Clynelish

SCOTCH SINGLE MALT WHISKIES > C

CLYNELISH

14 years old

43 %

FLORA & FAUNA

Distilled 1980

Bottled 1992

Clynelish Distillery, Brora, Sutherland

One of the most northerly in Scotland, Clynelish distillery was established in Brora by the Marquess of Stafford in 1819. Its building signalled the end of illicit distilling in the area and provided a ready market for locally grown barley. Water is piped from the Clynemilton Burn to produce this fruity slightly smoky single Malt Scotch Whisky much appreciated by connoisseurs.

CLYNELISH

11 years old

66,3 %

CADENHEAD'S

AUTHENTIC COLLECTION

LAST BOTTLE AND EMPTY

Cask Strenght

Distilled March 1982

Bottled February 1994

No additives

No colouring

Not chill filtered

Wm. Cadenhead,

32 Unionstreet, Campbeltown

CLYNELISH

12 years old

57 %

Proprietors: Ainslie & Heilbron

(Distillers) Ltd Gordon & Macphail, Elgin

EMPTY

CLYNELISH

29 years old

52,1 %

VINTAGE 1965

Distilled 19.2.65

Matured in Sherry Cask

Bottled 6.94

530 bottles

Signatory Vintage

Scotch Whisky Co, Ltd, Edinburgh

CLYNELISH

13 years old

43 %

Dist. date: 20 January 1982

Bottling date: August 1995

Cask No. 131

156 bottles

Usquebach Society, Holland

Eerste botteling van de Usquebach Society, Holland.

CLYNELISH

15 years old

43 %

THE ULTIMATE SINGLE MALT

SCOTCH WHISKY SELECTION

Distilled 7.2.80

Bottled 3.95

Cask No. 1270

368 bottles

Van Wees, Amersfoort

CLYNELISH

15 years old

43%

THE ULTIMATE SINGLE MALT

SCOTCH WHISKY SELECTION

Bottled 10.95

Distilled 29.1.80

Cask No. 764

390 bottles

Van Wees, Amersfoort

CLYNELISH

14 years old

53,8%

THE ULTIMATE SINGLE MALT

SCOTCH WHISKY SELECTION

Distilled 17.2.83

Bottled 3.7.97

Cask No. 728

Van Wees, Amersfoort

CLYNELISH

23 years old

57.0%

RARE MALTS SELECTION

Distilled 1972

Natural Cask Strenght

Limited Edition

Genummerde flessen

Ainslie & Heilbron, Glasgow

Capacity: 1.000.000 litres of Spirit

Spirit Still 14.548 litres

Wash Still: 18.1885 litres

Cooling water: Glen Burn

Process water: nearby spring

CLYNELISH

24 years old

61,3%

RARE MALTS SELECTION

Distilled 1972

Bottled September 1997

Natural Cask Strenght

Limited Edition

Genummerde flessen

Ainslie & Heilbron, Glasgow

CLYNELISH

23 years old

59,1 %

RARE MALTS SELECTION

Distilled 1974

Bottled May 1998

Natural Cask Strenght

Limited Edition

Genummerde flessen

Ainslie & Heilbron, Glasgow

CLYNELISH

15 years old

57,7%

FLORA & FAUNA

CaskStrenght 57,7 %

Bottled 1997

Limited Bottling

Genummerde flessen

Clynelish Distillery, Brora, Sutherland

CLYNELISH

over 11 years old

43 %

THE McGIBBON's PROVENANCE

SUMMER DISTILLATION

Distilled Summer 1989

Bottled Autumn 2000

No Colouring

Not Chill Filtered

Douglas McGibbon & Co, Ltd, Glasgow

CLYNELISH

11 years old

43%

SIGNATORY VINTAGE

VINTAGE 1989

Distilled 17th May 1989

Bottled 10th January 2001

Matured in a South African Sherry butt

Natural Colour

835 bottles

Signatory Vintage

Scotch Whisky Co, Ltd, Edinburgh

CLYNELISH

9 years old

43 %

THE ULTIMATE SINGLE MALT

SCOTCH WHISKY SELECTION

Distilled 5/11/92

Bottled 15/8/2002

Cask no. 14779

Genummerde flessen

The Ultimate Whisky Company, N.L

CLYNELISH

9 years old

56,4 %

LAST BOTTLE AND EMPTY

SINGLE CASK

SCOTCH MALT WHISKY

Distilled Jan 90

Bottled May 99

Society Cask No. code 26.12

The Scotch Malt Whisky Society,

The Vaults, Leith, Edinburgh

'Tantalissingly familiar'

