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.

Bottles

Benrinnes Distillery
Aberlour,
Banffshire AB38 9NN
+44 1340 871 215

Owner: Diageo

Creation year: 1826

The first distillery has been build in 1826 near the Whitehouse farm, which still exists nowadays. The distillery has been destroyed in 1829 by a flood coming from the Ben Rinnes mountain, and rebuild near another farm not far away from the first one. This farm was called Lyne of Rutherie, and the distillery was first named after this farm. Peter McKenzie was the first licence holder of this distillery. 
In 1842, the distillery was taken over by John Innes, and in 1845 by William Smith who bankrupted in 1864. John Innes renamed the distillery in "Benrinnes". After the bankruptcy the distillery has been acquired by Davie Edward who passed it on to his son Alexander. Alexander Edwards will later found Craigellachie and Aultmore, and be a shareholder of Oban.
A fire destroyed the still house and surrounding buildings in 1996.
Alexander Edward founded the Benrinnes-Glenlivet company.
In 1922, the distillery has been taken over by John Dewar's & Sons, who were absorbed by DCL which is currently part of UDV.
Benrinnes has been closed in 1932-1933 and again between 1943 and 1945.
The distillery has been linked to the electrical network in 1951.
A new distillery has been build in 1955 in order to increase the production. The malting floors are replaced by a saladin-box in 1964. The saladin box has been removed in 1984, as the distillery stopped producing its own malt. In 1966 the number of stills has been doubled, and a new manufacturing process is introduced in 1978. The Benrinnes distillery is the only one of the area to use the triple distillation process.
The feints and low wines of the second distillation (in the first spirit still) are distilled apart in the second spirit still. Usually they are part of the next wash distillation. The low wines and feints of this third distillation are distilled again during the next distillation in the second spirit still. 

Bottles

Benriach Distillery
Longmorn, Elgin
Morayshire IV30 8SJ
+44 1542 783 400

Owner: The BenRiach Distillery Company Ltd

Creation year: 1898

The Benriach distillery has been founded in 1898 by John Duff, who built the Longmorn distillery one year earlier. For financial reasons, John Duff was obliged to sell both distilleries two years later. The new owners decided to close one of both, and their choice is fallen on Benriach. 
The distillery remained closed for 65 years, but the malting floors have always been active. The malt for Longmorn was produced here. The great needs of malted whisky in the area (specially for blends) decided the owners to reopen Benriach in 1965, after a complete refurbishing, as it has been completely dismantled when it was closed in 1900.
The company has been taken over in 1978 by Seagram who was also owner of Strathisla. Seagram doubled the number of stills in 1985, but the distillery has been mothballed in 1999, because of the financial crisis in Asia which had a very bad influence on the whisky market in this area.
The distilleries belonging to "The Chivas and Glenlivet Group", part of Seagram have been bought by the French group Pernod-Ricard on 19 december 2001.
The major part of the malt is used in the blends of the group: Chivas Regal, 100 pipers, Queen Anne and Something Special.
The Pernod-Ricard group has sold the distillery in may 2004 to a South African group Intra Trading, led by the former Burn Stewart director, Billy Walker for 5,4 million pounds. 

Bottles

Ardmore Distillery
Kennethmont, Huntly
Aberdeenshire AB54 4NH
+44 1464 831 213

Owner: Beam Suntory

Creation date: 1898

The distillery was established by Adam Teacher (son of William Teacher) in 1898. 
The distillery remained the property of the Teacher family throughout its history, but the William Teachers & Sons company was absorbed by Allied Brewers in the mid-1970's, which became Allied Distillers, a subsidiary of Allied Domecq. In 2006, the distillery and the Teacher's brand passed into the ownership of Fortune Brands, which itself became Beam Inc. in 2011. 
The Ardmore distillery heated its onion shaped stills with coal up until 2000 but has moved to indirect steam heating. It's classic and well balanced single malt is rather sweet and full of taste. Very close to cereal, the whisky has a very interesting floral and fruity complexity. Ardmore's single malt is used in lots of blends, especially the Teacher's Highland Cream. 
The Ardmore distillery is one of the biggest and most modern distilleries of Scotland, and produces about 5,100,000 litres a year. 
Ardmore used to produce its own malt until the 1970's. Currently, the distillery buys its malt at local specialised plants, but still specifies the use of Aberdeenshire peat from St Fergus in the malting process. The distillery stocks about 1300 tons of malted barley, and the cast iron mash tun is 25 feet in diameter and is complete with a copper dome. Ardmore's standard mash size is 12.48 tonnes and it processes 24 mashes per week. 
The washbacks are all Douglas Fir and Ardmore has 10 at 45,000 litre capacity and 4 at 90,000 litre capacity. 
The 4 Wash St stills each have a capacity of 15.000 litres and the 4 Spirit Stills each have a capacity of 15,500 litres. 
The distillery is settled just out outside the eastern border of the Speyside area, between the River Bogie, the Clashindarroch forest and the Grampian mountains. 
Ardmore is the only eastern highland distillery to have continuously peated it's single malt since its inception. 
Ardmore is the fingerprint malt in the Teachers blend and the only peated malt in a blend which contains 30+ single malts.
(Page reviewed in October 2011 by Alistair Longwell, distillery manager)

