Brora

SCOTCH SINGLE MALT WHISKIES > B

BRORA

13 years old

59,9 %
CADENHEAD'S
AUTHENTIC COLLECTION
Cask Strenght
Distilled May 1982
Bottled January 1996
Not diluted
No chill filtration
No colouring
No additives
Wm. Cadenhead, 32 Unionstreet,
Campbeltown

BRORA

18 years old

52,9 %
SILENT STILLS
Distilled 18.1.83
Cask no. 40
Bottled 3.9.2001
294 Bottles
Genummerde flessen
Ainslie & Heilbron (Dist) Ltd
Signatory Vintage
Scotch Whisky Co, Ltd, Edinburgh

BRORA

26 years old

50%
THE OLD MALT CASK 50o
Single Cask Bottling
Distilled November 1974
Bottled April 2001
258 bottles
No Chill Filtration
No Colouring
Douglas Laing & Co, Ltd, Glasgow

BRORA

21 years old

59,2%
STRAIGHT FROM THE CASK
Distilled on: 12 Nov 1981
Bottled on: 12 Nov 2002
Matured in a Refill Sherry Butt
Cask No: 1421
Selected by La Maison du Whisky
Bottled by Hand, in Scotland
510 bottles
50 cl Bottles
Signatory Vintage, Edinburgh

BRORA

15 years old

40 %
CONNOISSEURS CHOICE
Distilled 1982
Bottled 1997
Proprietors:
Ainslie & Heilbron (Distillers) Ltd
Gordon & Macphail, Elgin

BRORA

20 years old

40%
CONNOISSEURS CHOICE
Distilled 1982
Bottled 2002
Proprietors:
Ainslie & Heilbron (Distillers) Ltd
Gordon & Macphail, Elgin

BRORA

21 years old

56.90 %

RARE MALTS SELECTION
Natural Cask Strenght
Distilled 1977
Bottled October 1998
Limited Edition
Genummerde flessen
United Malt & Grain Distillers Ltd,
Glasgow
EMPTY

BRORA

22 years old

58,7 %
RARE MALTS SELECTION
Natural Cask Strenght
Distilled 1972
Limited Bottling
Ainslie & Heilbron (Distillers)
Glasgow.
Brora distillery was founded in 1819 by the Marquess of Stafford, later the Duke of Sutherland, on his estate overlooking the sea in the very north of Scotland.

The distillery is now silent, although its sister Clynelish still operated.

Through 22 years of ageing this particular malt has developed a peaty, seaweed aroma which produces a smoky, slightly salty character on the palate.

BRORA

46 %
The Un-Chillfiltered Collection
Closed Distillery
Matured in a Refill Sherry Butt
Distilled on: 15th December 1981
Bottled on: 23rd September 2003
Butt No. 1587
513 Numbered Bottles
No Chillfiltration
Signatory Vintage
Scotch Whisky Co, Ltd, Edinburgh

BRORA

23 years old

53,7 %
SIGNATORY VINTAGE
Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky
CASK STRENGTH COLLECTION
Matured in a Sherry Butt
Butt No. 1557
613 numbered Bottles
Natural ColourSignatory Vintage
Scotch Whisky Co, Ltd, Edinburgh

BRORA

20 years old

54,9 %

RARE MALTS SELECTION
Natural Cask Strenght
Distilled 1975
Limited Edition
Genummerde flessen
Ainslie & Heilbron, Glasgow.

The Rare Malts Brora 1975.

'The rich chestnut-colour, seaweedy aromas and smoky, salty flavours of a classic coastal malt; a real winter warmer'.

In every collection of the rarest and finest, some are rarest of all; such are the unique cask-strenght single malt Scotch whiskies which form the outstanding Rare Malts Selection.

Each is individually chosen from the largest, most varied stock of unusual old single malts in Scotland by a distinguished panel drawn from all walks of whisky.

Looked after undisturbed by the same hands ever since they were born, all have been nurtured to perfection.

Connoisseurs can see their full rich colour and enjoy their true depth of flavour thanks to unfiltered cask-strenght bottling.

Nosing them (of course, the correct dilution for a cask-strenght malt is two parts water to one of whisky) is an act of reverence to enjoy in itself.

Each individually numbered bottle reveals a most intriguing character. Often twenty or more years of age, many are so rare, they will never be seen again.

The Rare Malts Selection: each one unique to taste, to give, to collect and appreciate.

BRORA

24 years old

56,1 %

RARE MALTS SELECTION
Natural Cask Strenght
Distilled 1977
Bottled October 2001
Limited Edition
Genummerde flessen
Scottish Malt Distillers, Elgin.

'Always the highest priced of any single Scotch whisky'.

The typically sea-salty, heavily peated 1977 single malt in this 24-year-old cask-strenght bottling is

the second Rare Malts bottling from this year.

It is drawn from increasingly rare stocks. What once built a distillery will now purchase but a few bottles of its rare Northern Highland harvest.

'The bracing iodine aromas and polished, sweet-smoky character of a mighty coastal malt, with its long, finally mustard-dry finish'.

The Story of Brora Distillery, Sutherland.

Built in 1819 for the then princely sum of € 750, the distillery at Brora on the stormy sea coast of Sutherland was modelled on fine principles. One of Scotland's earliest purpose-built malt whisky distilleries, it provided a market for barley grown by the future Duke of Sutherland's tenants on his new farms on the coastal plain.

Nothing was wasted. A local mine provided coal to heat the stills. Spent grains from the distillery fed local livestock. Neither was the whisky one to waste. Only private customers were supplied; 'trade orders' were refused.

By 1896 the respected trade journal Harper's Weekly could write that Brora 'al¬ways obtained the highlest price of any single Scotch whisky'.

In the 1970s a new distillery was built and Brora produced alongside it for some years, in a heavily peated style reminicent of Islay malts.

Well suited to long ageing in cask, it has been much enjoyed in former Rare Malts releases.

BRORA

18 years old

43 %
VINTAGE 1981
Distilled 31.3.81
Bottled 8.9.99
Cask No. 569
460 bottles
Natural Colour
Signatory Vintage
Scotch Whisky Co, Ltd, Edinburgh

BRORA

19 years old

43 %
VINTAGE 1981
SIGNATORY MILLENNIUM EDITION
Distilled 11th June 1981
Bottled on 26th July 2000
Matured in a sherry butt
Butt No. 1082
788 bottles
Natural Colour
Signatory Vintage
Scotch Whisky Co, Ltd, Edinburgh

BRORA

19 years old

59,4 %

SINGLE CASK
SCOTCH MALT WHISKY
Distilled Feb 77
Bottled Sept 96
Society Cask No. code 61.5
The Scotch Malt Whisky Society,
The Vaults, Leith, Edinburgh
'An Islay by another name'.

De kleur is die van een Amontillado sherry. Rijke neus met gerookt wildgebraad en pruimen in Armagnac. Wanneer water is toegevoegd lijkt de drank wat op een single malt whisky van het eiland Islay. De smaak is eerst zoet, dan fruitig en iets bitter.

BRORA

over 25 years old

43 %
THE McGIBBONS's PROVENANCE
AUTUMN DISTILLATION
Autumn 1975
Bottled Winter 2001
No Colouring
Not Chill Filtered
Douglas McGibbon & Co, Ltd, Glasgow

BRORA

18 years old

40 %
CONNOISSEURS CHOICE
Distilled 1982
Bottled 2000
Proprietors:
Ainslie & Heilbron (Distillers) Ltd
Gordon & Macphail, Elgin

BRORA

18 years old

50 %
THE OLD MALT CASK 50o
Single Cask Bottling
Distilled September 1981
Bottled July 2000
Matured in Sherry Cask
732 bottles
No Chill Filtration
No Colouring
Douglas Laing & Co, Ltd, Glasgow

BRORA

20 years old

50 %
THE OLD MALT CASK 50o
A Single Cask Bottling
Distilled June 1981
Bottled July 2001
570 bottles
No Chill Filtration
No Colouring
Douglas Laing & Co, Ltd, Glasgow

BRORA

29 years old

50 %
THE OLD MALT CASK 50o
Single Cask Bottling
Distilled June 1971
Matured in Sherry Cask
Bottled April 2001
258 bottles
No Chill Filtration
No Colouring
Douglas Laing & Co, Ltd, Glasgow

BRORA

22 years old

58,5 %
THE OLD MALT CASK 50o
ADVANCED SAMPLE
Natural Cask Strength
Sherry Hogshead
Distilled 1982
Bottled April 2001
Cask 387
Approved by Alambic Classique,

Germany
No Chill Filtration
No Colouring
Douglas Laing & Co, Ltd, Glasgow

BRORA

21 years old

50 %
THE OLD MALT CASK 50o
Single Cask Bottling
Distilled 1982
Bottled 2003
Matured in Sherry Cask
264 bottles
No Chill Filtration
No Colouring
Douglas Laing & Co, Ltd, Glasgow

BRORA

26 years old

54,8 %

SINGLE CASK
SCOTCH MALT WHISKY
Date Distilled Feb 77
Date Bottled Mar 03
Society Cask code 61.15
Outturn 298 Bottles
The Scotch Malt Whisky Society,
The Vaults, Leith, Edinburgh
'Bonfire on a shingle beach'

This is from the older of the two distilleries in Brora - the one that's harder to come by.

Probably from a hogshead this is gingery yellow gold in colour.

Common charateristics of the make are salt and smoke and you could easily be drinking this one by a bonfire on a shingle beach.

There is also a sweet fruity note like cooked damsons with a sprinkling of sugar. The re-duced nose has green fruit gums, chamois leather and gammon and pineapple. If you take a sip of the neat stuff (and we recommend you do) it is smoky and sweet )like licking the lid of a syrup tin) With its tongue-tingling effect it is a real winter warmer, complex and satisfying.

BRORA

21 years old

59,4 %

SINGLE CASK
SCOTCH MALT WHISKY
Date Distilled Mar 82
Date Bottled Nov 03
Society Cask code 61.18
Outturn 279 Bottles
The Scotch Malt Whisky Society,
The Vaults, Leith, Edinburgh
'Matured to elegance'

Up the road from Dunrobin Castle and the Duke of Sutherland's statue there are two distil¬leries. This is from the one that closed in 1983. From a refill hoggie it has an understated mid colour. For those who expect peatiness this dram itself will seem understated though it has matured to an elegant balance.