A few miles north of Dunrobin Castle, looking over the seemingly endless North Sea is a distillery with a complicated history. This drop of Uisge Beatha was so elusive and mysterious that the panel were snatching for impressions, like feathers in the wind. One said'It's like landing in a foreign city - warm, muggy and exciting - with that strange mix of people smells, exotic food and carbon monoxide'. 'We know exactly what you mean', the rest of us lied. With water, there might have been pepper, mustard, aniseed, wet wood and leather -there might have been sweet notes and sour - butt all we could agree about was that it was very complex and tantatosing familiar. Hard to describe but very enjoyable to drink.

CLYNELISH

9 years old

46%

THE UN-CHILLFILTERED

COLLECTION

HIGHLAND SINGLE MALT

Distilled on: 5 th November 1992

Bottled on: 7 th June 2002

Cask No. 14776

Genummerde flessen

411 Bottles

No Chillfiltration

Signatory Vintage

Scotch Whisky Co, Ltd, Edinburgh

Uitgebracht, samen in Rack met Auchentoshan 9 years old, Mortlach 12 years old, Highland Park 14 years old en Caol Ila 12 years old.

CLYNELISH

14 years old

46 %

COASTAL HIGHLAND

SCOTCH WHISKY

Clynelish Distillery Brora, Sutherland

Resolute integrity, consistent quality and an examplary strenght of character.

The original Distillery was built in 1819 on the remote North East coast by the Future Duke of Sutherland and the wild cat mark originates from The Sutherland Coat of Arms.

The water used is taken from the Clynelish Burn which, about a mile from the Distillery, enters a rocky gorge and tumbling over several falls is caught in a stone cistern and piped to the Distillery.

The unique maritime character of Clynelish owes much to its location and surrounding en¬vironment, but more to the skills of those who make it.

Fruity; slightly smoky; consistent quality; much appreciated by connoisseurs.

CLYNELISH

20 years old

57,2%

SINGLE CASK

SCOTCH MALT WHISKY

Date Distilled May 83

Date Bottled Nov 03

Society Cask code 26.31

Outturn 258 Bottles

The Scotch Malt Whisky Society,

The Vaults, Leith, Edinburgh

'Madeira cake and Barbour jackets'.

The original distillery at Brora was founded in 1819. In 1967 another distillery (from which this bottling comes) was built next door and given the name of the original, which was con¬fusing.

The make enjoys a high reputation, and this is another good example. The hogshead it has drawn from has coloured the whisky to 18 CT gold.

The first nose is of Madeira cake (in a Tupperware lunchbox, to be precise), and a trace of Caramac; there is no wax or smoke at this stage, but phenols are present in the form of light antiseptic wipes. The flavour is sweet and scented, then dry, even bitter in the finish.

Water brings up the expected wax (Barbour jackets, even waxed Hessian), and also some fruit-lychees and other acidic fruits, with waxy skins.

The flavour is pleasantly fresh, mouth-cooling with an attractive acidity and a medium-lenght,

somewhat bitter finish.

CLYNELISH

14 years old

43 %

1990

THE ULTIMATE SINGLE MALT

SCOTCH WHISKY SELECTION

Distilled 28/11/90

Bottled 3/3/05

Matured in a Bourbon Barrel

Cask no. 12736

Numbered Bottles

The Ultimate Whisky Company, N.L.

