Scotch whisky distillery data

Many of the links in the Scotch malt whisky distillery overview below
still lead to older profiles in the old distillery data section of MM but I’m
working on even bigger & better profiles on more whisky distilleries.
This is quite a massive undertaking, so it will take me a few years.

A very WARM welcome to the new ‘distillery data’ section on Malt Madness!
Here you can find information on all active malt whisky distilleries in Scotland,
as well as a number of other whisky distilleries located all across the world.

The first step will be “getting my facts straight”. So, I’ve started work on
a Scotch malt whisky distillery fact sheet in PDF - available as a WIP.
The first version of the distillery fact sheet focuses on active malt whiskies
from Scotland, but I hope to add the inactive and foreign distilleries later on.

And the interactive whisky map of Scotland needs an update, but it still works...

1898
1879
2009
2007
1975
2014
2014
1815 (*)
1898
2018
2014
2018
1993
1825
1974
1896

The 16yo expression of Aberfeldy was revamped in 2015.
In 2015, Batch #50 of the Aberlour A’bunadh was released.
Abhainn Dearg exclusively uses local barley these days.
(I am currently working on a full profile for Ailsa Bay.)
These days, 50% of Allt-A-Bhainne whisky is lightly peated.
The Annadale distillery lies at the edge of the Lowlands.
At the moment Arbikie seems mostly focused on gin.
Ardbeg was one of the pioneers of premiumisaton.
In 2015 Ardmore released a ‘Triple Wood’ bottling.
More information on the Ardnahoe distillery will follow.
With Ardnamurchan Adelphi has actually built a distillery.
More information on the Ardross distillery will follow.
Arran will close until early 2017 to add two more stills.
There now are 5 Auchentoshan travel retail expressions.
In 2015 Auchroisk was closed for upgrades for 5 months.
In recent years Aultmore released 4 new official bottlings.

Highlands (S)
Speyside
Islands (Lewis)
Lowlands
Speyside
Lowlands
Highlands (E)
Islay
Speyside
Islay
Highlands (W)
Highlands (N)
Islands (Arran)
Lowlands
Speyside
Speyside

1894
2015
1824
1892
1863
1825
1898
1835
1898
1965
1825
1798 (*)
1779 (*)
2018
1812 (*)
1974
1820 (*)
1819 (*)

1881
1883
2018

Highlands (N)
Speyside
Speyside
Speyside
Speyside
Highlands (W)
Speyside
Speyside
Speyside
Highlands (N)
Lowlands
Highlands (S)
Islay
Lowlands
Highlands (N)
Speyside
Highlands (E)
Highlands (N)

Islay
Islay
Lowlands

... even though Balblair claims that it’s much older.
The Ballindalloch distillery is one of Scotland’s newest.
Balmenach has kept a low profile for over a decade.
The Balvenie distillery operates with eleven stills.
No news - the Banff distillery was closed in 1983.
The water source for Ben Nevis is Alt a Mhulin.
Benriach distillery was aquired by Brown Forman in 2016.
Independent bottlings of Benrinnes are quite rare.
Benromach is the ‘smallest’ distillery in Speyside.
No news - the Ben Wyvis distillery was closed in 1977.
The Bladnoch distillery was mothballed for years.
Blair Athol distillery in Pitlochry in the ‘home’ of Bell’s.
After troubles around 2000, Bowmore is back on track.
The Borders distillery will have a capacity of 1,8m litres.
In 2015 Brackla finally released a proper range of OB’s.
By the year 2017 Braeval still hadn’t been ‘branded’ yet.
No news - the Brechin distillery was closed in 1983.
No news - the Brora distillery was closed in 1983.

The Bruichladdich relaunch was a commercial success.
Bunnahabhain distillery was sold to Distell in 2013.
More information on the Burnbrae distillery will follow.