The nose is sweet and peppery. A drop of water brings wood sap and fresh butter to the nose and ginger to the taste. It has a long warm finish.

BRORA

25 years old

57.0%

SINGLE CASK
SCOTCH MALT WHISKY
Date distilled Feb 78
Date Bottled Feb 04
Society Cask code 61.2
(Collectors item. Society labeled 61.2)
Outturn 271 Bottles
The Scotch Malt Whisky Society,
The Vaults, Leith, Edinburgh
'Marmelade on burnt toast'

Unsurprisingly every member of the tasting panel wanted to try this whisky first - there's always interest in the rarities that are the heavily peated malts from the mainland (near Brora on the north east coast).

Buttercup gold in color with a medium beading, the complexi¬ty of this malt was immediately apparent on the nose. Delicately woven threads of caramel, burnt cloves, mint, menthol, brine and bitter orange peel were found. Oh, and the peat smoke but lighter than expected. These flavors followed in the mouth, finishing with a smoky oily orangey aftertaste. The Nutshell: Orange marmelade and anchor butter on burnt toast!

By the way - careful with the water, this lovely little number's a non - swimmer.

(Collectors item. Society labeled 61.2).

BRORA

over 26 years old

46%
THE McGIBBON's PROVENANCE
WINTER DISTILLATION
Distilled - 1976 - Winter
Bottled - Autumn - 2002
Un - Chillfiltered
A Bottling from One Cask
Number 742
No Colouring
Douglas McGibbon & Co, Ltd,   Glasgow

BRORA

21 years old

58,4%
VINTAGE 1982
Distilled: 1982
Bottled: 2003
Cask No.   416
Cask Strenght
272 Numbered Bottles
Natural Colour
Signatory Vintage
Scotch Whisky Co, Ltd,   Edinburgh

BRORA

20 years old

58,1 %

RARE MALTS SELECTION
Natural Cask Strenght
Distilled 1982
Bottled April 2003
Limited Edition
Genummerde flessen
Brora Distillery, Brora,
Sutherland Scottish Malt Distillers, Elgin

'The fresh sea-air aromas, oil-smooth body and polished, sweet and malty character of a mighty coastal malt with a long, peppery, finally mustard-dry finish'.

Built in 1819 for the then princely sum of £ 750, the distillery at Brora on the stormy sea coast of Sutherland was modelled on fine principes.

One of Scotland's earliest purpose-built malt whisky distilleries, it provided a market for barley grown by the future Duke of Sutherland's tenants on his new farms on the coastal plain. Nothing was awsted. A local mine provided coal to heat the stills. Spent grains from the distillery fed local livestock.

Neither was the whisky one to waste. Only private customers were supplied; 'trade orders' were refused. By 1896 the respected trade journal Harper's Weekly could write that Brora 'always obtained the highest price of any single Scotch Whisky'.

In the late 1960s a new distillery was built and Brora produced alongside it for some years, in a heavily peated style reminiscent of Islay malts. Well suited to long ageing in cask, it has been much enjoyed in former Rare Malts releases.

The heavily peated 1982 single malt in this 20-year old cask strenght bottling is still fresh and sea-salty on the nose and long, warm and peppery on the finish-yet it is also more roun¬ded, malty and sweet than previous bottlings have been; perfectly balanced, and all the more wonderful for it.

It is drawn from increasingly rare stocks.

What once built a distillery will now purchase but a few bottles of its rare harvest.

August 26, 2003.

BRORA

Aged 22 years

56,4 %
SIGNATORY VINTAGE
Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky
CASK STRENGHT COLLECTION
Distilled on: 08/12/1981
Bottled on: 06/10/2004
Matured in a Sherry Butt
Cask No: 1561
611 Numbered Bottles
Natural Colour
Signatory Vintage
Scotch Whisky Co, Ltd, Edinburgh

BRORA

22 years old

60.8 %
RARE AULD SCOTCH WHISKY
Highland
Cask Strenght
A Unique Whisky of Distinction
Fons et Origo
D T C
Sherry Cask
date distilled 11.1981
date bottled 10.2004
Cask no. 1426
251 Numbered Bottles
No Chill Filtering or Colouring of any kind
Duncan Taylor & Co, Ltd, Huntly,
Aberdeenshire

BRORA

23 years old

48,6 %
VINTAGE BOTTLING
DUN BHEAGAN

Highland
Distilled in 1981
Wood Type Butt Cask
Number 1513
Numbered Bottles 336
Bottles Unchill Filtered
William Maxwell & Co, Ltd, Liverpool

BRORA

23 years old

46 %
SIGNATORY VINTAGE
THE UN - CHILLFILTERED
COLLECTION
Distilled on: 08.12.1981
Bottled on: 07.03.2005
Matured in: Refill Butt
Cask No. 05/147
408 Numbered Bottles
No Chillfiltration
Natural Colour
Signatory Vintage
Scotch Whisky Co, Ltd, Edinburgh

BRORA

30 years old

49,7 %
THE OLD & RARE
PLATINUM SELECTION
Single Cask, Single Malt Bottling
Distilled 1972
Bottled 2003
Bottled at natural cask strength
222 numbered bottles
No Chill Filtration
No Colouring
Offered with Pride
Douglas Laing & Co, Ltd, Glasgow

BRORA

31 years old

49,3 %
THE OLD & RARE
PLATINUM SELECTION
Single Cask, Single Malt Bottling
Bottled at natural cask strength
221 numbered bottles
No Chill Filtration
No Colouring
Offered with Pride
Douglas Laing & Co, Ltd, Glasgow

BRORA

32 years old

58,4 %
THE OLD & RARE
PLATINUM SELECTION
Single Cask, Single Malt Bottling
Distilled 1970
Bottled 2002
Bottled at natural cask strength
297 numbered bottles
No Chill Filtration
No Colouring
Offered with Pride
Douglas Laing & Co, Ltd, Glasgow

BRORA

20 years old

46%
CHIEFTAIN'S CHOICE
Distilled: 1982
Bottled: 2003
Wood Type: Sherry Butt
Cask No. 1195
786 Bottles
Unchill - Filtered
Natural Colour
Ian MacLeod & Co, Ltd, Broxburn

BRORA

30 years old

52,4%
SUPER PREMIUM
CASK STRENGHT
COASTAL HIGHLAND SCOTCH WHISKY
Distilled 1972
Bottled in 2002
Natural Cask Strenght
3000 bottles only
1st Limited Edition
Bora Distillery, Brora, Sutherland

BRORA

30 years old

55,7%
SUPER PREMIUM
SINGLE MALT COASTAL HIGHLAND
SCOTCH WHISKY
SPECIAL RELEASES 2003
Distilled: 1973
Bottled: 2003
Fine Cask Strenght
Single Malt Whiskies
Natural Cask Strenght
3000 Numbered Bottles
2nd Limited Edition
Brora Distillery, Brora, Sutherland

BRORA

30 years old

56.6%
SUPER PREMIUM
SINGLE MALT COASTAL HIGHLAND
SCOTCH WHISKY
SPECIAL RELEASES 2004
Distilled: 1974
Bottled: 2004
Fine Cask Strenght
Single Malt Whiskies
Natural Cask Strenght
3000 Numbered Bottles
3rd Limited Edition
Brora Distillery, Brora, Sutherland

BRORA

30 years old

56,3%
SUPER PREMIUM CASK STRENGHT
COASTAL HIGHLAND SCOTCH WHISKY
SPECIAL RELEASES 2005
Distilled 1975
Bottled in 2005
Annual Release
Natural Cask Strenght
3000 bottles only
4th Very Limited Edition
Vatted from a mixture of American and
European Oak Refill Casks
Bora Distillery, Brora, Sutherland

BRORA

over 19 years old

50%
PURE HIGHLAND MALT
SCOTCH WHISKY
SPECIAL RESERVE FOR SILVER SEAL
Distilled: March 1982
Bottled: Sptember 2001
280 Numbered Bottles
Silver Seal Whisky Company Ltd.
11 Florida Square, Glasgow

BRORA

23 years old

50 %

INFO
THE OLD MALT CASK 50o
Single Malt - Single Cask - Scotch Whisky
A Single Cask Bottling From
Douglas Laing
Distilled November 1982
Bottled January 2006
Matured in Sherry Cask
348 Bottles filled from cask
No Chill Filtration
No Colouring
A Bottling from one Sherry Butt D L Ref: 2294
Douglas Laing & Co, Ltd, Glasgow

BRORA

24 years old

43 %

CONNOISSEURS CHOICE
Distillation Date: January 1982
Cask Type: Refill Sherry Butts
Bottling Date: February 2006
Proprietors:
Ainslie & Heilbron (Distillers) Ltd
Gordon & Macphail, Elgin

Complex with a rich fruitiness and subtle peatiness

Up until 1969 Brora Distillery was known by another name - Clynelish. In the late 1960s a new modern distillery was built and took over the name Clynelish.

The old Victorian distillery was then named 'Brora' Distillery and reopened in April 1969 to produce an exceptional Islay style of malt whisky. The distillery was closed in 1983.