CLYNELISH

15 years old

46 %

THE ULTIMATE SINGLE MALT

SCOTCH WHISKY SELECTION

Single Highland Malt

Distilled 28/11/90

Matured in a Bourbon barrel

Bottled 01/02/06

Numbered Bottles

Natural Colour

Non Chillfiltered

The Ultimate Whisky Company, N.L.

CLYNELISH

12 years old

59,9 %

Distilled 1992

Cask No 15100

Bottled 2005

272 Bottles

Adelphi Distillery Limited

Purveyors of rare malt whiskies

aged in wood and bottled

direct from the cask

Glenborrodale Castle,

Abnamurchan, Argyll

An old favourite (and also of Professor Saintsbury, author of the seminal 'Notes to a Cellar Book' (1926).

Clynelish Distillery is situated on the north-east coast of Scotland, in the village of Brora. Its make is unique, and this is an exellent example.

It is drawn from an American oak refill cask and is midgold in colour. The nose is immediately maritime (iodine and traces od seaweed), with a hint of tea and scented smoke (Lapsang Suchong?) and sweet 'runny honey' or pink marshmallows. Only when you add water does a light waxiness emerge (the keynote for this whisky), rather like waxes paper, thereis an elusive scent that reminded us od drying rooms (complete with soap powder), and a faint whiff of scented smoke. The wax really comes into its own in the teeth-coating mouth-feel; the flavour is lightly sweet, then acidic then gently dry, with fragrant smoke in the finish.

2002 A 14 year old malt is released as a Hidden Malt and replaces the old in the Flora & Fauna series

CLYNELISH

15 years old

46 %

THE DISTILLERS EDITION

Coastal Highland Single Malt

Scotch Whisky

DOUBLE MATURED

OLOROSO SECO CASK WOOD

Distilled 1991

Bottled in 2006

Special Release

Limited Edition

Clynelish Distillery,

Brora, Sutherland

CLYNELISH

22 years old

54,4 %

SINGLE CASK

SCOTCH MALT WHISKY

Date Distilled May 1983

Date Bottled Jul 05

Society Cask code 26.43

Outturn 247 Bottles

The Scotch Malt Whisky Society,

The Vaults, Leith, Edinburgh

'Fiery and sweet'

This sample is from the more recent of Brora's two distilleries, though it is not entirely typical of the house style.

Mid gold from a refill hogshead, the neat nose has various dimensions - indeed it seems all over the place. It has butter, sweet oil and slight toffee along with vanilla custard.

In addition there is some salty ham, paper, turps and apple blossom. The taste is big and sweet with molasses, treacle and maple candy. With water the nose changes little and the taste remains very sweet but with enough fire to make it interesting and easy to drink

CLYNELISH

12 years old

46 %

COASTAL HIGHLAND

SINGLE MALT SCOTCH WHISKY

BOTTLED EXCLUSIVELY FOR THE

FRIENDS OF THE CLASSIC MALTS

2 0 0 9

Matured in European Oak Casks

Non Chill Filtered

Clynelish Distillery, Brora, Sutherland

CLYNELISH

VINTAGE 1 9 9 1

22 years old

46 %

THE ULTIMATE SINGLE MALT

SCOTCH WHISKY

Distilled: 30/10/91

Matured in a Hogshead

Cask no: 13216

Bottled: 06/11/13

312 Numbered Bottles

Natural Colour

Non Chillfiltered

Selected by The Ultimate Whisky Company. NL

CLYNELISH

Aged 29 years 58 %

SINGLE MALT SCOTCH WHISKY

FROM A SINGLE CASK

Society Single Cask: Code 26.106

Distilled 28th November1984

Cask Type: Refill Butt ex Sherry

Outturn: One of Only 586 Bottles

The Scotch Malt Whisky Society,

The Vaults, Leith, Edinburgh

"Say it with flowers"

Sweet shortbread with vanilla, becoming fruit cake and dried fruits then fresh figs,

meon, grass and rosemary. Waxy and nutty taste, with flower honey. More oily with water,

some creme Anglais and light nuts. A soft texture and a sweet honied taste, becoming slightly bitter.

