Strathisla Distillery

Strathisla distillery may have changed its name on multiple occasions, but it maintains a clear lineage as one of the oldest in Scotland. Built in the hills outside the town of Keith, Strathisla has been running since 1786 with only minor interruptions.

When Alexander Milne founded this distillery in 1786 they did so under the name Milltown, which later became Milton. ‘Strathisla’ was firstly the nickname given to the spirits produced at the distillery. Later it became adopted as the distillery’s official name in 1870 under its third owner William Longmore. The 1870s was a turbulent decade for operations, as the distillery was first ravaged by fire in 1876, and then by an explosion in the malt mill not long after in ‘79. All of this may have contributed to William’s decision to retire in 1880 and pass control to his son-in-law John Geddes-Brown. Ten years after Geddes-Brown took over the distillery’s name was changed to Milton again.

Strathisla came close to ruin in the 1940s at the hands of a dodgy owner. Jay Pomeroy became a majority shareholder in Longmore & Co in 1942, but he ended up jailed for tax evasion by 1949 and the company had to declare bankruptcy.

Chivas Brothers bought the distillery, which had become quite run down by this point, for £71,000 at auction. They undertook a major reconstruction and restoration effort, and in 1951 restored the Strathisla name. In 1965 the number of stills was doubled from two to four. Chivas Brothers are still the distillery’s owners, but now under parent company Pernod Ricard. They acquired Chivas in 2001 when dividing up the assets of Seagram with Diageo.

The distillery is equipped with a 5.2 ton mash tun and ten wooden washbacks, seven of Oregon Pine and three of larch, and two pairs of stills. Water for the distillery’s production is drawn from an onsite well. Strathisla has an annual production capacity of 2.45 million litres of spirits.

There is only official single malt bottling commercially available, the Strathisla 12 year old which came out in 2019. This is a rich and full bodied whisky. It carries aromas of sherry, spices, and fruit. On the palate there is plenty of honey and malt, with a hint of nuts and oak before a long slightly smoky finish. Outside of this there are a large number of independent bottlings available from Gordon & Macphail.