BRORA

Aged 30 years

55,7%
CLASSIC MALTS SELECTION
SUPER PREMIUM
CASK STRENGHT
SINGLE MALT COASTAL HIGHLAND
SCOTCH WHISKY
Fine Cask Strenght Single Malt Whiskies
Distilled 1976
Annual Release
Natural Cask Strenght
Bottled 2006
Fifth Very Limited Edition
2130 bottles worldwide
120 bottles available for the Netherlands
Vatted from a mixture of American Oak
and European refill casksBrora Distillery,
Brora, Sutherland

BRORA

23 years old

48%
VINTAGE BOTTLING
DUN BHEAGAN SINGLE MALT
SCOTCH WHISKY
Highland
Distilled 1981
Wood Type: Refill Sherry Butt
Cask Number 1512
Bottled 2005
No. of Bottles 648
Unchill Filtered
William Maxwell & Co, Ltd, Liverpool

BRORA

24 years old

48,5 %
VINTAGE BOTTLING
DUN BHEAGAN SINGLE MALT
SCOTCH WHISKY
Highland
Distilled in December 1981
Wood Type: Fino Sherry Butt
Cask Number 1524
Bottled 2006
No. of Bottles 726
Unchill Filtered
William Maxwell & Co, Ltd, Liverpool

BRORA

24 years old

46 %
Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky
UNFILTERED
HAND BOTTLED
LA   MAISON DU WHISKY
Distilled on: 1.12.1981
Cask No: 05/794
Matured in: Sherry Butt
Bottled on: 14.12.2005
472 Bottles   50 CL
Without any filtration
Natural Colour
Cask individually selected by
La Maison du Whisky
Bottled by Signatory Vintage
Scotch Whisky Co, Ltd, Edinburg

BRORA

25 years old

56,5 %
CASK STRENGHT RARE AULD
SCOTCH WHISKY
Unique Whiskies of Distinction
Fons et Origo D T C
date distilled 11.1981
cask no. 1423
date bottled 02.2007
682 numbered bottles
Duncan Taylor & Co Ltd,
Huntly, Aberdeenshire

BRORA

Aged 26 years

54,5 %
CASK STRENGHT RARE AULD
SCOTCH WHISKY
Unique Whiskies of Distinction
Region: Highland Scotch Whisky
Fons et Origo
D T C
Date distilled: 11.1981
Cask no: 1424
Date bottled: 11.2007
Numbered Bottles
625 Bottles
Duncan Taylor & Co, Ltd, Huntly, Aberdeenshire

BRORA

Aged 25 years

56,3 %
SUPER PREMIUM
CASK STRENGHT
COASTAL HIGHLAND SCOTCH WHISKY
SPECIAL RELEASES 2 O O 8
Distilled 1983
Bottled 2008
NATURAL CASK STRENGHT
Numbered Bottles
3000 bottles only
Limited Bottling
Brora Distillery, Brora, Sutherland

BRORA

Aged 26 years

46 %
VINTAGE BOTTLING
DUN BHEAGAN
Single Malt Scotch Whisky
Highland
Distilled in December 1981
Wood Type: Dry Sherry Butt
Cask Number 1526
Bottled 2008
684 Bottles
Unchill Filtered
Natural Colour
William Maxwell & Co, Ltd, Liverpool

BRORA

Aged 30 years

53.2 %
CLASSIC MALTS SELECTION
SUPER PREMIUM
NATURAL CASK STRENGHT
SINGLE MALT SCOTCH WHISKY
COASTAL HIGHLAND
Distilled 1979
Annual Release
Bottled 2009
8th Limited Bottling
1 of only 2652 Bottles
Brora Distillery, Brora, Sutherland

BRORA

Aged 27 years

51.3 %
CASK STRENGHT RARE AULD
SCOTCH WHISKY
Region HIGHLAND SCOTCH WHISKY
Unique Whiskies of Distinction
Fons et Origo
D T C
Date distilled 11.1981
Cask no. 291
Date bottled 07.2009
330 Numbered Bottles
No Chill Filtering or colourings of any kind
Duncan Taylor, Huntly, Aberdeenshire

BRORA

Aged 30 years

54,3 %
CLASSIC MALTS SELECTION
SUPER PREMIUM
NATURAL CASK STRENGHT
SINGLE COASTAL HIGHLAND MALT
Bottled 2010
Limited Bottling
1 of 3000 Bottles
Brora Distillery, Brora, Sutherland

Northern Highlands

BRORA also see CLYNELISH

Brora, Sutherland. Licentiehouder: Ainslie & Heilbron (Distillers) Ltd. Onderdeel van Scottish Malt Distillers Ltd. (S.M.D.). De malt divisie van United Distillers Ltd. Eigendom van Guinness.

Brora werd gesticht als Clynelish distilleerderij door deMarquess of Stafford. Die na te zijn getrouwd met de erfgename van de Sutherland landgoederen, toen hij de titelDuke of Sutherland ging voeren, de leidende figuur werd van de beruchte Highland Clearances, waarbij vijftien duizend mensen van hun boerderijtjes werden verdreven, om plaats te maken voor schapen van het Cheviot ras, die meer opbrachten.

Een deel van de boertjes (Crofters) moest langs de kust gaan wonen, hier verbouwden zij gerst, die de Crofters aan de distilleerderij konden verkopen, waardoor de Duke of Sutherland weer kon worden betaald.
De eerste pachter van een stukje grond was James Harper,die er tegelijkertijd een distilleerderij bijbouwde voor € 750. Op het land werd gerst geteeld, koeien gehouden en vooral varkens die werden gevoed
met het afval dat overbleef na het distillatieproces. Ook was er een kolenmijn gelegen bij het stadje Brora.

James Harper begon met twee ketels met een kapaciteit van respectievelijk 200 en 87 gallons, en produceerde 10,015 gallons spirit, waar hij in 1821-22 € 2,774 aan accijnzen betaalde.
De volgende licentiehouder was Andrew Ross in 1834, die werd in 1846 opgevolgd door George Lawson die verbeteringen aanbracht in Clynelish.

In 1896 verkocht George Lawson & Sons de zaken aanAinslie & Co, whiskyblenders te Leith. De naam vanClynelish was toen al zo, dat men meer kon verkopen dan produceren.
Ainslie & Co breidde de distilleerderij en lagerkapaciteit aanzienlijk uit en was voltooid in 1897. Ainslie & Co's zaken kwamen in 1912 onder de handen van de curator.

John Risk, die al 50 % van het aandelen kapitaal in Clynelishbezat, kocht ook de andere 50 % en boot deze aan The Distillers Company Ltd. The Clynelish Distillery Co, Ltdwerd gevormd met een kapitaal van € 20.000, Risk en de D.C.L. werden beiden aandeelhouder voor 50 %

Met de overname van Coleburn in 1916 werd het aandelen kapitaal verhoogd tot £ 30.000 en John Walker & Sons teKilmarnock werd voor één derde deel aandeelhouder.
The Distillers Company Ltd nam alle aandelen in 1925over, en in 1930 werd Clynelish onderdeel van Scottish Malt Distillers Ltd, de malt divisie van de D.C.L.

In 1928 werd er gemoderniseerd teneinde op arbeid te kunnen besparen. Er kwam toen ook electrisch licht. Clynelishsloot in Maart 1931 als gevolg van de economische depressie, maar werd weer opstart in September 1938. Clynelish was weer gesloten van Mei 1941 tot November 1945 als gevolg van oorlogs omstandigheden.

Technische veranderingen kwamen in de jaren zestig, betrokClynelish zijn kolen tot dan van Ross Pit te Brora en uit deLowlands, ging men nu over op olie. Het waterwiel en de stoommachine, nodig voor de energie werden vervangen door kracht d.m.v. electricteit. De ketels werden voortaan verhit door stoom.

De laatste kolen werden aangeleverd op 4 November 1966.

Een nieuwe distilleerderij werd gebouwd in 1967 - 1968. Deze heeft zes ketels die met stoom worden verhit. De distilleerderij kreeg de naam Clynelish.

De oude distilleerderij werd gesloten, maar na herbouw van het brouwhuis in 1975 heropend met de naam Brora maar sloot weer in 1983, 17 Maart.

Het water voor beide distilleerderijen komt van dezelfde bron:Clynemilton Burn.

Dat de oude distilleerderij weer werd opgestart komt omdat in die tijd er een tekort was aan Islay type malt whisky, doordatCoal Ila werd verbouwd in die periode.
De specificatie van de turf was in die tijd dezelfde als gebruikt voor Talisker.

De kapaciteit van Clynelish is 3.000.000 liter spirit per jaar.

Er komen tussen de tien en twaalf duizend bezoekers jaarlijks.Er werken veertien mensen. De whisky afkomstig van de oude distilleerderij voorafgaande aan 1967 werd Clynelishgenoemd.

Nadien werden de vaten gestencild als Brora ofschoon ze werden verkocht als Clynelish.

De whiskyschrijver Gordon Brown noemde de nieuwe distilleerderij een koekfabriek, terwijl James Murray het een schoenendoos stijl distilleerderij vond.

Het water kwam van de Clynmilton Burn.
De Mash tun is 6,8 ton.
De zes Wash backs zijn elk 20.000 liter.
Er is één Wash still en één Spirit still van

elk 13.500 liter en worden met stoom verhit.
De capaciteit was ongeveer 800.000 liter

spirit per jaar.

Clynelish Distillery was established in 1819 by the Marquess of Stafford who had married the heiress of the vastSutherland estates and took that name later when he was made a duke. He had conceived a scheme of economic improvement that entailed moving the inhabitants from the interior to the seaboard where land was allotted to them. The distillery fitted into a plan for regenerating arable farms on the coastal strip.
Its origin was described by James Loch, the Marquess'sLands Commissioner, in 1820: "The first farm beyond the people's lot (at Brora) is Clynelish which has recently been let to Mr. Harper from the county of Midlothian. Upon this farm also there has just been erected a distillery at an expense of £750. This was done ... to afford the smaller tenants upon the estate a steady and ready market for their grain without their being obliged to dispose of it to the illegal distiller". It was hoped that the existence of the distillery would put an end to illicit distilling, a practice that, in Loch's words, had nursed the people "in every species of deceit, vice, idleness and dissipation".

Loch's account is illustrated by an architect's elevation and plan of the buildings. These ex-emplify a very early purpose-built distillery. Other distilleries of this date, and much later, were typically outbuildings of farmsteads, fitted up for distilling, or occasionally, as at Oban, converted breweries. Even so, the distillery and farm at Clynelish were integrated in one operation. A piggery is marked on the architect's plan. Spent grains left over from the manufacturing processes fed the pigs, and they in turn fertilised the "larger proportion of unimproved land" added to the farm "in consequence of the command of manure which the distillery will afford the tenant". Part ofBrora Muir was reclaimed for farming by this means, and coal from the mine at Brora was used in the distillery's furnaces.

James Harper started up with one wash still and one spirit still, with respective capacities of 200 and 87 gallons. He produced 10,015 gallons, on which he paid duty of £2,774, in1821-22. The next lessee was Andrew Ross in 1834,followed by George Lawson in 1846. Lawson, the brother of the local bank agent, was well placed to obtain capital. He made substantial improvements and extensions, notably by the erection of a new malt kiln and the replacement of the original stills. The Lawsons seem to have been efficient farmers: two Highland oxen from Clynelish won the first prize in their class, and sheep gained other awards, at the Smithfield Show in1894.