Complex

CLYNELISH

VINTAGE 2 0 0 8

6 years old

46 %

THE ULTIMATE SINGLE MALT

SCOTCH WHISKY

Distilled: 01/03/08

Matured in a Bourbon Barrel

Cask No: 800011

Bottled: 17/10/14

275 Numbered Bottles

Natural Colour

Non Chill Filtered

Selected by The Ultimate Whisky Company.NL

GAME OF THRONES

Westeros

Six Kingdoms Mortlach

House Targaryen Cardhu

House Stark Dalwhinnie

House Lannister Lagavulin

House Tully The Singleton

House Tyrell Clynelish

House Baratheon Royal Lochnager

House Greyjoy Talisker

The Night’s Watch Oban

House Tyrell

House Tyrell of Highgarden rules over the Reach, the lush and fertile region of Westeros

whose abiundance feeds the realm.

The Tyrell golden rose is beautiful but hides razor sharp thorns beneath the surface, They

havelived up tot heir house words of Growing Strong, defending their position of power

with weapons of sharp words, sharp minds and sharp actions.

Clynelish

Like the Reach, Clynelish is positioned among green pastures and rolling hills, with scenic

vieuws of the North Sea.

The fruity, waxy and sea – spicy flavours of this single malt are said to come from the water

of Clynemilton burn, which runs over seams of gold in the rock.

And while this vibrant, golden Scotch is light and floral, like House Tyrell, it’s not to under –

estimated with its underlying complex combination of Highland and maritime qualities.

CLYNELISH

CLASSIC MALTS SELECTION tm

Single Malt Scotch Whisky

CLYNELISH DISTILLERY est 1819

RESERVE

A Single Malt Scotch from

The Game of Thrones Collection

51.2 %

GAME OF THRONES

HOUSE TYRELL

Growing Strong

Limited Edition Collection

of Single Malts

Clynelish Distillery, Brora, Sutherland

CLYNELISH

1 9 9 7 2 0 1 0

52,4 %

WHISKYCAFE L & B

De 1401 ste WHISKY

Winner Scotch Single Malt Whisky Award 2008

Groeten van Aleid en Leon

Distilled; 19/04/1997

Matured Bourbon Hogshead cask nr. 4647

Specially selected by Bresser en Timmer for

Whiskycafe L & B

Gekregen van Aleid en Leon op 14 mei 2011 in het Kompas waar zij Aleid’s

verjaardag vierden.

