of mashmen and stillmen at the distillery originate from a handful of local families.
The first Highland whisky festival will take place on the first weekend of June 2007.
The Dalmore distillery is owned and operated by Whyte and Mackay Ltd.
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Balblair Distillery is a Scotch whisky distillery located in Edderton, Ross-shire, Scotland.
Originally founded in 1790, the distillery was rebuilt in 1895 by the designer Charles C. Doig to be closer to the Edderton Railway Station on the Inverness and Ross-shire Railway line. However, so good was the original water source that the rebuilt distillery chose to ignore a nearby burn in favour of the original Ault Dearg burn. To this day, the Balblair Distillery continues to use this original water source.
John Ross, the founder, ran Balblair as a thriving business and in 1824 he was joined by his son, Andrew. The distillery stayed in the Ross family until 1894 when the tenancy was taken over by Alexander Cowan. In 1948 the freehold was bought by Robert Cumming, who promptly expanded the distillery and increased production. Cumming ran the distillery until he retired in 1970 when he sold it to Hiram Walker. In 1996 Balblair Distillery was purchased by Inver House Distillers Limited.
Balblair has one of the oldest archives in distilling, with the first ledger entry dated 25th January 1800. John Ross himself penned that first entry, which read: “Sale to David Kirkcaldy at Ardmore, one gallon of whisky at £1.8.0d”.
Balblair Single Malt whisky is bottled in three vintages — 1997, 1989 and 1979 — with the design inspired by the nearby Pictish stone Clach Biorach, which is thought to be 4000 years old.
The distillery is now owned by Inver House Distillers Limited, whose other distilleries include the Speyburn-Glenlivet Distillery, Knockdhu Distillery, Old Pulteney Distillery and Balmenach Distillery.
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