Glenburgie Distillery

Glenburgie Distillery is one of the biggest distilleries that you’ve probably never heard of. Why? Because nearly all its production is used in Ballentine’s blended whiskies; after all, it’s one of the second biggest selling Scotch whisky’s fingerprint malts. As such, every drop’s accounted for, and Glenburgie single malt releases are extraordinarily rare.

Originally known as Kilnflat Distillery, Glenburgie is located on an estate just outside of Forres in Speyside. While distillation is believed to have been taking place on the site as far back as 1810, it wasn’t until after the Excise Act of 1824 legalised whisky production that Kilnflat was officially founded in 1829 by William Paul. As was so often the case, he eventually ran into financial hardship and was forced to close the doors in 1870. All was not lost though, and Paul sublet the distillery to Charles Hay, the name was changed to Glenburgie, and production was back underway by 1878.

In 1880 the distillery was bought by Fraser and Grant, and then it was taken over by Alexander Fraser & Co in 1882. The distillery was incorporated in 1895 and was the first whisky distillery to have a female manager, Margaret Nichol. Alexander Fraser & Co went under in 1925, and Glenburgie’s doors were locked once again two years later. 

Old Smuggler blenders James & George Stodart took control in 1930, though they never fired up the stills.  In fact, it would be several more years until production would resume after a lifeline was thrown by Canada’s largest distiller Hiram Walker – Gooderham & Worts. They’d made huge profits smuggling alcohol into the USA during Prohibition and were looking to expand into Scotland. After acquiring George Ballantine and Son Ltd in 1935, they started hunting for a stable supply of quality Scotch to fulfil ever-growing demand, and in 1936 bought out Stodart (and Glenburgie along with it), as well as Miltonduff Distillery. The two distilleries went on to become the backbone of Ballantine’s as we know it today.

A pair of Lomond stills were installed alongside the existing stills in 1958 and were used to produce a sweet and fruity blending malt known as Glencraig, however, they proved tiresome to clean and maintain, so were removed in 1981 and replaced with another pair of traditional pot stills, increasing production of whisky for Ballantine’s.

The final sequence of ownership played out over the last 30-odd years, with Allied Lyons, having bought most of the stocks in Hiram Walker during 1986, purchasing the group outright in 1987. Allied Lyons merged with Pedro Domecq and was then acquired by Chivas Brothers’ parent company Pernod Ricard, who took over the distillery in 2005.

And what Pernod received in Glenburgie was effectively a brand-new distillery, following closure in 2000 in preparation for a £4.3m rebuild that took place over 2003/4. The new distillery would be larger and open plan, with nothing but the four original stills kept to help retain the signature Glenburgie style. Another two stills were installed in 2006, bringing the total to six stills, and production capacity up to 4.2m litres per annum.

Glenburgie’s six stills are filled with wash that’s fermented for 52 hours in their 12 washbacks. Both the wash and spirit stills are onion-shaped. This causes reflux within the stills, meaning only the more delicate, fruity spirit will make its way up and then through the condensers, contributing to Glenburgie’s unique and sweet style, with loads of jam and fruit.

Single malt releases from Glenburgie have been very few and far between. There was only one bottling during the Allied Lyons days, Chivas has included it in the limited-edition Cask Strength series of limited-edition releases available only from visitors' centres, and a few lucky independent bottlers have got their hands on a cask here and there. It wasn’t until 2017 that a 15 Year Old was released in a series alongside other Ballantine's Malts, Miltonduff and Glentauchers.

From the get-go of establishing Glentauchers, Buchanan and Lowrie meant business – designed by local architect John Alcock, the distillery buildings were reported as being “substantial and commodious” by local newspaper Banffshire Herald and a siding was brought into the site from the nearby railway between Aberdeen and Inverness for ease of transporting whisky out of the distillery for its use in Buchanan blends. Located just three miles from Keith, Glentauchers was built in one of the fields of a family farm called Taucher, from whence it derived its name, and began whisky production in 1898, with malting beginning in May and brewing in June of that year.

This also happened to be the very same year of the Pattison crash, which occurred in December and had such a calamitous effect on the Scotch whisky industry that no other distilleries were built in Scotland within the following fifty years. Lowrie, who had dealings tied up with the bankrupted Pattison Ltd, was caught up in the impending industry relapse and less than a decade later Glentauchers was 100% owned by just Buchanan.

Miraculously, Glentauchers was otherwise unaffected in its production by this great industry meltdown, and Buchanan was given the Royal Warrant to supply the Royal Household with Buchanan's whisky to Queen Victoria and the Prince of Wales. During this time, Glentauchers began experimenting with new distillation processes, including ‘continuous pot distilling’ which involved running 100% malted barley through a pot still that had been adapted for such purposes. Buchanan thought this would be the future of Scottish distillation. He was wrong.