CLYNELISH

VINTAGE 1 9 9 6

20 years 46 %

Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky

Distilled on: 11.12.1996

Matured in: a Refill Butt

Cask No: 11376

Bottled on: 20.01.2017

40 Bottles

Natural Colour

No Chillfiltration

Casks individually selected and bottles by

Signatory Vintage Scotch Whisky Co. Ltd Pilochry

CLYNELISH also see BRORA

CANDLEWAX, SMOKE
Brora, Sutherland. Licentiehouder: Ainslie & Heilbron (Distillers) Limited. Onderdeel van Scottish Malt Distillers Ltd. (S.M.D.). De malt divisie van United Distillers Ltd. Eigendom van Guinness.
Gebouwd in 1967 - 1968.
Clynelish bezit 6 ketels met een jaarproduktie van 3,2 miljoen liter spirit per jaar.
Het proceswater en koelwater is afkomstig van één bron: de Clynemilton Burn.
Op 12 Mei 1997 werd de fusie aangekondigd tussen Guinness en Grand Metropolitan, (GrandMet). Op 16 Oktober 1997 staakt de Fransman Bernard Arnault van L M V H zijn verzet tegen de fusie voor een afkoopsom van ƒ 800.000.000. De nieuwe naam van de gefuseerden zou eerst G M G Brands worden, maar op 22 Oktober 1997 werd bekend gemaakt dat de naam Diageo zou worden, afgeleid van het Latijnse woord voor dag en het Griekse woord voor wereld.
Diageo wordt het grootste drankenconcern ter wereld, groter dan Seagram en Allied Domecq samen en met een omzet van 40 miljard gulden.
Op 28 Maart 1998 verkoopt Diageo het whiskymerk Dewar's en het ginmerk Bombay voor één miljard aan Bacardi Martini. Het afstoten van de twee merken was een voorwaarde die door de Amerikaanse mededingingautoriteiten was gesteld aan de goedkeuring van de fusie tussen Guinness en Grand Metropolitan.
Dewar's heeft een omzet van ruim één miljard gulden en een marktaandeel van 10 %. Het merk is marktleider in de V.S.
Diageo is de overkoepelende naam voor United Distillers & Vintners (U.D.V.) Pilsbury, Guinness en Burger King.
Onderdeel van de verkoop houdt ook in de overname van de distilleerderijen Aberfeldy, Aultmore, Craigellachie en Royal Brackla door Bacardi Martini.
Brora, Sutherland. Licentiehouder: Ainslie & Heilbron (Distillers) Limited. Onderdeel van Scottish Malt Distillers Ltd. (S.M.D.). De malt divisie van United Distillers Ltd.Eigendom van Guinness.

Gebouwd in 1967 - 1968.
Clynelish bezit 6 ketels met een jaarproduktie van 3,2 miljoen liter spirit per jaar. Het proceswater en koelwater is afkomstig van één bron: de Clynemilton Burn.
Op 12 Mei 1997 werd de fusie aangekondigd tussenGuinness en Grand Metropolitan, (GrandMet), en op 16 Oktober 1997 staakt de Fransman Bernard Arnault van L M V H zijn verzet tegen de fusie voor een afkoopsom van ƒ 800.000.000. De nieuwe naam van de gefuseerden zou eerst G M G Brands worden, maar op 22 Oktober 1997 werd bekend gemaakt dat de naam Diageo zou worden, afgeleid van het Latijnse woord voor dag en het Griekse woord voorwereld.
Diageo wordt het grootste drankenconcern ter wereld, groter dan Seagram en Allied Domecq samen en met een omzet van 40 miljard gulden. Op 28 Maart 1998 verkoopt Diageohet whiskymerk Dewar's en het ginmerk Bombay voor één miljard aan Bacardi Martini.
Het afstoten van de twee merken was een voorwaarde die door de Amerikaanse mededingingautoriteiten was gesteld aan de goedkeuring van de fusie tussen Guinness en Grand Metropolitan. Dewar's heeft een omzet van ruim één miljard gulden en een marktaandeel van 10 %. Het merk is marktleider in de V.S.
Diageo is de overkoepelende naam voor United Distillers & Vintners (U.D.V.) Pilsbury, Guinness en Burger King.Onderdeel van de verkoop houdt ook in de overname van de distilleerderijen Aberfeldy, Aultmore, Craigellachie en Royal Brackla door Bacardi Martini.
Maart 2002 wordt bekend dat Diageo ook zijn merk Malibuverkoopt aan Allied Domecq voor 6 900 miljoen, Diageo had 1,2 miljard Euro gevraagd. Diageo krijgt nog wel 6 85 miljoen schadevergoeding van Vivendi Universal, voor de perikelen rond het merk Captain Morgan .Ook verkrijgt Allied Domecq de Amerikaanse Champagnepoot Mumm Cuvee Napa voor bijna 6 32 miljoen.

De omzet van Malibu is 6 70 miljoen, die van Mumm Cuvee Napa 6 4,8 miljoen. De Franse poot van Mumm was al in handen van Allied Domecq
Het water voor Clynelish komt van de Clynemilton Burn.
De Mash tun is 12 ton.