George Lawson & Sons sold the business to Ainslie & Co.,Scotch whisky blenders, of Leith, in 1896. Harper's Weekly, a trade journal, then described it as "a singularly valuable property, as the make has always obtained the highest price of any single Scotch whisky. It is sent out, duty-paid, to private customers all over the kingdom; and it also commands a very valuable export trade: the demand for it in that way is so great that the proprietors ... have for many years been obliged to refuse trade orders".

The new owners enlarged productive capacity and warehouse accommodation to meet the demand from wholesalers as well as from private customers. Rebuilding was completed in 1897. A stone bearing the coats of arms of the Marquess of Stafford and the Countess of Sutherland, and the date"1820", has been preserved on the gable wall of the stillhouse, just under the bell-cote.

Ainslie's business was put in the hands of a trustee in 1912.John Risk, who already held a 50% interest in Clynelish,bought
the other 50% and offered it to The Distillers Company Limited. The Clynelish Distillery Co. Ltd. was formed, with a capital of £0, owned in equal proportions by Risk and DCL.With the acquisition in 1916 of Coleburn Distillery, Speyside,the capital was increased to £0, one third of which was owned by John Walker & Sons of Kilmarnock. DCL acquired all the shares in 1925 and five years later transferred Clynelishto its subsidiary, Scottish Malt Distillers Ltd.

It was reckoned in 1928 that manual labour had been reduced to a minimum. The Pelton water wheel, which had originally supplied all the motive power, had been supplemented in 1897by a horizontal steam engine, made by Shanks of Arbroath.A system of screw and band conveyors moved raw materials throughout the buildings, and a power house was being built to generate electric light.
Clynelish closed in March 1931 as a result of the economic depression. It restarted in Sep-tember 1938, only to shut down from May 1941 until November 1945, on account of wartime restrictions on the supply of barley to distillers.

Technological change came in the postwar years. The water wheel and the steam engine were displaced by electric power in the 1960's. The two stills, which were heated by a coal-burning furnace, hand-fired, were converted to internal heating by steam in 1961. The distillery took half of its coal supply from Ross Pit, Brora, and half from the Lowlands. The last delivery of coal was made on 4 November 1966. The boiler was then converted for burning oil.

A new distillery was built on an adjacent site in 1967-68. It had six stills, all heated by steam from an oil-fired boiler. The new distillery was given the name "Clynelish". The old distillery was closed for a time, and then reopened, after the rebuilding of the mash house, as "Brora Distillery" in April1975. It is the subject of the drawing at the head of this leaflet.
Both distilleries use the same water supply, piped from a weir on the Clynemilton Burn on the shoulder of Colbhein. They occupy a site of approximately 5 acres (2 hectares). SMDprovides seven houses for distillery employees. It also ownsClynelish Farm, which covers 320 acres (130 hectares) and is let to tenants.

The distiller's licence is held by Ainslie & Heilbron (Distillers) Ltd., of Glasgow, blenders of Royal Edinburgh Scotch whisky. They also bottle and sell Clynelish single malt whisky.

Brora built in 1819 by the future Duke of Sutherland, the now Brora distillery enjoyed fine buildings which befitted one of Scotland's earliest pupose built distilleries.

THE OLD MALT CASK 50o
Douglas Laing & Co, Ltd

In 1949 Fred Douglas Laing established Douglas Laing & Co primarily as a blender and bottler for his Scotch Whisky blends The King of Scots and House of Peers, which are available today internationally.
Large stocks and reserves of aging Malts in particular, were laid down by Mr. Laing, many being guarded for 25 - 30 years specifically for the older blends such as the 25 and 30 Year Old KING OF SCOTS.
With more than 50 different Malts in stock, over the last 50 years from filling programme, it was obvious that the Malt Master would have certain favourites. These have variously been chalked off the times of regular quality control, as being of particular qualitative interest; both commercially, and for the pleasure of thep quality samples indicative of the Distillers's art.
It was judged by the two current owners/directors (sons of the founder, so nepotism is not dead!) that some of these stocks were 'too good to blend'. And so the OLD MALT CASK selection was developed in 1999 to extend those perks and benefits beyond the Director's tasting suite!
Initially it was felt that 50 different Malts commemorating the Company's 50th Anniversary would be approciate. That tally has now been exeeded but our preferred strenght of 50 % ale/vol is maintained. We believe this strenght creates a fine, round, full quality for various Malts when taken 'neat'. It also allows the regular consumer to know precisely how much or little water should be added to this artisan and craftman's distillate.
These selected Malt Whiskies have wait17.700 Ltrs / Yield: 387 Litrs / tonne of malted bsrley/ed mgallons any years to reach their classic heights of quality. Not only with your health in mind, but with a view to greater enjoyment, may we suggest that in the style of the founder, whose signature endorses your Malt, you enjoy its glass leisurely and slowly.

Dr.Patrick Brossard Brora A Legendary Distillery 1819-1983 and Whisky: 1982/1983

Malt Bins: 6 wooden flexed Bins. Bin 1 and 2 were operated as one, and the same applied to Bins 3 and 4. Bins 5 and 6 were operated individually, meaning that 4 bins were effective 1 & 2, 3 & 4, 5 & 6

Destoner: Porteus

Malt weigher: Avery

Mill: 2 sets of rollers, made by Robert Boby

Water soirce: Brora had 2 original sources: 1 the Dubh Loch or Loch Dhu as reported in the lease of 1884 between George Lwason and The Duke of Sutherland O.S. Grid

NC 880078 and 2 a reservir / dam / on the burn at Clynekirkton

Malt from the Glen Ord maltings 7 ppm, 45 ppm during the early - mid 1970s and in 1983 13 % Scottish and 87 % English barley

Mash tun capacity: 31.5000 Ltrs / Washbacks; 6 of wood, each with a capacity of 29.000 Ltrd / Yeast DCL and brewers compressed / Wash still size: 4953 gallons = 22.500 Ltrs

Spirit size: 3911 gallons 17.700 Ltrs / Yield: 387 Litrs / tonne of malted barley / Coling system for distillation Worm tubes / Spirt safe: Mc Millan & Co / Spirit vat 16.406 Ltrs warehouses 3 dunnage style on site / Whisky produced 378.051 Ltrs /Max capacity 1,05 Litrs of pure alcoholper annum

October 2005
Diageo has announced that its 2005 Annual Rare Malts Selection will be the last.
The collection will consist of four cask strenght single malts from closed distilleries; Glen Mhor 28 years old, Millburn 35 years old, Glendullan 26 years old and Linkwood 30 years old.
Dr. Nicholas Morgan, global malts marketing director commented: 'As the Special Releases are now well established, it makes less sence to continue selecting and promoting a parallel series of Rare Malts with his own separate indentity'.
In future, all premium and rare whiskies will be made available in the Annual Special Releases series.

1819

Founded by the Marquis of Stafford,

later first Duke of Sutherland,

James Harper is the first licensed distiller
1827

James Harper files for bankruptcy
1827

John Matheson licensed distiller
1828

James Harper again licensee
1834

Andrew Ross licensed distiller
1846

George Lawson licensee

1878 - 1896

George Lawson & Sons licensee
1896

James Ainslie & Co, whisky blenders,

Glasgow acquired a 50 %

interest in the distillery, John Risk,

previously of

Bankier Distillery the other 50 %

Brora is rebuild
1912

James Ainslie & Co escapes

bankruptcy.

The distillery is taken over by the

Clynelish Distillery Co, Ltd,

jointly owned by Distillers Company

Ltd (D.C.L.) and John Risk,

1916

John Walker & Sons took a stake of

John Risk's stocks
1925

D.C.L. buys out John Risk
1930

Remaining share is bought out by D.C.L.

and the distillery

is transferred to the

Scottish Malt Distillers Ltd. (S.M.D.)
1931

The distillery is mothballed
1939

The distillery is producing again
1960

The distillery becomes electrified

(until now it has been using

locally mined coal from Brora )

1966

On March 11, "the holy psalm book was

produced and we sung a whole bunch of

psalms, but the wash did "t come off any quicker".

Imagine all the workers singing psalms around

the wash still
1967

New distillery is built adjacent to the

old one, the name is also

Clynelish and both operate in parallel

from August
1968

'Old Clynelish' is mothballed in August
1969

'Old Clynelish' is reopened as

Clynelish N2 or Clybelish B

1972

And starts using a very peaty malt

over the next years

1975

Clybelish B changes name to Brora

1983

Brora closed in March
1995

Brora 1972, 20 years and 22 years

distilled 1972

are launched as Rare Malts

1996

Brora 20 years and distilled in 1975

is launched as

Rare Malt
1998

Brora 1977 distilled and 21 years old

is launched as a

Rare Malt
2001

Brora 1977 and 24 years old is

launched as a Rare Malt
2002

A 30 years old Brora is launched

as a Rare Malt
2003

Brora 1982 and 20 years old is

launched, the first bottle

in the Special Releases Series
2006

The 5th 30 year old Brora is launched

2014

The 13th Release a 35 year old

2015

The 14th Release a 37 year old

2016

The 15th Release a 38 year old

2017

The 16th Release a 34 year old

2017

Diageo announces: Brora will reopen in

2020

2019

A 40 year old is released

Starting in 2019 the distillery is meiculously restored

The original stills 14.400 Ltrs for the was still

and 13.200 Ltrs for the spirit still were sent to

Abercrombie in Alloa and were manufactured with

accordance with old drawings 6 ton mashtun, with rake

and plough, 6 washbacks a 28.00.000 Ltrs of Oregon pine

wooden orm tubs at a cost of 35.000.000.

the casks stands in stows

2021

5 March the distillery starts production

First cask filled in May

First manager is Stewart Bowman

Second Manager Jackie Robertson - Campbell

Capacity 800,000 Ltrs

First Bottlings 3 x 50 ck Bottles Brora Triptych

made from 3 Vintage 1972 Elusive Legacy 42,8 %

= 48 years old,

1972 Age of Peat 48,6 % = 43 years old a blended malt,

a Timeless Original 47,5 % 1982 =38 years old

1921

Open

2022

A 1981 distilled 40 years old released in the

Prima & Ultima Series

Ouput: 1000.000 litres
Water: Dubh Loch or Loch Dhu ,

later Clynmilton Burn
Mash tun: 1 x 6,8 tonnes
Wasbacks: 6 x 20.000 litres
1 wash still 13.500 litres
1 spirit still 13,500 litres

Process- and cooling water:

Clynemilton Burn.