Bottles

Cragganmore Distillery
Ballindalloch
Banffshire AB37 9AB
+44 1807 500 202

Owner: Diageo

Creation date: 1869

The Cragganmore distillery was founded by John Smith in 1869. Smith chose the place for the quality of the water of the Craggan burn, but also because it was closed to the Strathspey railway. John Smith really liked trains and used to travel by rail. However is was often forced to travel in goods wagons, because of his weight of about 144 kg. The cabins in the voyagers wagon were merely to narrow for him.
John Smith was a very experienced distiller, as he has been manager of the Macallan, Glenlivet, Glenfarclas et Wishaw distilleries. When he died, his brother George Smith (owner of the Parkmore distillery) managed temporarily the distillery, until John's son, Gordon Smith could take it over.
When Gordon took the distillery over, business was very good until the whisky crisis in 1989. Despite those difficult times, Gordon did not hesitate to make important renovation works. All the new available technologies were applied to the distillery.
Gordon died in 1912 and his widow, Mary Jane took the business over until 1923, when the distillery was acquired by White Horse Distillers, just one year before the death of White Horse's father, Sir Peter Mackie.
White Horse Distillers was taken over by D.C.L (Distillers Company Ltd.) in 1965, and Cragganmore doubled its production capacity the same year.
Available from independent distillers for a very long time, Cragganmore became popular when it became one of the six "Classic Malts", series launched on the market in 1988 by UDV, and about 30% of the production is sold as single malt, the remaining part being used in blends like McCallum's Perfection and White Horse.

Bottles

Macallan Distillery
Easter Elchies
Craigellachie
Moray AB38 9RX

Owner: The Edrington Group

Creation year: 1824

Situated near the village of Craigellachie, the Macallan distillery got its first distillation licence in 1824 thanks to Alexander Reid.
When he died in 1847, his namesake son managed the distillery until his own death in 1858. Then the distillery was controlled by James Shearer Priest and James Davidson until it was acquired by James Stuart (from the Glen Spey distillery). James Stuart rebuild the distillery.
In 1892, this old farm distillery become the property of Roderick Kemp.
From 1968, The Macallan is quoted on the stock exchange list and shares were purchased by great international groups as Suntory or Rémy-Cointreau, but also by the workers and the inhabitants of the village. That's why the whisky from the distillery was nicknamed "Malt of the People". The distillery remained in the Kemp family until 1996, when Highland Distilling Ltd bought the shares of Rémy-Cointreau, and later those from private individuals.
In 10 years time (between 1965 and 1975), The number of stills of the distillery grown from 6 to 21.
Maturation happens in sherry casks for 100% of the production, among which 75% sherry Oloroso casks. Macallan uses a traditional barley type, called Golden Promise.
The Highland Distillers group has been acquired by Edrington Group in November 1999 for £ 601m.
The whole production matured in sherry Oloroso casks is sold as single malt, the remaining being sold to blenders, among which Famous Grouse, Cutty Sark, J&B, Chivas Regal, Lang's Supreme, Ballantine's or Long John.

Bottles

Tormore Distillery
Advie, Grantown on Spey
Morayshire PH26 3LR
+44 1807 510 244

Owner: Pernod-Ricard

Creation year: 1959

The Tormore distillery is one of the most recent in Scotland, as it has been build between 1958 and 1960 for Long John International by the architect Sir Albert Richardson. It is also the first one to be build in the 20th century.
Despite its young age, this distillery is already a listed building. For this reason, it is not allowed to change anything to its external aspect.
One of the architectural particularities is the clock which bells each quarter of an hour, the copper rotors and the granite used for the building.
The houses of the workers are build in the same style.
The garden is remarkable too, with its hedges in the shape of a bell or a still.
Long John has been absorbed by Whitbread & Co in 1975, and the distillery has been acquired in the same year by Allied Distillers Ltd.
The Tormore distillery is under control of Pernod-Ricard since the French Company purchased the activities of Allied Domecq in 2005. 

Bottles

Tomintoul Distillery
Ballindalloch
Banffshire AB37 9AQ
+44 1807 590 274

Owner: Angus Dundee Distillers

Creation year: 1964

The Tomintoul distillery has been founded in 1964 by the W&S Strong and Hay & MacLeod companies.
It has been named after one of the highest villages in the Highlands. This young and modern distillery doubled its production capacity in 1974, when its first single malt was marketed.
Tomintoul enters in the composition of the blends of Whyte & MacKay group, who has been owner of the distillery from 1973 until 2000.

Bottles

Tomatin Distillery
Tomatin
Inverness-shire IV13 7YT
+44 1808 511 444

Owner: Takara Shuzo & Okura & Co Ltd

Creation year: 1897

Created during the whisky boom by a group of businessmen from Inverness under the name of the "The Tomatin-Spey District-Distillery Co" in 1897, Tomatin has had hard times in the begin, and the distillery bankrupted in 1906.
The distillery was closed during both world wars, due to a lack of barley.
Between 1956 and 1974, the Tomatin distillery knew an exceptional growth. During this period, the number of still grew from 4 to 12. Despite this, the distillery bankrupted again in 1985, even if its production was about 9.000.000 litres a year.
Tomatin was taken over during the same year by the Japanese Takara, Shuzo & Okura (renown through the international hotel group) who added 9 new stills. Total stills is now 23, which makes Tomatin the biggest distillery of Scotland.
Nowadays, only half of the production capacity is used and the main part of the whisky is used in the blends of the group, called Big"T".

Bottles