Er staan acht Wash backs van elk 60.000 liter.
De drie Wash stills hebben elk een inhoud van 27000 liter, de drie Spirit stills elk 15.000 liter en worden met stoom verhit.
2005 Kapaciteit: 3.400.000 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'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 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 byJohn Walker & Sons of Kilmarnock. DCL acquired all the shares in 1925 and five years later transferred Clynelish to 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 in1897 by 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 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. 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 sellClynelish single malt whisky.
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
Water: Clynemilton Burn
Mash tun: 1 x 12 tonnes
Wasbacks: 8 x 60.000 litres
3 wash stills x 15000 litres
3 spirit stills x 27.000 litres
Output: 3.000.000 ltres
Diageo to invest £30m in Clynelish
January, 2014
Diageo has announced plans for a £30 million expansion of itsClynelish distillery in Sutherland.
In the latest major stage in Diageo's £1 billion programme to increase Scotch whisky production, plans have been submitted to Highland Council for the major expansion of Diageo'smost northerly distillery.
The Clynelish expansion will take the on-going capital investment by Diageo in the Highland Council region alone to almost £150m, including major expansions at Glen Ord andTeaninich Distilleries and plans to build a new distillery atAlness.
Diageo's director of distillation and maturation, Keith Millersaid: "Clynelish is a very special distillery, producing spirit which is highly prized for its quality and character and is an important part of our Scotch whisky blending inventory, so this is an important part of our investment programme.
The Clynelish announcement came as six copper stills were delivered to the Glen Ord Distillery as part of the £25 million expansion plan which is doubling the size of that distillery to more than 10 million litres per annum.
Diageo is also doubling the capacity at the Teaninich distillery in Alness and is progressing plans to build a new malt whisky distillery and renewable energy plant on land adjacent to Teaninich. In total these projects represent a capital investment of nearly £150million across the Highland Council area.
Clynelish Distillery produces single malt whisky, it describes as "unique in both taste and texture" which is highly prized byDiageo's master blenders for use in brands such as Johnnie Walker. Clynelish is also a highly regarded as a single malt whisky in its own right. The distillery is also home to one ofDiageo's 12 distillery visitor centres, receiving more than 5,000 visitors per year. Clynelish is near the Sutherlandtown of Brora.
Under the plans submitted Clynelish distillery will see the installation of an additional mash tun, 10 new washbacks and six new copper stills for distilling the spirit. This adds to the 10 washbacks and six stills which the distillery currently has and will effectively double the production capacity to 9m litres of alcohol per annum, while retaining the character and quality of the spirit. A bioenergy plant is also planned for the site to provide non-fossil fuel energy to power the distillery.The world's leading premium drinks business, is also investing in new warehousing to store the additional spirit, with a major new bonded warehouse site being developed at Cluny in Fife.
Maart 2002 wordt bekend dat Diageo ook zijn merk Malibu verkoopt aan Allied Domecq voor 6 900 miljoen, Diageo had 1,2 miljard Euro gevraagd.
Diageo krijgt nog wel 6 85 miljoen schadevergoeding van Vivendi Universal, voor de perikelen rond het merk Captain Morgan.
Ook verkrijgt Allied Domecq de Amerikaanse Champagnepoot Mumm Cuvee Napa voor bijna 6 32 miljoen.
De omzet van Malibu is 6 70 miljoen, die van Mumm Cuvee Napa 6 4,8 miljoen. De Franse poot van Mumm was al in handen van Allied Domecq.
Het water voor Clynelish komt van de Clynemilton Burn.
De Mash tun is 12 ton.
Er staan acht Wash backs van elk 60.000 liter.
De drie Wash stills hebben elk een inhoud van 27000 liter, de drie Spirit stills elk 15.000 liter en worden met stoom verhit.
2005 Kapaciteit: 3.400.000 liter spirit per jaar.