Malt Weigher: Avery

Malt Mill:

Robert Bobby with 2 sets of rollers
Mash tun capacity: of 31.500 litres
Wash backs:

6,wooden, capacity of 29.500 litres each

Destoner: Porteus

Malt: Glen Ord, 7 ppm
The Wash stills capacity: 22.500 litres
The Spirit stills capacity: 17.700 litres

Yeast: Brewers and D.C.L.

Fermentation time 115 hours

Yield: 387 litres

Cooling: Worm Tubes

Spirit Safe: McMillan & Co

Spirit Vat: 16500 litrs

Warehouses: 3 Dunnage
The output was: a 1.000.000 litres

The bottlings which we now see come from Brora’s last flaring. This was a time when the distillery was run specifically to fill in perceived holes in DCL’s inventory. As a result you will find Broras which are immensely oily and smoky, as well as some in which there is the merest exhalation of peat. The waxy, oily, marine/mineral characters seen in Clynelish are however always present, but in magnified form. Rather than the orange oil of Clynelish, here there is more lemon acidity. There was, sadly, a small run of bottlings with a butyric character, so be aware.

Diageo releases an annual – and limited – bottling as part of its Special Release programme. With growing interest in smoky whiskies – and closed distilleries – Brora has become a cult malt.

Brora – or as it was originally known, Clynelish – is one of Scotland’s Clearance distilleries [see also Talisker]. It was built in 1819 by the Marquis of Stafford (later the Duke of Sutherland) who with his wife and her factors [estate managers] enacted some of the most brutal forced evictions in the Highlands, as part of an economic experiment which saw 15,000 farmers from their estate alone, moved off their land and resettled either on the coast, or sent to Canada and Australia.

Those who ended up in the new settlement at Brora were put to work in the Duke’s new business enterprises, one of which was distilling.

It took some time for the distillery to find its feet, passing through a number of lessees until George Lawson took charge. He and his sons would run the plant from 1846 to1896 when they sold it to the Glasgow blender James Ainslieand his business partner John Risk who rebuilt the site that year.

Ainslie himself went bust in 1912 when Risk and DCL took shares in the firm, John Walker & Sons following in 1916.Risk was bought out in 1925, when Walker joined DCL and the latter took complete control in 1930.

It wasn’t until after the Second World War that the distillery began to increase capacity significantly as a result of demand for blends increasing. By 1967, this had reached such a height that it was decided that it would be easier to build a new and larger distillery – initially known as Clynelish 2 – alongside the original buildings than try to expand them.

The old distillery closed for a year, but reopened in 1969 and was in production, though not always at full capacity, until it closed in 1983.

In 1975, after a change in legislation banning two distilleries from being called the same, its name was changed to Brora.During 1972 to 1974 when DCL’s Caol Ila was being rebuilt, production of heavily peated malt was switched here. Also, during periods of drought on Islay, the production of DCL’sheavily peated requirements was switched to the far north east. This could explain why although Brora’s peating levels in general dropped after 1977, there are occasional heavily smoky expressions from the 1980s.

The distillery was closed finally in 1983, and although rumours surface occasionally about it reopening they seem little more than wishful thinking.

Diageo

1997 - present

United Distillers

1986 - 1997

Distillers Company Limited

1925 - 1986

John Risk

1896 - 1925

Ainslie & Heilbron Distillers

1896 - 1912

(jointly with John Risk)

George Lawson

1846 - 1896

Andrew Ross

1834 - 1846

James Harper

1828 - 1834

John Matheson

1827 - 1828

James Harper

1825 - 1827

Marquis of Stafford

1819 - 1825

Brora – or as it was originally known, Clynelish – is one of Scotland’s Clearance distilleries [see also Talisker].It was built in 1819 by the Marquis of Stafford (later the Duke of Sutherland) who with his wife and her factors [estate managers] enacted some of the most brutal forced evictions in the Highlands, as part of an economic experiment which saw 15,000 farmers from their estate alone, moved off their land and resettled either on the coast, or sent to Canada and Australia.

Those who ended up in the new settlement at Brora were put to work in the Duke’s new business enterprises, one of which was distilling.

It took some time for the distillery to find its feet, passing through a number of lessees until George Lawson took charge. He and his sons would run the plant from 1846to 1896 when they sold it to the Glasgow blenderJames Ainslie and his business partner John Risk who rebuilt the site that year.

Ainslie himself went bust in 1912 when Risk and DCLtook shares in the firm, John Walker & Sons following in 1916. Risk was bought out in 1925, when Walker joined DCL and the latter took complete control in 1930.

The old distillery closed for a year, but reopened in 1969and was in production, though not always at full capacity, until it closed in 1983.

In 1975, after a change in legislation banning two distilleries from being called the same, its name was changed to Brora. During 1972 to 1974 when DCL’s Caol Ila was being rebuilt, production of heavily peated malt was switched here. Also, during periods of drought on Islay, the production of DCL’s heavily peated requirements was switched to the far north east. This could explain why although Brora’s peating levels in general dropped after 1977, there are occasional heavily smoky expressions from the 1980s.

However, in October 2017 Diageo revealed plans to reopen both Brora and Port Ellen distilleries, which also closed in 1983. Subject to planning permission, the two sites are expected to be operational once more by 2020.

THE RESURRECTION OF PORT ELLEN AND BRORA

October 2017

The shock news that cult distilleries Port Ellen and Brora are being brought back into production has reverberated around the whisky world.

Port Ellen distillery

Famous name: It is now 34 years since whisky was last made at Port Ellen

In the mythology that surrounds the legions of ‘ghost’ distilleries, two spectres loom especially large: Port Ellenand Brora. While romantics have long fantasised about their revival, realists were typically dismissive of the idea. It turns out that the romantics were right.

Both cult names – Port Ellen on Islay and Brora on the east coast of Sutherland – will be distilling again by 2020 after their owner, world’s largest Scotch whisky producer Diageo, announced a £35m investment to refurbish and refit the two sites.

‘It’s hard to over-estimate the degree of excitement among those people who have been working on this for a year or more now,’ Diageo head of whisky outreach Dr Nick Morgan says. ‘This is a really special day for us and for whisky drinkers everywhere… It’s the whisky announcement of a lifetime.’

The legend surrounding Port Ellen and Brora has only been magnified by their apparently permanent demise. Both were casualties of the early 1980s whisky loch, when the spirit they made for blends was surplus to requirements.

These were different times, when single malts were in their infancy. Only years later – and thanks in no small measure to the annual Special Release bottlings sold by Diageo – did the two distilleries ascend to their current level of fame and value (this year’s Port Ellen and Brora Special Releases were priced at £2,625 and £1,450 per bottle respectively).

Dual identity: Brora was known as Clynelish, before a new distillery was built on the same site

So why reopen them now? ‘I think there are a number of converging reasons,’ Dr Morgan says. ‘The first thing is that from a Diageo perspective we have a huge amount of confidence in where Scotch is at the moment, and where we think it’s going to be going over the next 15, 20, 25 years.’

The growth of single malt sales around the world – particularly among connoisseurs and collectors – is a key factor, but the remarkable status enjoyed by these two closed distilleries makes them a case apart.

‘When we started bottling Port Ellen and Brora in the Special Releases 15 or 16 years ago, there were many people in Diageo who thought we wouldn’t be able to sell those bottles for £100,’ recalls Dr Morgan.

‘We thought the time was right really to bring those two back from the dead in order to expand the number of people who can enjoy them… This will allow a lot more whisky enthusiasts to do so.’

To Jon Beach, Port Ellen collector and owner of Fiddler’s Highland Restaurant & Whisky Bar on the shores of Loch Ness, the decision to revive the plants is a ‘no-brainer’. He adds: ‘If it had been a smaller company or a medium-sized company, it would have happened already, I would have thought.’

There’s still plenty of work for Diageo to do. Technically, this announcement is that the company is seeking planning permission to restart whisky production on the two sites, as well as working through the various regulatory approvals needed to run a modern whisky distillery.

In the case of Brora, the existing, derelict buildings will be used, and the two stills (which remain there) will be refurbished and recommissioned; worm tubs will be installed again.

Port Ellen Special Releases

Auction favourite: Port Ellen Special Release bottlings are particularly sought-after

For Port Ellen, the work needed is more drastic: a new building will be constructed in the courtyard between the maltings and the old warehouses, and a pair of new stills and condensers built and installed. Diageo says it has ‘detailed drawings’ and records of the old equipment to help this process.

The two distilleries will be small by industry standards, producing 800,000 litres of alcohol a year (similar to the production levels at Oban, but higher than Diageo’ssmallest commercial distillery, Royal Lochnagar).

For Brora, that’s a slight reduction on its historic production level of 1m litres of alcohol a year; for Port Ellen, where there were previously two pairs of stills, it more than halves production.

This decision is shaped partly by strategic thinking, and partly by pragmatism. ‘We want these to be – I suppose you could say – small, bespoke distilleries,’ explains Dr Morgan. ‘It will enable us to make the distilleries the way we want them to be, and we couldn’t really do a 5-10m-litre operation [on those sites] even if we wanted to.’

As for the whisky itself, the task will be to recreate what was made in the late 1970s and early 1980s, but with a modern twist. ‘We’ve got enough production records to know how these places were being run in the 1980s, and people still on the payroll who worked on those distilleries, so we can use that wisdom,’ says Dr Morgan.

‘Our intention is to try and replicate as far as we can the medium-peated style of whiskies that these distilleries produced. But we know a lot more about distilling now than we did in the 1980s, and we’re also cleverer in terms of things like sustainability.’

Maturation is another matter altogether. Historically, Port Ellen and Brora were filled into cask for use in blends, but the ‘new’ distilleries will be almost entirely ring-fenced for single malt (although Dr Morganhypothesises that mature stock might find its way into high-end Johnnie Walker blends in the future).

‘We haven’t sat down and talked about maturation,’ he says. ‘That does raise some interesting questions, given the cask regimes – or lack of cask regimes – at that time. I’m sure there will be some very interesting conversations about that.’

In the 1970s and 1980s, Port Ellen was often filled (at high strength) into tired, almost inert casks. ‘If they do that again, they’re not going to have any of the “new” Port Ellen or Brora for another 25-30 years,’ points out Beach.