1855
1836
1824
1846
1898
1824
1846
2017
1819 (*)
1897
1894

1870
1891

No news - the Caledonian grain distillery closed in 1987.
No news - whisky production at Cambus ceased in 1993.
Cameronbridge is Scotland’s oldest grain whisky distillery.
The Caol Ila distillery is now by far the largest on Islay.
No news - Caperdonich was demolished in 2010.
Cardhu now offers two NAS expressions as well.
No news - Carsebridge grain distillery was closed in 1983.
More information on the Clydeside distillery will follow.
There has been little news around the Clynelish distillery.
No news - Coleburn was closed in 1985.
No news - Convalmore was closed in 1985.

The latest real news was on the still repairs in 2011.
Craigellachie recently released more OB’s - at odd ages.

Lowlands
Highlands (S)
Highlands (E)
Islay
Speyside
Speyside
Highlands (S)
Lowlands
Highlands (N)
Speyside
Speyside

Speyside
Speyside

Overview of Scotch whisky distilleries

SCOTCH GRAIN & MALT WHISKY DISTILLERIES

Glencairn whisky glass

In case you were wondering about the asterisk (*) behind supposed foundation dates in the
1700s and early 1800s: in all those cases the current buildings and equipment were
constructed more recently - and ownership was transferred between various companies.

Whisky casks at the distillery

Also: distillation of 100% LEGAL Scotch whisky
arguably didn’t start until 1823 when the Excise Act
was passed. At the time, the barley required for malt
whisky was acquired and processed locally - and the
casks of whisky matured in warehouses at a distillery.
Modern Scotch whisky production is quite different.

This means that there are now over a hundred active malt whisky distilleries in Scotland.
Please let me know via Twitter or Facebook if you think that I may not have my facts straight.
If the whisky brand you are looking for isn’t listed here, it may be because it is not a Scotch
whisky distillery - or it is a new whisky distillery project that hasn’t released their whisky yet.

Distilleries like Glenlivet were
even rebuilt under the same
name on another location.

Scotch malt whisky still has a strong heritage though.
With around a hundred distilleries releasing various
expressions, you won’t run out of new and different
things to experience for quite some time.

Scotch Whisky Map - the interactive whisky map shows the locations and some details on Scotch distilleries.
Whisky Industry Ownership - all active Scotch malt whisky distilleries and the companies that own them.
Scotch Whisky Bottlers - the drinks companies that bring us the whiskies the industry can’t deliver.
Scotch Whisky Brands - there are thousands of (malt) whisky brands, so this overview is not 100% complete.
Whisky Regions of Scotland - one way to divide the (Scotch) malt whisky world is by area of origin.

If you are a relative novice in the malt whisky world, the Beginner’s Guide to Scotch whisky is meant for you.
It contains 10 chapters with all the information you need to confidently take your first steps into this new world.
Each chapter has a different focus and contains the ‘need to know’ stuff. Topics include:

Meanwhile, I’ve also been working on the Whisky Lexicon - an alphabetical overview of 750 whisky words,
phrases and expressions. Each entry has at least a brief description of its meaning, but some entries have a
few paragraphs dedicated to them while some of the other entries have an entire page dedicated to them.
Here are some examples of the topics that are covered:

A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
...

Chapter 1: Basics - some basic whisk(e)y information, including its origins, spelling and wine louse.
Chapter 2: Vocabulary - both for correctly ordering a dram and debating questions on flavour profiles.
Chapter 3: Geography - whisky is produced in dozens of countries - and in several ‘terroirs’ in Scotland.
Chapter 4: Distillation - fermentation can only take things so far, so at some point distillation is required.
Chapter 5: Maturation - the maturation in oak casks for at least 3 years turns spirit into whisky.
Chapter 6: Bottling - once a Scotch whisky was matured for a minimum three years it can be bottled.
Chapter 7: Shopping for Whisky - after laying a solid theoretical foundation it’s time to spend some money.
Chapter 8: Tasting Whisky - you might think that it’s easy to taste whisky, but you can actually do it wrong.
Chapter 9: Practice - drinking whisky is fun, but it becomes even more fun with a larger ‘malt mileage’.
Chapter 10: Conclusion - after working your way through 9 chapters, there’s more reading ahead of you.
Whisky Label Inspector - the amount of information on a malt whisky label can be befuddling for novices...