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 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 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 Law-son 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 £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 Clynelish to 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 supple-mented in 1897 by 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 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 dis-tillery 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. 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). 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.
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 Re-leases series
Mash tun: 1 x 12 tonnes
Wasbacks: 8 x 60.000 litres
3 wash stills x 15000 litres
3 spirit stills x 27.000 litres
Output: 3.000.000 ltres
Diageo to invest £30m in Clynelish
January, 2014
Diageo has announced plans for a £30 million expansion of its Clynelish distillery in Sutherland.
In the latest major stage in Diageo's £1 billion programme to increase Scotch whisky production, plans have been submitted to Highland Council for the major expansion of Diageo's most northerly distillery.
The Clynelish expansion will take the on-going capital investment by Diageo in the Highland Council region alone to almost £150m, including major expansions at Glen Ord and Teaninich Distilleries and plans to build a new distillery at Alness.
Diageo's director of distillation and maturation, Keith Miller said: "Clynelish is a very special distillery, producing spirit which is highly prized for its quality and character and is an important part of our Scotch whisky blending inventory, so this is an important part of our investment programme.
The Clynelish announcement came as six copper stills were delivered to the Glen Ord Distillery as part of the £25 million expansion plan which is doubling the size of that distillery to more than 10million litres per annum.
Diageo is also doubling the capacity at the Teaninich distillery in Alness and is progressing plans to build a new malt whisky distillery and renewable energy plant on land adjacent to Teaninich. In total these projects represent a capital investment of nearly £150million across the Highland Council area.
Clynelish Distillery produces single malt whisky, it describes as "unique in both taste and texture" which is highly prized by Diageo's master blenders for use in brands such as Johnnie Walker. Clynelish is also a highly regarded as a single malt whisky in its own right. The distillery is also home to one of Diageo's 12 distillery visitor centres, receiving more than 5,000 visitors per year. Clynelish is near the Sutherland town of Brora.
Under the plans submitted Clynelish distillery will see the installation of an additional mash tun, 10 new washbacks and six new copper stills for distilling the spirit. This adds to the 10 washbacks and six stills which the distillery currently has and will effectively double the production capacity to 9m litres of alcohol per annum, while retaining the character and quality of the spirit. A bio-energy plant is also planned for the site to provide non-fossil fuel energy to power the distillery.
The world's leading premium drinks business, is also investing in new warehousing to store the additional spirit, with a major new bonded warehouse site being developed at Cluny in Fife

Clear worts and long ferments start the process, while distillation involves maximising copper conversation – unusually, but not uniquely, Clynelish’s spirit stills are larger than its wash stills.

This regime would help to produce a fruity spirit were it not for what happens in the feints receiver. In any distillery there is a natural precipitation of oils in this tank which would normally be removed during the distillery’s annual silent season when the plant is fully cleaned.

When this happened at Clynelish, the waxy character disappeared. Realising that the gunk had specific qualities, these days it is removed during silent season and then replaced. The mature character retains waxiness as a mouth-coating texture allied to citric notes and, occasionally, a little mineral/ozone hint. Tastings of single malts (and blends) from the 1950s and 60s suggests that waxy was a significantly more prevalent style industry-wide in those days.

When low-peated or unpeated, Brora shares this thick, waxy, oils kinlike character along with scented grass, fruits and pepper. When heavily smoked, the peat comes across as maritime.

Clynelish’s ultimate success – indeed cult status – is one which came out of human tragedy. This is one of a number of ‘Clearance’ distilleries [Talisker is another example] which appeared in the earlier part of the 19th century. This was a period when some landowners, seeing the profits which could be made from sheep farming, forcibly moved their tenant farmers from their ancestral lands. Caithness andSutherland were the scenes of the most brutal of these clearances, the perpetrators The Duke (and especially Duchess) of Sutherland and their estate managers.

Some of the farmers were shipped abroad, others went to theCentral Belt, those who remained were in this case moved to new settlements where they were put to work for their laird’s new business enterprises.

The Duke of Sutherland established a number of businesses in the town of Brora: a coal mine, brick and tile works, weaving, salt panning and a distillery which he calledClynelish. All were staffed by former farmers who were paid in coin which could only be redeemed at the company’s shops – whose profits went to the Duke.

The distillery was not a success in its early years. It only began to build a reputation in 1896 when blenders Ainslie & Heilbron bought it in partnership with John Risk, who was to become the outright owner in 1912. By the end of the century it had become the most highly-priced single malt

Risk worked in close co-operation with DCL and the blending firm of John Walker & Sons and when the latter was folded into DCL in 1925, Clynelish came too. It closed in the 1930sbut produced small amounts during WWII.