So when can we expect to see the first whiskies from the revived sites? ‘We will probably release them as 12-year-olds, but that’s not to say we wouldn’t put out a very small release of something before then,’ says Dr Morgan– meaning that it could be 2032 before any ‘new’ Broraor Port Ellen hits the market.

The impact on that market – in particular, the buoyant secondary market for these ‘collectible’ single malts – was another serious consideration for Diageo in deciding whether or not to resurrect the distilleries.

Indeed, there have already been some gloomy predictions of falling prices for ‘old’ Brora and Port Ellen as a result of the announcement, but Dr Morganisn’t convinced by the pessimism.

Brora 1972

Collector’s item: This 1972 Brora sold for HK$147,000 at auction in Hong Kong in May

‘You don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater,’ he says. ‘Our feeling is that the reputation, the value of the existing, diminishing stocks from the two old distilleries will actually only increase.’

What does Beach think? ‘I don’t know,’ he says. ‘I think these whiskies are so good they’ll always be wanted, you know – especially some of the old Broras and Port Ellens from the early ’70s. Anyway, it’s a long way away still. Time will tell.’

Whatever the future holds, we shouldn’t necessarily expect a line of more ‘ghost’ distilleries queuing up to be revivified any time soon. As well as their lofty status, Port Ellen and Brora have the continued existence of their sites to thank for their new lease of life; many other ‘lost’ distilleries are exactly that – their buildings bulldozed, their land reclaimed for alternative uses.

Things change in whisky. It’s worth remembering that, assuming spirit is running from the stills on schedule, this will be the second time in a century that Port Ellen has been out of production for 37 years (it was also silent between 1930 and 1967).

The last time that production restarted at the site, it was only 16 years before the stills fell silent again. Happily, the prospects now are altogether brighter, thanks to a booming single malt market – and the fact that the reputation of these two distilleries has expanded beyond all recognition over the past 34 years.

BRORA

A cult malt with a sad story to tell. Originally known as Clynelish, this distillery became a victim of its own success when a new distillery was built alongside it to increase capacity only a few years before the slump of the late Seventies and early Eighties. The new distillery took over the name, and the old distillery was renamed and limped on until being mothballed in 1983.

BRORA

The persistent clamour by malt fans to have Brora re-opened got louder each year as more new and fantastic expressions were released by parent company Diageo and various independent bottlers - but all protests have fallen on deaf ears and it now seems impossible for the distillery to go back into production.

The distillery now known as Brora started life in 1819 when it was founded by the Marquis of Stafford, later known as the Duke of Sutherland. This notorious character is more famous in Scotland for his part in the Highland Clearances, when he evicted around 15,000 crofters from his land in order to farm sheep. It is speculated that he started the distillery to provide a market for his barley and to put the local moonshiners out of business.

The distillery was originally called Clynelish, and the license gained by the Marquis in 1824 went through several hands until 1896, when the distillery was acquired by a Glasgow blending company called James Ainslie. When Ainslie went bust in 1912, the stock was bought by the Distiller's Company Ltd (DCL) and John Risk. Here the facts become slightly contentious, but it seems that some equity was sold to John(nie) Walker by Riskin 1916. Eventually both he and Risk sold up; DCL had assumed 100% control by around 1930.

After enjoying immense popularity almost from its inception (for long periods in its early history the malt produced at Clynelish was sold only to private customers and not to blenders at all), the distillery, in common with most of the industry, suffered in the period between the beginning of Prohibition in America and the end of WWII. Production ceased in the years 1931-38,and again from 1941-45.

During the subsequent recovery after the war, demand from blenders for Clynelish malt was extremely high, so to increase capacity DCL built a new distillery adjacent to the existing one in 1967-68. This distillery was also called Clynelish, as the company wished to trade on the existing good name of the old distillery. Here again,there seems to be some confusion and a lack of agreement as to the exact next sequence of events, with little orno agreement on the dates.

It would appear that the original distillery ran in tandem with the new distillery under the names of Clynelish Aand Clynelish B (sources disagree over which was the new distillery and which the original Clynelish) during 1968/9. Predictably, this arrangement was not to the liking of the Customs & Excise folk and the SWA due to the dissimilarity between the types of whisky being produced at the two distilleries. The original distillery was closed down in 1969 and then reopened bearing the name Brora. It then operated intermittently, producing heavily peated (around 40ppm) whisky for blending purposes.

Unfortunately, as mentioned before, there is a lot of confusion surrounding the period 1969-1983, with some sources claiming that the old Clynelish distillery was closed between 1969-1975 before being relaunched as Brora; others, meanwhile, have claimed that the distillery was closed for seven years before 1969. Diageo (as DCL has now become by way of IDVand UDV) seem a bit confused themselves - in a recent press release for Brora 30yrs they state that the distillery was closed in 1968 and re-opened in 1975. However, in the 1990s they themselves released a Rare Malts version of Brorp Seventies and early Eighties saw another big slump in the industry, and with the parent company DCL needing to cut back on production, in 1983 the decision was taken to mothball Brora (along with many other distilleries, few of which have operated since).Sadly, all attempts to revive Brora have thus far met with no success.

Despite all this, the reputation of the malt produced at Brora between 1969 and 1983 has gone from to strength to strength, with sought-after bottlings now changing hands for hundreds of pounds. In addition to the Rare Malts releases of the mid-nineties, Diageo recently began bottling Brora annually as a 30 year-old, but it is known that their stocks are very low, so these will soon dry up. There are also stocks belonging to independent merchants and bottlers, but as these cannot be less than 24 years old (at the time of writing in 2007) they will need to be bottled sooner rather than later.

If there is to be no more Brora (and it now seems almost certain that there won't be) it will be a terrible shame, but there are still bottlings available. What is beyond doubt is that this will be a distillery whisky aficionados will still be talking about decades after the last bottle is finally drunk.

GEORGIE CRAWFORD TO REVIVE PORT ELLEN

May 2018

Lagavulin distillery manager Georgie Crawford is to leave her post in order to bring cult Islay single malt Port Ellen back into production.

Chance of a lifetime: Georgie Crawford is ‘thrilled’ to take on the task of reviving Port Ellen

Meanwhile, Clynelish site operations manager Stewart Bowman will quit his role to revive single malt whisky production at neighbouring Brora in the Highlands, distillery owner Diageo has announced.

Crawford and Bowman will both have the title of project implementation manager for their respective distilleries – part of Diageo’s plans to revive production at the two sites, announced last October.

The moves also see Colin Gordon, currently site operations manager at Port Ellen Maltings, take over from Crawford as Lagavulin distillery manager.

The changes will take effect shortly after next week’s Islay Festival, Diageo said.

‘It has been a real privilege to be the Lagavulindistillery manager and to work with the fantastic team there for so many years,’ said Crawford.

‘However, the opportunity to bring Port Ellendistillery back into production truly is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and I am thrilled to take it on.’

Bowman said he was ‘hugely excited’ to be given the task of reviving production at Brora. ‘The whisky at Brora is revered for its quality, and it is an honour to have the job of bringing distillation back so we can produce a new generation of exceptional Brora Scotch whisky,’ he added.

Port Ellen and Brora both closed in 1983, deemed surplus to requirements during a grim period for the Scotch whisky industry, but have since acquired a cult status among lovers of malt whisky.

They are set to return to production in 2020 – Brora by refurbishing existing buildings, and Port Ellen in a new building on the Islay site.

Meanwhile, Diageo has announced details of this year’s Islay Festival bottlings: an 18-year-old cask strength Lagavulin (6,000 bottles, 53.9% abv, £130); and a 10-year-old cask strength Caol Ila(2,496 bottles, 58.2% abv, £100).

BRORA REVIVAL GRANTED PLANNING PERMISSION

October 2018

Plans to revive whisky production at Brora distillery in the Highlands have been given the green light by the local council.

Brora distillery artist's impression

New look: Brora’s stillhouse will be entirely dismantled and reconstructed, stone by stone

Highland Council granted planning permission yesterday (9 October) for the scheme by Brora owner Diageo, exactly one year after the company announced £35m plans to resurrect Brora and another ‘lost’ distillery, Port Ellen on Islay.

Work is now set to begin to restore the original buildings, which date back to 1819, involving the complete dismantling of the stillhouse and its reconstruction, stone by stone, so that it is ‘structurally capable’ of production.

It is hoped that both Brora and Port Ellen will return to whisky production in 2020.

‘This is a key milestone in our journey to bring Brora distillery back into production,’ said Stewart Bowman, Brora distillery project implementation manager.

‘Everyone involved is raring to get going with the work to restore the beautiful distillery buildings so they can once more produce the spirit that Brora is famous for.

‘We will now begin the painstaking work of bringing down and reconstructing the stillhouse with care and attention to detail so that every stone is perfect.’

Originally known as Clynelish, Brora acquired its new name in the 1970s, reflecting the presence of the new Clynelish distillery – originally called ‘Clynelish 2’ – next-door.

Like Port Ellen, Brora closed in 1983 during a downturn in the fortunes of Scotch whisky, but its whiskies have since acquired a cult status and now fetch large sums at auction and when released.

While the work at Brora involves refurbishing existing buildings and stills, Port Ellen will be a new build distillery with stills created using detailed records in the Diageo Archive.

Diageo plans to replicate the historic distillation regimes and spirit character at both Brora and Port Ellen, with production at both using a single pair of stills and reaching about 800,000 litres of pure alcohol a year – similar in size to Oban.

