Strathisla Distillery
Keith,
Banffshire AB55 3BS
+44 1542 783 044
Owner: Pernod-Ricard
Creation year: 1786
The Strathisla distillery was founded by George Taylor and Alexander Milne under the name of Milltown Distillery in 1786.
The distillery was acquired in 1828 by William Lonmore, after having been the property of McDonalds, Ingram & Co.
A fire destroyed it in 1879.
Between 1870 and 1890, the distillery was temporarily called Strathisla, but it has been renamed Milton.
Its definitive "Strathisla" name dates from 1949, when it was taken over by James Barclay, from the Chivas Brothers group, which in 1949 was part of Seagrams, owned by Sam Bronfman.
Chivas Brothers came into being in 1858 as a provisions shop in King Street, Aberdeen, founded by brothers James and John Chivas from Overtown of Dudwick in Ellon, Aberdeenshire.
The distillery doubled its production capacity in 1965.
Strathisla is one of the most picturesque distilleries from Scotland.
On 15 June 1993, an unexpected visitor arrived from Louisville, Kentucky: a black and white cat who fell asleep between some bourbon casks traveling to Scotland. When the container was opened 4 weeks later, the cat came out, weaken by hunger and drunken by the hints of bourbon in the container. People at the distillery adopted it after the legal quarantine, and named it Dizzy. The cat got the job of mice hunter.
The distilleries from "The Chivas and Glenlivet Group", belonging to Seagram were acquired by the French group "Pernod-Ricard" on 19 December 2001.
The main part of the single malt is used in the blends Chivas Regal and Royal Salute.