ABV  |  acid reflux  |  A.D. Rattray  |  Aeneas Coffey  |  age statement  |  aldehydes  |  amylase  |  ...
barley  |  barrel  |  Bere barley  |  bespoke cask  |  BFYB  |  bloodtub  |  body  |  bonded warehouse  |  ...
Caledonian  |  Campbeltown  |  caramel  |  casks  |  cask strength  |  chill filtration  |  column still  |  ...
DCL  |  decanter  |  Dewar’s  |  Diageo  |  distiller’s yeast  |  draff  |  drum maltings  |  dunnage warehouse  |  ...
E150A  |  Edrington Group  |  esters  |  ethanol  |  European Oak  |  evaporation  |  Excise Act  |  ...
Fake  |  feints  |  fermentation  |  feuilette  |  finish  |  finishing  |  first-fill cask  |  foreshots  |  foundation  |  ...
Gaelic  |  germination  |  glass  |  glassware  |  Glen  |  Golden Promise  |  grain  |  green malt  |  grist  |  ...
H2H  |  hangover  |  head  |  head-to-head tasting  |  heads  |  health  |  hogshead  |  hoop  |  house style  |  ...
IB  |  ice  |  Ileach  |  Imperial System of Units  |  independent bottler  |  Islay  |  Islebrae  |  isopropanol  |  ...
J. & A. Mitchell & Co.  |  Jack Wieber  |  jar  |  JBB (Greater Europe)  |  Jock’s Well  |  John Milroy  |  Jura  |  ...
Keepers of the Quaich  |  Kelpie  |  Kilchoman  |  Kilkerran  |  Killyloch  |  kiln  |  Kinclaith  |  Kingsbarns  |  ...
label  |  lauter tun  |  Ledaig  |  Litre  |  Lomond still  |  Lone Wolf  |  low wines  |  Lowlands  |  lyne arm  |  ...
Malt  |  malt mileage  |  malted barley  |  maltings  |  marrying cask  |  mash tun  |  methanol  |  Midlands  |  ...
NAS  |  neck  |  nephelometer  |  new make spirit  |  no age statement  |  North British  |  North Port  |  ...
oak  |  OB  |  OBE  |  octave  |  official bottling  |  Old Bottle Effect  |  Optic  |  ounce  |  overproof  |  ...
pagoda  |  palate  |  patent still  |  paxarette  |  peat  |  phenols  |  phylloxera  |  poiteen  |  puncheon  |  ...
...

1824
1962
1972
1807 (*)
1824
1965
1823
1964
1887
1820 (*)

Speyside
Speyside
Speyside
Highlands (N)
Speyside
Lowlands
Speyside
Speyside
Lowlands
Highlands (E)

(I am currently working on a fresh profile for this distillery.)
(I am currently working on a fresh profile for this distillery.)
(I am currently working on a fresh profile for this distillery.)
No news - Millburn was closed in 1985.
(I am currently working on a fresh profile for this distillery.)
No news - the Moffat grain whisky distillery is now closed.
(I am currently working on a fresh profile for this distillery.)
No news - Mosstowie was closed in 1981.
North British grain distillery is Scotland’s second largest.
No news - North Port was closed in 1983.

1966
1816 (*)
1815 (*)
1821 (*)
1772 (*)
????
1966
1845
1957
1894

Lowlands
Islay
Islay
Speyside
Lowlands
Highlands
Highlands (W)
Highlands (E)
Highlands (E)
Speyside

No news - Ladyburn was closed in the 1970s.
(I am currently working on a fresh profile for this distillery.)
(I am currently working on a fresh profile for this distillery.)
(I am currently working on a fresh profile for this distillery.)
No news - Littlemill was closed in 1994.
Loch Ewe is a re-purposed garage, no ‘proper’ distillery.
Two fresh stills were installed at Loch Lomond in 2015.
(I am currently working on a fresh profile for this distillery.)
No news - Lochside was closed in 1992.
(I am currently working on a fresh profile for this distillery.)