Two of Scotland’s most famous ‘lost’ distilleries to be revived by Diageo Sean Murphy October 9, 2017 Drink, Whisky Two "lost" Scotch whisky distilleries are set to be revived with a major investment more than 30 years after they were shut down. The Port Ellen distillery on the island of Islay and the Brora distillery on the remote eastern coast of Sutherland are being brought back into production by drinks giant Diageo through a £35 million investment. Following the closure of the sites in 1983, the whiskies produced by the two “ghost” distilleries have become some of the most highly-prized and sought-after. The plan to reopen their doors follows demand from whisky fans to do so and reflects the strong growth in the single malt market, according to the firm. Port Ellen’s rare whisky is highly sought after. Picture: PA David Cutter, Diageo’s president of global supply and procurement, said: “This is no ordinary Scotch whisky distillery investment. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to bring these iconic distilleries back to life. “We will take great care to be true to the spirit of the original distilleries in everything we do and to operate them with all the knowledge, skill, craft and love of Scotch that our people and our company has gathered through centuries of whisky-making.” • READ MORE: 8 of Scotland’s most famous lost whisky distilleries The new distilleries will be among Diageo’s smallest, capable of producing 800,000 litres of alcohol per year. Bosses vowed they will replicate as closely as possible the previous taste profiles of Port Ellen and Brora, with medium peated character at both sites. The distilleries are expected to be in production by 2020, subject to factors such as planning permission and design work. Cask filling and traditional warehousing will also be included at both sites. • READ MORE: Reviving spirit of Scotland’s lost generation of distilleries Dr Nick Morgan, Diageo’s head of whisky outreach, said: “This is a truly exceptional moment in Scotch whisky. “Port Ellen and Brora are names which have a uniquely powerful resonance with whisky-lovers around the world and the opportunity to bring these lost distilleries back to life is as rare and special as the spirit for which the distilleries are famous. “Only a very few people will ever be able to try the original Port Ellen and Brora single malts as they become increasingly rare, so we are thrilled that we will now be able to produce new expressions of these whiskies for new generations of people to enjoy.” • READ MORE: One of the rarest Single Malts sells for surprising price at auction Economy Secretary Keith Brown said: “I welcome this significant investment by Diageo which will help to create employment in these rural and remote communities and is a sign of the strength and popularity of our iconic whisky industry. “The return of these distilleries will help to act as a catalyst to draw in tourists to see where these iconic brands are produced, and to discover why they are so revered.” Scottish Secretary David Mundell said: “This is good news for one Scotland’s most important industries, and some of our most remote communities. “These ambitious new developments will create jobs, boost tourism and produce premium products to be exported around the world.”

November 2018

Work has officially begun to rebuild Brora distillery, including the refurbishment of its original copper pot stills, after the project gained planning approval last month.

New life: Brora distillery will be refurbished in keeping with its original 19th century character

The Highlands distillery, which has lain silent for 35 years since its closure in 1983, is being rebuilt by owner Diageo to bring it back into production.

While many of the distillery’s original buildings, which date back to 1819, will remain, Brora’s 19th century still house will be demolished and completely rebuilt to provide a structurally sound building to house Brora’s two stills.

The original stills meanwhile, which have remained unused and undisturbed at Brora distillery since its closure, have been transported to Diageo Abercrombie coppersmiths in Alloa to be refurbished.

Having been surveyed using ultrasonic technology, the stills were found to be in good working condition, albeit in need of repair.

Jim McEwan, senior chargehand coppersmith, said: ‘Abercrombie coppersmiths last worked on these very same stills in the early 1980s before the distillery closed its doors, so it’s a great privilege for us to work on them now and to get them ready to produce spirit again.

‘They are beautiful stills and they are actually in really good condition, but after 35 years of rest they do need a bit of loving care to get them ready to distil again.’

By recycling Brora’s original stills, and using detailed records in the Diageo Archive, the company intends to replicate the style of whisky produced at the site prior to its closure.

The restoration of Brora distillery forms part of a £35 million investment that will also see the resurrection of Port Ellen distillery on Islay.

While Highland Council granted planning permission to rebuild Brora in October, Stewart Bowman, Brora distillery project implementation manager, said the transportation of the stills to Abercrombie for refurbishment has been cited as ‘another important milestone’.

‘Work is now well underway to meticulously restore the distillery buildings back to their former glory, and it is quite an emotional moment to see the stills beginning their journey back to fulltime spirit production,’ he said.

Originally built as Clynelish in 1819, the distillery was renamed Brora in the 1970s following the establishment of the new Clynelish distillery next-door.

1 spirit still 13,500 litres

Clynelish and Brora Distilleries

Clynelish Distillery was established in 1819 by the Marquess of Stafford who had married the heiress of the vast Sutherland estates and took that name later when he was made a duke. He had conceived a scheme of economic improvement that entailed moving the inhabitants from the interior to the seaboard where land was allotted to them. The distillery fitted into a plan for regenerating arable farms on the coastal strip.

Its origin was described by James Loch, the Marquess's Lands Commissioner, in 1820: "The first farm beyond the people's lot (at Brora) is Clynelish which has recently been let to Mr. Harper from the county of Midlothian. Upon this farm also there has just been erected a dis¬tillery at an expense of £750. This was done ... to afford the smaller tenants upon the estate a steady and ready market for their grain without their being obliged to dispose of it to the ille¬gal distiller". It was hoped that the existence of the distillery would put an end to illicit distill¬ing, a practice that, in Loch's words, had nursed the people "in every species of deceit, vice, idleness and dissipation".

Loch's account is illustrated by an architect's elevation and plan of the buildings. These ex¬emplify a very early purpose-built distillery. Other distilleries of this date, and much later, were typically outbuildings of farmsteads, fitted up for distilling, or occasionally, as at Oban, converted breweries. Even so, the distillery and farm at Clynelish were integrated in one operation. A piggery is marked on the architect's plan. Spent grains left over from the manufacturing processes fed the pigs, and they in turn fertilised the "larger proportion of unimproved land" added to the farm "in consequence of the command of manure which the distillery will afford the tenant". Part of Brora Muir was reclaimed for farming by this means, and coal from the mine at Brora was used in the distillery's furnaces.

James Harper started up with one wash still and one spirit still, with respective capacities of 200 and 87 gallons. He produced 10,015 gallons, on which he paid duty of £2,774, in 1821-22. The next lessee was Andrew Ross in 1834, followed by George Lawson in 1846. Lawson, the brother of the local bank agent, was well placed to obtain capital. He made substantial improvements and extensions, notably by the erection of a new malt kiln and the replacement of the original stills. The Lawsons seem to have been efficient farmers: two Highland oxen from Clynelish won the first prize in their class, and sheep gained other awards, at the Smithfield Show in 1894.

George Lawson & Sons sold the business to Ainslie & Co., Scotch whisky blenders, of Leith, in 1896. Harper's Weekly, a trade journal, then described it as "a singularly valuable property, as the make has always obtained the highest price of any single Scotch whisky. It is sent out, duty-paid, to private customers all over the kingdom; and it also commands a very valuable export trade: the demand for it in that way is so great that the proprietors ... have for many years been obliged to refuse trade orders".

The new owners enlarged productive capacity and warehouse accommodation to meet the demand from wholesalers as well as from private customers. Rebuilding was completed in 1897. A stone bearing the coats of arms of the Marquess of Stafford and the Countess of Sutherland, and the date "1820", has been preserved on the gable wall of the stillhouse, just under the bell-cote.

Ainslie's business was put in the hands of a trustee in 1912. John Risk, who already held a 50% interest in Clynelish, bought

the other 50% and offered it to The Distillers Company Limited. The Clynelish Distillery Co. Ltd. was formed, with a capital of £20,000, owned in equal proportions by Risk and DCL. With the acquisition in 1916 of Coleburn Distillery, Speyside, the capital was increased to £30,000, one third of which was owned by John Walker & Sons of Kilmarnock. DCL acquired all the shares in 1925 and five years later transferred Clynelish to its subsidiary, Scottish Malt Distillers Ltd.

Clynelish closed in March 1931 as a result of the economic depression. It restarted in September 1938, only to shut down from May 1941 until November 1945, on account of wartime restrictions on the supply of barley to distillers.

Technological change came in the post-war years. The water wheel and the steam engine were displaced by electric power in the 1960's. The two stills, which were heated by a coal-burning furnace, hand-fired, were converted to internal heating by steam in 1961. The distillery took half of its coal supply from Ross Pit, Brora, and half from the Lowlands. The last delivery of coal was made on 4 November 1966. The boiler was then converted for burning oil.

A new distillery was built on an adjacent site in 1967-68. It had six stills, all heated by steam from an oil-fired boiler. The new distillery was given the name "Clynelish".

The old distillery was closed for a time, and then reopened, after the rebuilding of the mash house, as "Brora Distillery" in April 1975.

Both distilleries use the same water supply, piped from a weir on the Clynemilton Burn on the shoulder of Colbhein. They occupy a site of approximately 5 acres (2 hectares). SMD pro-vides seven houses for distillery employees. It also owns Clynelish Farm, which covers 320 acres (130 hectares) and is let to tenants.

The distiller's licence is held by Ainslie & Heilbron (Distillers) Ltd., of Glasgow, blenders of Royal Edinburgh Scotch whisky. They also bottle and sell Clynelish single malt whisky.

BRORA 40 YEAR OLD MARKS 200TH ANNIVERSARY

August 2019

A commemorative bottle of Brora 40 Year Old has been created to mark the 200th anniversary of the silent distillery’s original opening.

Brora 40 Year Old 200th Anniversary whisky

Milestone malt: The Brora 40 Year Old 200th Anniversary celebrates the distillery’s founding in 1819

The 40-year-old whisky is a vatting of 12 American oak hogsheads laid down in 1978 during an era of peated whisky production at the Sutherland distillery.

Just 1,819 bottles have been produced – reflecting Brora’s foundation year – which will be available for £4,500 each.

Bottled at 49.2% abv, the whisky is described as having aromas of ‘rich, sweet fruit, ripe figs… and fire and brimstone’, with a ‘smooth, lightly waxy texture and a powerful, rich, darkly sweet, savoury then finally smoky taste’.

The expression is the first official release from Brora since it was axed from Diageo’s annual Special Releases in 2017.

The distillery, which was founded in 1819 but closed in 1983, produced a limited run of peated malt whisky during its final 14 years of operation.

Restoration project: Brora’s original pot stills are being repaired ahead of its reopening

Dr Craig Wilson, master blender at Diageo, which owns Brora, said: ‘Of all the stories of Brora, there is one that seemed particularly fitting to tell on its 200th anniversary.

‘From 1969-83, there was a new experimentation phase in production and the Brora distillers created a smoky malt used heavily peated northern Highland barley.’

Wilson worked with the Diageo archive team to scour the original Brora production records and establish the vintages that best represented the distillery’s smoky style at its peak.

He added: ‘Used primarily in blends at the time, the few casks that are left from this “age of peat”, matured remarkably well and what remains is a multi-layered and complex single malt of astonishing quality.’

