Craigellachie Distillery
Craigellachie, Aberlour
Banffshire AB38 9ST
+44 1340 881 212
Owner: Barcardi Ltd
Creation date: 1888
The Craigellachie distillery has been founded in 1888 by Peter J.Mackie, whose nickname was "Restless Peter", and who created the famous White Horse blend.
Mackie was also the founder of Lagavulin on Islay. Peter Mackie founded the distillery together with another famous figure in the whisky world in those times: Alexander Edwards who owned amongst others the Benrinnes distillery. Alexander retired in 1900, leaving Mackie the only owner of the company.
The place where the distillery has been built was partially chosen because of the quality of the water there, but the main reason was the proximity of the railway.
Mackie's company (Macky & Co) has been absorbed by D.C.L in 1924. D.C.L. will become UDV later, after merging with Guinness.
Electricity was installed in the distillery in 1948 and the water mill is not used anymore since the alteration works which took place in 1964. The number of stills was doubled at the same moment.
When D.C.L merged with Guinness, the company was obliged to sell Craigellachie because of the anti-trust law. The distillery became property of the current owner, together with 4 other.
Only 2% of the production is marketed as single malt, the remaining part being used in blends, in particular in Dewar's White Label.
The only official version has been released in the series Fauna & Flora, but since the distillery is not owned by UDV anymore, the only bottlings on the market are those of some independent bottlers.