2015
1798 (*)
1897
2018
1897

1871
1961
1938
1963
2005
?
1958
2015
1990

1898
1894

Islands (Harris)
Islands (Orkney)
Highlands (E)
Lowlands
Speyside

Speyside
Highlands (N)
Lowlands
Islands (Jura)
Islay
Lowlands
Lowlands
Highlands (S)
Speyside

Speyside
Speyside

The Harris distillery started producing in September 2015.
(I am currently working on a fresh profile for this distillery.)

No news - Hillside was closed in 1985.
More information on the Holyrood Park distillery will follow.
No news - Imperial was demolished a few years ago.

(I am currently working on a fresh profile for this distillery.)
Invergordon is the only grain distillery in the North.
No news - the Inverleven stills were mothballed in 1992.
(I am currently working on a fresh profile for this distillery.)
(I am currently working on a fresh profile for this distillery.)
(I am currently working on a new profile for this ‘distillery’.)
No news - Kinclaith was closed in 1977.
The Kingsbarns distillery started as recently as 2015,
No news - Kininvie was closed in 2010.

(I am currently working on a fresh profile for this distillery.)
(I am currently working on a fresh profile for this distillery.)

SCOTCH WHISKY DISTILLERY DATA

1831
1896
1966
1817 (*)
1798 (*)
1897
1965
1960
2018
1949
2012

Islands (Skye)
Speyside
Speyside
Highlands (N)
Islands (Mull)
Highlands (N)
Speyside
Speyside
Highlands (N)
Highlands (S)
Highlands (N)

(I am currently working on a fresh profile for this distillery.)
(I am currently working on a fresh profile for this distillery.)
(I am currently working on a fresh profile for this distillery.)
(I am currently working on a fresh profile for this distillery.)
(I am currently working on a fresh profile for this distillery.)
(I am currently working on a fresh profile for this distillery.)
(I am currently working on a fresh profile for this distillery.)
(I am currently working on a fresh profile for this distillery.)
More information on the Toulvaddie distillery will follow.
(I am currently working on a fresh profile for this distillery.)
More information on the Wolfburn distillery will follow.

1798 (*)
1885
1897
1990
1828
2010
1786 (*)
1927
1891
1957

Lowlands
Islands (Orkney)
Speyside
Speyside
Campbeltown
Lowlands
Speyside
Lowlands
Speyside
Highlands (S)

No news - Saint Magdalene was closed in 1983.
Scapa released the peated ‘Glansa’ in 2016.
(I am currently working on a fresh profile for this distillery.)
(I am currently working on a fresh profile for this distillery.)
(I am currently working on a fresh profile for this distillery.)
Starlaw is Scotland’s youngest grain whisky distillery.
(I am currently working on a fresh profile for this distillery.)
Strathclyde is a large grain whisky distillery in Glasgow.
(I am currently working on a fresh profile for this distillery.)
No news - Strathmore grain distillery was closed in 1980.

1794 (*)
1975
1845
1825

1826
2018
2018
1840
2010
1812 (*)
1845

Highlands (W)
Speyside
Lowlands
Islay

Highlands (N)
Islands (Rasaay)
Lowlands
Lowlands
Speyside
Highlands (N)
Highlands (E)

(I am currently working on a fresh profile for this distillery.)
No news - Pittyvaich was closed in 1993.
No news - the Port Dundas grain distillery closed in 2009.
No news - Port Ellen was closed in 1983.

(I am currently working on a fresh profile for this distillery.)
More information on the Rasaay distillery will follow.
More information on the Reivers grain distillery will follow.
No news - Rosebank was closed in 1993.
(I am currently working on a new profile for this distillery.)
Many old bottlings of Brackla were labeled ‘Royal Brackla’.
Older Lochnagar bottlings were sold as ‘Royal’ Lochnagar.