The Brora 40 Year Old 200th Anniversary edition is being released one year before the distillery is set to reopen.

Construction work is already underway to bring the distillery back to life, although the style of whisky it will produce has not been confirmed.

Brora unveils £30,000 Triptych whisky collection

April, 2021

Silent Scotch whisky distillery Brora will release a trio of single malts aged from 38 to 48 years old, priced at £30,000 (US$41,450) for the collection.

Brora Triptych whisky

The Brora Triptych collection has been priced at £30,000 (US$41,450) for three 500ml bottles

Highland distillery Brora ceased operating in 1983, but is set to distil once again following a three-year restoration project by Diageo.

Each limited edition set of the Brora Triptych collection will comprise three 500ml bottles, and will include a personal invitation from Brora master distiller Stewart Bowman to visit and experience Brora in person.

Brora Triptych will be available from mid-May from the distillery upon the site’s completion, to celebrate Brora’s return. It will also be sold online via via brora.com, and through specialist retailers.

Bowman said: “My father was an ‘old hand’ at the distillery, and I grew up in the village with the top of the distillery’s bell tower visible from our kitchen window.

“In the years after Brora’s closure, I remember my father showing me the old cask ledgers and the records of those final casks distilled in 1983 and asking if Brora would return one day.

“It fills me with great pride that 38 years after the doors of Brora closed, more casks will now be filled, and we will be able to welcome people once again to this special place.

“It is our commitment that we will do justice to the Brora of old and hope to welcome visitors to our restored home as soon as that is possible. In the Brora Triptych, we aimed to celebrate the great whisky styles of the past for which Brora is known.”

Master blender Dr Craig Wilson selected the vintage single malts for Brora Triptych.

The first is Elusive Legacy (42.8% ABV), a 48-year-old single malt and the oldest public release from the distillery. Matured in casks from 1972, the whisky is said to have aromas of wood spice and peach tarte Tatin, with a ‘powerful rich maltiness’.

Age of Peat (48.6% ABV) is a 43-year-old heavily peated whisky drawn from casks of 1977. Tasting notes include aromas of vanilla, green apples and hints of beeswax, leading to a long, sweet finish of peaty smoke.

Completing the trio is Timeless Original (47.5% ABV), a 38-year-old expression from limited stocks of 1982. It is said to showcase the ‘distinct waxiness’ that Brora is known for.

Tasting notes include sherbet-like lemon peel and a touch of green grass

2019 the old Brora distillery has been restored to its former glory, A wash still 14,400 litrs, a Spirit still 13.200 Ltrs werecsend to Abercrombie in Alloa for refurnishing, and the first cask was filled in May 2021.

BRORA

For starters comes the opportunity to witness the rebirth of a historic ‘lost’ distillery. This summer saw the reopening of the iconic Brora in Sutherland, whose rare and extremely limited releases have become collectors’ items since its closure in 1983. As an admirer of Brora’s legacy, and having been fortunate enough to have tasted several expressions over the years, I couldn’t pass up an opportunity to experience the distillery’s regeneration first hand. And just as tasting Brora is a luxury in itself, so is an exclusive tour of the distillery. There are just two options available: Brora Awakened (£300) and The Eras of Brora (£600). I opt for the latter – and since I’m the only visitor today, I have their full, undivided attention. I’m welcomed by the warm smiles of brand home manager Andrew Flatt and distillery manager Stewart Bowman. This is not special treatment, I hasten to add. With tours here by appointment only and conducted in small groups, all visitors to Brora are greeted personally.

stewart bowman with his father and old distillery workers at the gates of brora distillery

Stewart Bowman with his father and former distillery workers at the gates of the newly reopened Brora

From the moment you open Brora’s imposing black wildcat gates, you know you’re somewhere special. The stone walls enclosing the distillery’s cobbled courtyard create a feeling of serenity that’s interrupted only by the occasional hiss or whirr of a nearby pump. The extensive renovation is sympathetically done, and without the constant murmur of the crowds usually encountered at Scotland’s most popular distilleries, it’s easy to imagine the early days at this historic site – not least because we begin our tour by picking through the abundance of archive material used in the restoration. This includes the old workers’ time and pay book and the original distillery renovation plans drawn up by architect Charles Doig in 1896.

We move into a nosing of the three spirit styles that the new Brora will eventually come to produce, before our tour takes us into the original 19th-century warehouses. Like most dunnage warehouses of the era, it’s dank, dark and musty, the walls strewn with cobwebs, the space filled with maturing casks of whisky and spirit. Flatt opens a bottle of a new 1982 distillery exclusive and pours the golden liquid into my glass. It’s rich and waxy, full of tropical fruits like mangoes and pineapple. To be tasting Brora in the place it was made, while breathing in the heady scent of the angel’s share, is special indeed, and it whets the appetite for a taste of the Brora Triptych collection – a £30,000 trio of 1972, 1977 and 1982 vintages released earlier this year. An indulgent three-course lunch and a further chat with Flatt and Bowman about the future plans for the distillery complete a memorable day.

Two bookable tour options are available – Brora Awakened (£300) and The Eras of Brora (£600) – but contact the distillery team for any additional requirements.

Brora closed in 1983, October 017 Diageo announced Brora and Port Ellen were to be restored at a cost of 35.000.000 Pound.

Brora was founded as Clynelish in 1819, the name changed in 1969 to Brora. The new build distillery got the name Clynelish, and worked in tandem a 16 years

with Brora with Brora was the more peated spirit. Starting in 2019, the old distillery isrestored with 2 stills a wash still 14.400 Ltrs, a spitit still 13.200 Ltrs

restored by Abercrombie in Alloa with a new traditional 6 ton mash tun with rake and plough also new washbacks of Oregon pine, after the original drawings

from the Diageo archif. The bio / mass boiler is powered by wood chips.

The firstcask was filled on May 2021.

Diageo’s iconic “ghost” distillery of Brora is reawakened after 38 years

19 May 2021

Scotch whisky history was made today as the iconic “ghost” distillery of Brora in Sutherland, Scotland, officially began production after its meticulous restoration was completed.

Having closed in 1983 during one of the most challenging periods for the industry, the reopening of Brora marks the first revival of a famous “lost” name in Scotch and represents a major signal of confidence in the future growth of the category.

We have reawakened the distillery following a painstaking three-year restoration as part of a £35million investment programme that will also see the equally iconic lost distillery of Port Ellen on Islay brought back into production.

For decades Brora has been viewed as one of the lost icons of the whisky world. During its time of closure, the distillery and its whisky gained legendary status among whisky connoisseurs the world over.

The restored distillery will now safeguard a sustainable future for Brora, with the installation of a biomass boiler powered by sustainably sourced wood chips from Northern Scotland.

“This is a new dawn for Brora – a distillery that is a beautiful new jewel in the crown of our portfolio in Scotland. I am particularly proud that Brora will be a carbon neutral distillery entirely powered by on-site renewable energy. This marks a major milestone on our journey to invest in Scotland, its rural communities and the future of Scotch whisky.” Ewan Andrew, President, Supply & Procurement

With stunning attention to heritage detail, the 202-year-old Brora stillhouse was taken down and rebuilt stone-by-stone exactly as it was when new in 1819, but now fit for another two centuries of production. The original Brora two classic copper pot stills were refurbished by our skilled coppersmiths.

Brora Master Distiller Stewart Bowman, who is a native to the Sutherland town and whose father was the last exciseman at the distillery, officially marked the launch by opening the Brora wildcat gates and filling the first cask of Brora spirit in more than 38 years.

“In 1983, my father wrote in an old distillery ledger ‘Commencement of Brora Distillery silent season (undetermined period)’. Growing up in the village we often wondered whether Brora would ever return, but today we filled the first cask. It is with great pride that I can now say to my father, the Brora community, and all the ‘old hands’ that worked at Brora and helped to craft a legendary whisky, that the stills are alive and we are making Brora spirit once again.” Stewart Bowman, Brora Master Distiller

Brora is among our smallest distilleries, capable of producing 800,000 litres of spirit each year, and will welcome visitors in small numbers on a by-appointment basis, bookable via Brora.com from July. Visits to the distillery will include tastings of rare Brora releases, including a new distillery exclusive bottling only available at Brora’s newly restored home: The Brora Distillery Collection: Hidden Beneath, a Brora 1982 39 Year Old.

Diageo’s iconic “ghost” distillery of Brora is reawakened after 38 years

19 May 2021

Scotch whisky history was made today as the iconic “ghost” distillery of Brora in Sutherland, Scotland, officially began production after its meticulous restoration was completed.

The restored distillery will now safeguard a sustainable future for Brora, with the installation of a biomass boiler powered by sustainably sourced wood chips from Northern Scotland.

Closure and Reopening

Brora’s production ceased in 1983, a casualty of industry consolidation and shifting market dynamics. Despite occasional rumours of its revival, the distillery remained dormant for decades. However, in a surprising turn of events, Diageo announced plans in October 2017 to reopen Brora, along with Port Ellen, another storied distillery.

By May 2021, Brora’s reopening was complete, and the first new cask of spirit was filled, marking a triumphant return.

Timeline of Key Events

1819: Clynelish distillery established by the Marquis of Stafford

1825: John Harper leases the distillery

1827: John Matheson leases the distillery

1828: James Harper leases the distillery

1834: Andrew Ross leases the distillery

1846: Managed by George Lawson and family

1896: Sold to James Ainslie and John Risk

1912: Ainslie goes bankrupt; Risk and Distillers Company Limited take shares

1916: John Walker & Sons purchase shares

1925: John Walker & Sons buys out Risk

1930: DCL takes full control

1967: Construction of Clynelish 2 starts

1968: Clynelish 2 opens, original distillery closes

1969: Clyneslish 1 reopens

1972: Heavily peated whisky starts production at Clyneslish 1

1975: Original distillery renamed Brora

1977: Heavily peated whisky production mostly stops

1983: Brora Distillery closed

1987: DCL became United Distillers

1998: United Distillers, after various mergers, became a division of Diageo

2014: Brora released the 40-Year-Old for £6,995, the most expensive single malt scotch whisky at the time

2017: Diageo announces plans to reopen Brora

2021: Brora Distillery reopens and fills the first new cask

2023: Brora donated a 50-Year-Old 1972 single malt the Iris to the Distillers One of One charity auction which sold for £400,000