Soon again changes in Glentauchers’ ownership were afoot, with Buchanan merging with John Dewar in 1915, and then once more with Distiller's Company Ltd in 1925 (who at that point had also gained ownership of Johnnie Walker). Following the second merger, extensive renovations on Glentauchers were completed, including alterations on the makings and the mash house, as well as a new spirit store large enough to house the distillery’s growing volume of production.

From 1939 however, due to the wartime restrictions on barley supplies, Glentauchers was forced to close. They didn’t reopen until 1946 following the end of World War II. Finally, in 1966, production was majorly upped with the installation of four new pot stills (previously only two). During this time the still house, mash house and tun room were also all completely rebuilt. Then in 1985, following almost two decades of uneventful whisky-making, Glentauchers came under the control of United Distillers and was consequently mothballed – one of the many distilleries to be affected by the 1980s' slump in demand. For three years the distillery remained dormant until 1989 when it was sold to Allied Distillers, a decision which came quite unexpectedly at the time. They finally resumed distilling the following year, becoming a key component in Ballantine’s from 1992. Following Allied’s joint takeover in 2005, Glentauchers came under its current ownership of Pernod Ricard.

Glenburgie Distillery is one of the biggest distilleries that you’ve probably never heard of. Why? Because nearly all its production is used in Ballentine’s blended whiskies; after all, it’s one of the second biggest selling Scotch whisky’s fingerprint malts. As such, every drop’s accounted for, and Glenburgie single malt releases are extraordinarily rare.

Originally known as Kilnflat Distillery, Glenburgie is located on an estate just outside of Forres in Speyside. While distillation is believed to have been taking place on the site as far back as 1810, it wasn’t until after the Excise Act of 1824 legalised whisky production that Kilnflat was officially founded in 1829 by William Paul. As was so often the case, he eventually ran into financial hardship and was forced to close the doors in 1870. All was not lost though, and Paul sublet the distillery to Charles Hay, the name was changed to Glenburgie, and production was back underway by 1878.

In 1880 the distillery was bought by Fraser and Grant, and then it was taken over by Alexander Fraser & Co in 1882. The distillery was incorporated in 1895 and was the first whisky distillery to have a female manager, Margaret Nichol. Alexander Fraser & Co went under in 1925, and Glenburgie’s doors were locked once again two years later. 

Old Smuggler blenders James & George Stodart took control in 1930, though they never fired up the stills.  In fact, it would be several more years until production would resume after a lifeline was thrown by Canada’s largest distiller Hiram Walker – Gooderham & Worts. They’d made huge profits smuggling alcohol into the USA during Prohibition and were looking to expand into Scotland. After acquiring George Ballantine and Son Ltd in 1935, they started hunting for a stable supply of quality Scotch to fulfil ever-growing demand, and in 1936 bought out Stodart (and Glenburgie along with it), as well as Miltonduff Distillery. The two distilleries went on to become the backbone of Ballantine’s as we know it today.

A pair of Lomond stills were installed alongside the existing stills in 1958 and were used to produce a sweet and fruity blending malt known as Glencraig, however, they proved tiresome to clean and maintain, so were removed in 1981 and replaced with another pair of traditional pot stills, increasing production of whisky for Ballantine’s.

The final sequence of ownership played out over the last 30-odd years, with Allied Lyons, having bought most of the stocks in Hiram Walker during 1986, purchasing the group outright in 1987. Allied Lyons merged with Pedro Domecq and was then acquired by Chivas Brothers’ parent company Pernod Ricard, who took over the distillery in 2005.

And what Pernod received in Glenburgie was effectively a brand-new distillery, following closure in 2000 in preparation for a £4.3m rebuild that took place over 2003/4. The new distillery would be larger and open plan, with nothing but the four original stills kept to help retain the signature Glenburgie style. Another two stills were installed in 2006, bringing the total to six stills, and production capacity up to 4.2m litres per annum.

Glenburgie’s six stills are filled with wash that’s fermented for 52 hours in their 12 washbacks. Both the wash and spirit stills are onion-shaped. This causes reflux within the stills, meaning only the more delicate, fruity spirit will make its way up and then through the condensers, contributing to Glenburgie’s unique and sweet style, with loads of jam and fruit.

Single malt releases from Glenburgie have been very few and far between. There was only one bottling during the Allied Lyons days, Chivas has included it in the limited-edition Cask Strength series of limited-edition releases available only from visitors' centres, and a few lucky independent bottlers have got their hands on a cask here and there. It wasn’t until 2017 that a 15 Year Old was released in a series alongside other Ballantine's Malts, Miltonduff and Glentauchers.