1892
1843
1897
1838
1878
1832
1878
1898
1959
1834
1852
?

Highlands (N)
Highlands (N)
Speyside
Highlands (N)
Speyside
Campbeltown
Speyside
Speyside
Highlands (S)
Highlands (E)
Highlands (E)
?

No news - Glen Mhor was closed in 1983.
Glenmorangie announced plans for a new still house.
2018 marks the 120th birthday of Glen Moray distillery.
Glen Ord distillery recently added 8 new stills.
Edrington bought back the Glenrothes brand from Berry.
The washbacks at Glen Scotia were replaced recently.
Very little has happened at Glen Spey for over a decade.
There have been no OB’s of Glentauchers for a long time.
Glenturret was put up for sale by the Edrington Group.
No news - Glenugie was closed in 1983.
No news - Glenury Royal was closed in 1985.
No news - the GlenWyvis project had a false start.

1797 (*)
1875
1833
1840
2004
1959
1837
1824
1898
1876

Highlands (E)
Speyside
Highlands (W)
Speyside
Campbeltown
Speyside
Lowlands
Speyside
Highlands (W)
Speyside

New expressions of Glen Garioch keep on being added.
Glenglassaugh was aquired by Brown Forman in 2016.
The owners of Glengoyne have acquired Rosebank.
Glen Grant is now available in Canada as well.
(I am currently working on a fresh profile for this distillery.)
The Glen Keith distillery was reopened in 2013.
I’m surprised by the many awards Glenkinchie is winning.
Most releases from Glenlivet now lack an age statement.
No news - Glenlochy was closed in 1983.
Counter-intuitively, the capacity at Glenlossie was reduced.

1963
2015
1846
1967
1829
1825
1958
1962
1826
1898
1900
1836
1887
1965

Lowlands
Highlands (S)
Highlands (N)

Speyside
Speyside
Highlands (E)
Speyside
Speyside
Speyside
Speyside
Speyside
Speyside
Speyside
Lowlands

Built a few decades ago, Girvan is a young grain distillery.
The Glasgow Dist. Co started out in 2015.
No news - Glen Albyn was closed in 1983.

Glenallachie is fairly unknown but has a large capacity.
The Glenburgie distillery used to produce Glencraig too.
The range of Glencadam was expanded considerably.
No news - Glencraig ‘distillery’ was closed in the 1980s.
The whisky called Deveron was distilled at MacDuff once.
Glendronach was aquired by Brown Forman in 2016.
A while ago Glendullan was Diageo’s 2nd largest distillery.
A new boiler was installed at Glen Elgin a few years ago.
Glenfarclas is one of just a few family-owned distilleries.
Sales of Glenfiddich exceed that of any other distillery.
No news - Glen Flagler was closed in the 1980s.

2005
1852
1899
1839
2015
1897
1966
2017
1896
1938
1837
?
1824

Lowlands
Speyside
Speyside
Highlands (N)
Speyside
Highlands (W)
Highlands (S)
Highlands (N)
Speyside
Lowlands
Highlands (S)
Lowlands
Highlands (E)

Daftmill owner Francis Cuthbert is getting ready to bottle.
The Dailuaine distillery used to have its own train stop.
No news - Dallas Dhu was closed in 1983.
High prices for Dalmore whisky don’t match the quality.
Dalmunach was built on top of the old Imperial distillery.
The Dalwhinnie whisky has hardly changed in 3 decades.
Just 15% of the Deanston whisky is bottled as a single malt.
More information on the Dornoch distillery will follow.
The Dufftown brand is now replaced by ‘The Singleton’.
No news - the Dumbarton grain distillery closed in 1988.
Edradour used to be Scotland’s smallest distillery.
Falkirk will supposedly be built on the old Rosebank site.
The Fettercairn distillery is located in the East Highlands.

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