Active Scotch whisky distilleries

Maybe trying to say anything 'serious' about a distillery in Scotland after
having sampled three different bottlings is almost just as mad as trying
to say anything after tasting just one expression. Nevertheless, sampling
a statistically significant number of different bottlings from each distillery
(let's say a dozen) is simply beyond the stretch of my wallet.
 
So, I decided fairly arbitrarily on my goal during phase III of my mission;
trying to sampling six (or more) bottlings from every active distillery in
Scotland. It took me a few years to accomplish this goal - but after I did,
I finally felt that I could begin to express some of my personal opinions
about the character & quality of the 'average' whisky from that distillery.

Just see the Distillery Data Overview as a 'elementary distillery guide'.
I'll try to keep the pages as up-to-date as possible, but it's hard to keep
track of the status of some distilleries. I use the world wide web for much
of my 'research', but sometimes I'm confronted with conflicting information.
 
Just before I added this page to the site (autumn of 2002) I learned that
Allt-A-Bhainne, Benriach, Braes of Glenlivet and Caperdonich were being
mothballed. But when I went on-line to check the validity of the data I
found out that lots of other whisky websites still listed these distilleries
as 'active'. Well, that's just aggravating...
 
Of course, the malt maniacs were alarmed. When malt maniac Serge
Valentin asked Pernod Ricard about these mothballings, they replied;

"We are committed to the long term growth of the Scotch Whisky business and the development of our brands. Following the completion of a review of our distilling operations, Chivas Brothers will concentrate the production of its premium blended and malt whiskies at six distilleries: Aberlour, Glenallachie, The Glenlivet, Glen Grant, Strathisla and Longmorn. In order to balance customer requirements, inventory levels and sales forecasts, this will involve the temporary closure of the distilling facilities at Allt a Bhainne, Braeval, Benriach and Caperdonich. Whilst there are no immediate plans for the reopening of these four facilities, they are not being permanently closed and remain in our plans as we look to grow our business and to maintain the high quality..." <snip>

That was in 2002 - it goes without saying I have mixed feelings about the game of mothball that's been
going on. But as sad as I feel about the disappearance of active distilleries from the Scottish landscape,
it would make my 'job' a lot easier. I wouldn't have to sample any bottlings from these silent distilleries
during phase II & III of my own 'Scotland by Dram' project - well, at least not until they're revived again.
 
And actually, that's what happened in many cases. When I wrapped up an update of this page in 2009,
Allt-A-Bhainne, Benriach and Braes of Glenlivet (Braeval) all had been revived; only Caperdonich has
remained mothballed. Given the credit crisis that hit the world in the late noughties, it doesn't seem
very likely that Caperdonich will be revived any time soon. If earlier experiences with other closed
distilleries are any indication, the longer a distillery remains inactive, the less likely a revival becomes.

Fortunately, it's not all about death and destruction in Scotland. Take Bladnoch, for example.
This Lowland distillery was mothballed by UDV in 1993, but revived again by Raymond Armstrong in
1999. Or take Balmenach - another success story. The distillery was mothballed in 1993, but Inver
House bought it in 1997 and production resumed again in March 1998. They now produce almost 2
million litres of alcohol each year. When Inver House purchased the distillery from Diageo, they did
not get the maturing stocks so their own official bottling is still quite a few years off, I guess.

And it's not all about reviving lost distilleries either.
There are currently a few exciting new projects in the works, like the Abhainn Dearg distillery ('Red River') on the isle of Lewis or the Kilchoman distillery on Islay. Not all new projects have a good start though; the Blackwood distillery on the Shetlands proved to be a pipe dream and the same might be true for the Ladybank distillery in the Lowlands. Anyway - the 'projects' page provides an up-to-date overview of the new malt whisky distillery projects in Scotland.

As far as active distilleries are concerned, you can find a (hopefully complete) overview at the right.
The links in the list at the left lead to the distillery profiles with some basic statistics like the number of stills, the water source for the distillery, the production capacity, the region, the address, the URL of the website, etcetera. Apart from these statistics you'll find a few paragraphs with a historic overview and tasting notes for at least six bottlings. And did I mention my Track Record already? I don't think I did. The profiles on the active distilleries contain a handful of tasting notes, but my Track Record gives you a full overview of all the Scotch single malt whiskies I've tried during 'a decade of heavy dramming' between 1995 and 2006. When this website finally crashed in 2006, the 'malt mileage'
counter said +/- 2000 Scotch single malt whiskies sampled and scored...