Distilleries

Alexander Edward, The founder established both the Benrinnes and Craigellachie distilleries alongside Aultmore. The 12-year-old and 18-year-old are considered to be the best ages for this whisky and they were released in 2004. The distillery was purchased in 1998 by Bacardi and is the smallest malt distillery under the Dewars label. John Dewars & Sons is a subsidiary of the drinks company Bacardi.

Hailing from the town of Craigellachie, the distillery sources its water from the underground blue hill spring. When built, Cragellachie was built solely for the purpose of blending and in the years since, has only released one official single malt batling. To this day, the distillery’s product is the main component of White Horse blended whisky. It produced over 900 independent bottlings and continues to produce several expressions of single malt whisky. Notable inclusions are the Craigellachie 13-Year-Old and the Craigellachie 17-Year-Old, which are extremely popular.

Craigellachie’s expressions have won many awards in past years, with the 31-year-old even being awarded the title ‘Best Whisky in the World.’ The Craigellachie distillery was awarded the “Green Initiative Award” at the Scottish Green Energy Awards in 2018 for its use of sustainable biomass energy.

Introducing one of the oldest distilleries in Scotland packed with history and quality. The production process is steeped in tradition, still using their original water source and Ault Dearg. The distillery was completely rebuilt in 1894, and over 120 years later in 2019, the distillery released a selection of Vintage bottles, with the year of bottling stated on every bottle. This breathed new life and demand into the Whisky brand. Balblair is owned by Inver House Distillers, a subsidiary of ThaiBev, one of the largest beverage companies in Asia.

Balmenach is a little known distillery operating out of Speyside, it is most known for producing a very typical expression of Speyside Malt whisky, however this in itself has become unusual for the region. Whisky from Balmenach is often matured in sherry casks, adding to its traditional production style.

For years, Balmenach’s production has gone towards blends, as their product has a very distinct style, this makes it highly valued in a blended whisky.

Benriach produces a triple-distilled whisky, which is considered to be uncommon for Scotch production. Since 1898 it has changed hands many times before being purchased by an independent company headed up by Billy Walker in 2004. It was later sold to American spirits company Brown Forman in 2016, however it was the period of independent ownership which was instrumental in transforming Benriach into the market staple it is today.

Over the years Benriach has won many awards, most notably winning global distiller of the year in both 2007 and 2015 at the Icon of Whisky Awards.

Girvan is a single-grain Scotch whisky distillery considered to be one of the largest grain whisky distilleries in Scotland. It is owned by the third largest producer of Scotch whisky in the world, William Grant and Sons. William Grant and Sons has owned the distillery since it was built in 1963 under the direction of Charles Grant Gordon, the great-grandson of William Grant.

Girvan is considered to be one of the most energy-efficient distilleries in Scotland and has 53 warehouses which are estimated to hold 10% of all of the Scotch whisky in Scotland.

Scotland’s distillery history stretches back centuries and Glen Garioch is one of the founding fathers as far as operation, being considered one of the oldest licenced distilleries still active today.

In recent years casks from this distillery have been reaching impressive heights with two casks being sold at auction for £112,500. In 2021, the distillery’s owners, Beam Suntory pledged £6m to restore the distillery to its original glory, which not only shows their commitment to the brand but makes it an exciting time for the producers. Glen Garioch has experienced success recently after winning gold in the 2022 Scottish Whisky Awards.

Single-malt whisky has been produced at Glen Moray since 1897. Interestingly, this distillery sometimes matures its whisky in casks that are previously used to hold wine. This creates an absolutely unique flavour. In 2008, it was sold to French Distillers, Martiniquaise, who, due to a massive demand, increased production by 40%.

Glen Moray has been in the spotlight a lot in recent years winning multiple awards. The recognition and accolades mainly came for their single malt whisky, winning Best Scotch Speyside Single Cask Malt for its Glen Moray 1994 Sherry Cask Finish at the World Whiskies Awards 2018.

Back when there was a Victorian whisky boom in the 1870s, Glen Spey came to life. Glen Spey is not as well known as its neighboring distilleries of Glenrothes, Speyburn and Glen Grant, but it’s still a popular alternative for whisky enthusiasts. Nearly all of the spirit produced from the distillery goes towards Diageo’s J&B blend. Single malt bottlings from Glen Spey are extremely rare. Since so much of the distillery’s production is focused towards other blends, when casks are released they hold great appeal for investors as they are such a scarcity.

Only 1-2% of the spirit Linkwood produces is made into single malt. The vast majority of the production gets transferred to blends that fall under the Diageo banner. Brands like Johnnie Walker rely on this distillery. It’s worth noting that 85% of all Scotch whisky is blended which explains why a lot of this distillery’s efforts go to that.

Due to an increase in demand, the distillery recently went through a £5 million expansion. Over the years Linkwood Distillery has taken measures to become more sustainable. The distillery has reduced its environmental impact by using renewable energy sources, implementing energy-saving measures, and reducing water usage.

Situated six miles south of Elgin, in the Speyside region of Scotland, Whisky from Miltonduff is primarily used for blending purposes. The most notable label that it contributes to is Ballantine’s Blend, which is one of the most widely consumed whiskies available.
In 2022, it was announced that Chivas Brothers, a subsidiary operating under Pernod Ricard, would be investing £88 million in the expansion of this distillery, and others in their portfolio. It is expected that by 2025, Miltonduff has the potential to be the 3rd largest malt distillery in Scotland, adding 10 million litres to its existing capacity.

If you’re looking for prestige and popularity, you can look toward North British. It supplies grain spirit to Talisker, Johnnie Walker Bells, Cutty Sark and Famous Grouse amongst many other big names.
North British is one of only six remaining grain distilleries in Scotland and is the last working distillery operating in Edinburgh. Due to its standing in the market, demand for North British spirit in blends has risen massively over the years.
Grain whisky is becoming a market of higher interest in recent years meaning the demand for brands like North British is significantly higher.

At the time it was established, Port Dundas was the largest distillery in Scotland. It closed in 2011, so it is now what we call a ‘ghost whisky’. The name refers to a distillery that is no longer producing a product, and given this fact, the product becomes rarer each year.

As a result of the above, the casks from distilleries like this have enormous collectable value and can make dramatic impacts on investors’ profits. Before closure, Port Dundas produced up to 39 million litres per year.

Situated in the Speyside region of Scotland, this distillery produces single-malt Scotch whisky. Founded in 1990 by George Christie, the distillery produces several expressions, including the 12 and 18-year-old.
It has produced around 150 independent bottlings since its inception. Generally, it uses Bourbon, Sherry and Port casks for maturation. Interestingly, Speyside Distillery has looked at other methods of generating revenue such as tourism and events – they are an innovative entity that doesn’t mind exploring outside the box.

The Speyside distillery is also known for having a significant presence in Asia as countries such as India and Taiwan are known to be big customers and consumers of this distillery’s product.

Single malt whisky is the output from Tullibardine, and it’s known for its locally-sourced barley which is malted on-site. The distillery sources water from the local spring in the Ochil hills, known as the Danny Burn, this is the same water used by the Highland Springs bottling plant. The site of Tullibardine is known for a number of unique geological features, the most notable being the fact that it is situated on the site of a 400 million-year-old lava slope. These features are considered to have a big impact on the final product produced by the distillery.

Over the years The distillery has won several awards, including a Gold Medal at the International Wine & Spirits Competition for the Tullibardine 500 Sherry Finish in 2020.