Glendullan Distillery

One of the single malts that make up the Singleton brand along with Dufftown and Glen Ord, Glendullan distillery is the youngest of the three by a year. The original Glendullan was built in 1897 by William Williams & Sons. This was the seventh and final distillery to fill the legendary Speyside locale of Dufftown next to the river Fiddich. Water for the distillery comes from the Goats Well spring rising in the forested hills above it.

The Scottish whisky market is a crowded place to try and stand out, especially in the Speyside area. However, Glendullan got off to a good start after just a few years in business. In 1902 it was brought to the royal court and became a favoured whisky of King Edward VII.

From 1919 the distillery was run as MacDonald Greenlees & Williams Distillers after Greenlees bought a stake in the company. Distillers Company Limited bought Glendullan in 1926, and transferred operation of it to their subsidiary Scottish Malt Distillers four years later. They would go on to become part of Diageo which still owns it today.

Glendullan was forced to close down in 1940 due to barley shortages in World War II, and wouldn’t reopen until 1947. DCL carried out significant refurbishments of the original distillery in 1962, before the current distillery was built ten years later right next to it. For a number of years the two would operate in tandem, but in 1985 the original distillery was closed for good.

The rebuilt Glendullan has a 12 ton mash tun and ten washbacks, eight of larch and two of stainless steel. Along with its six stills, Glendullan is one of the larger Diageo distilleries with a production capacity of 5 million litres.

In 2007 Diageo relaunched Glendullan’s single malts under The Singleton brand. The current core range consists of a 12, 15, and 18 year old. The 12 year old is a soft and sweet whisky. The nose carries mixed notes of fruit and vanilla, with oak and some spiciness showing up on the palate.

The 15 year old is more full bodied with a stronger spicy presence that starts with cinnamon aromas and carries through to a peppery finish. A 38 year old bottling aged exclusively in refill European Oak Casks came out in 2014 as part of the Special Releases Range.