Ballindalloch Distillery
Lagmore
Ballindalloch
Banffshire
History Once upon a time Ballindalloch Castle on the banks of the River Avon had a rich history with Scotch whisky. That history ended 50 years ago when they sold their shares in nearby Cragganmore Distillery.
The current owners Clare and Oliver Russell wanted to bring this back to the estate with plans for Scotland first “single estate distillery” where everything in the production comes from their grounds.
The building of the distillery began in 2011 by renovating an old steading on the grounds. In 2015 they were ready to go and had the privilege of having the Duke and Duchess of Rothesay (Prince Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall) officially open the distillery.
The whisky The team are in no rush to get their whisky out there unlike some other distilleries. They are happy to wait until they believe it is ready. Some say that might be next year but that will be up to them. In the meantime I would get yourself along for a tour to see the remarkable work they are doing.
Why visit? Even though you can’t taste any of their whisky yet it is without doubt worth the journey to visit Ballindalloch if you are into your whisky. It’s not cheap, will last much longer than most visits and is by appointment only but what you get is worth all of that as you will get one of the most informative tours.
For example their standard tour lasts almost 3 hours and costs £35. You will learn about their history and how 23 generations of the Macpherson-Grant family have contributed to the stewardship and development of the estate. From there, you will move to the process area of their fully manual distillery and finish in the cask filling store. Finally you will end up in the Long Gallery for Drams from the Macpherson-Grant family’s private casks.
Interesting fact Ballindalloch may be a new distillery but their connection with our national spirit goes back as far as the 16th century. Just up the road you will find Cragganmore Distillery which the family were heavily involved with for the best part of 100 years until it was sold to to DCL spirits company in 1965. After 50 years the Macpherson-Grants family are back in the whisky game and in a big way.
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