Craigellachie Distillery

Craigellachie was built in the heart of the Speyside region in 1890. The names attached to its foundation were either already big players in the whisky industry or would go on to become so. It was co-founded by Peter Mackie of Mackie & Company and Alexander Edward. This was the first distillery Edward had a hand in creating himself. In the years after he would go on to found Aultmore, Dallas Dhu and Benromach distilleries. Celebrated architect Charles Doig was responsible for designing the distillery to the most modern standards of the time.

Water for Craigellachie is drawn from the Blue Hill spring rising in the Conval Hills. The distillery has a dam on the spring to keep its water supply regular. The village of Craigellachie was also notable for being a convergence point for many of the railway lines in the region at the time. This made it easy to transport spirits produced at the distillery wherever they needed to go.

In 1916 Alexander Edward chose to step away from Craigellachie, and Peter Mackie became the sole owner. Eight years later he passed away and Mackie & Company was renamed White Horse Distillers. They sold Craigellachie to Distillers Company Limited in 1927, who would go on to run it for the next seven decades. Under the ownership of DCL the distillery was renovated in 1964 and the number of stills doubled from two to four.

In 1998 Craigellachie was one of multiple distilleries that also changed parent company when United Distillers & Vinters sold John Dewar & Sons to current owner Bacardi. At this time Dewar’s also took over management of Craigellachie.

Today Craigellachie has a Steineker full lauter mash tun and eight larch wash tubs. The four stills continue to make use of wash tubs to condense their spirits. Though the old cast iron tubs were replaced with stainless steel ones in 2014, the original copper worm tubes remained. The distillery has the capacity to produce 4.1 million litres of spirits a year.

Under Bacardi’s ownership a new range was launched in 2014 with 13, 17, and 23 years old single malts. Prior to this the only official bottling to come from the distillery had been a 14 year old released a decade before. Craigellachie whiskies are known for having a robust, meaty character. The 13 year old has notes of fruit and berries that last from the first whiff to its dry finish. They are complemented by a light smokiness. The 23 year old takes that robust character to another level with a notes of sulphur on the nose and palate, joined by elements of spice.