In common with a huge number of DCL distilleries, a new plant with six stills was built alongside the original distillery in1968 (until then Clynelish had only a single pair of stills). The old plant was, briefly, put into mothballs for a year. It then ran alongside as ‘Clynelish B’. It was renamed Brora in 1969,when it began producing a heavily-peated spirit for blending purposes. This was the result of, initially, Islay suffering from a drought and then Caol Ila being rebuilt. Brora’s heavily peated years continued until 1973, after which the smoke was cut back (sometimes totally). It finally closed forever in 1983. These days, like many lost distilleries, it has become a cult malt.

Clynelish itself has long played an important role within the house of John Walker & Sons with a 14-year-old, originally launched as part of Diageo’s ‘Hidden Malts’ portfolio, and an oloroso-finished Distiller’s Edition as the range.

In 2014, Diageo announced a £30m expansion of Clynelish,but the plan has since been postponed.

1819

Clynelish founded by the

first Duke of Sutherland

1827

Its first licensed distiller, James Harper,

goes bankrupt. John Matheson

assumes control

1846

The distillery is sold to

George Lawson & Sons

1896

James Ainslie & Heilbron

acquire Clynelish

1912

DCL takes over the distillery with

James Risk

1916

John Walker & Sons buys a stake in

James Risk 'stock

1931

Clynelish is mothballed

1960

Production resumes

The distillery becomes electrifies

1967

A second distillery, also named Clynelish,

is built next door.

1968

The original distillery is mothballed

1969

The original distillery is reopened as Brora

and is started producing a very

peated malt

1983

Brora is closed in March

1988

Clynelish becomes one of The

Classic Malts of Scotland

2002

Clynelish 14 Year Old is launched

2006

A Distiller's Edition is released 1991

finished in oloroso sherry cask

2009

A 12 years old is released for The

Friends of Classic Malts

2010

A SC Manager's Choice 1997 is released

2014

Diageo announce a £30m investment

in the expansion of Clynelish

Clynelish Select Reserve is released

2015

A Second Release of Clynelish Select

Reserve is released

2016

Closed for refurnishing

2017

Open again

2019

Clynelish House Tyrell is released

as part of the Game of Thrones Series

2020

Capacity: 4.800.000 Ltrs

Output: 4.800.000 Ltrs

A 26 year old Prima and Ultima is released

2021

A 16 year old Four Corners of Scotland is launched

2022

A 12 years old 58,5 % Wildcat's Golden Gaze

is launched in the Legends Untold Series

Capacity: 4.800.000 Ltrs

Output : 4.800.000 Ltrs

CONDENSER TYPE i

Shell and tube

FERMENTATION TIME i

Minimum 55hrs

FILLING STRENGTH i

63.5%

GRIST WEIGHT (T) i

12.5

HEAT SOURCE i

Steam

MALT SPECIFICATION i

Non peated

MALT SUPPLIER i

Mainly in house

MASH TUN TYPE i

Lauter

NEW-MAKE PHENOL LEVEL i

Non peaty

NEW-MAKE STRENGTH i

67-68%

SPIRIT STILL CHARGE (L) i

19,000

SPIRIT STILL SHAPE i

Neck ball

STILLS i

WASH STILL CHARGE (L) i

17,000

WASH STILL SHAPE i

Neck ball

WASHBACK TYPE i

8 wood, 2 steel

WASHBACKS i

WATER SOURCE i

Clynemilton Byrne

WORT CLARITY i

Clear

YEAST TYPE i

Pressed

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

AINSLIE & HEILBRON DISTILLERS

For a few years Ainslie & Heilbron owned and operated the original Clynelish distillery (also known as Brora). However, to stave off bankruptcy after the Pattison Crash, it sold the distillery to concentrate on whisky blending. A number of mergers soon followed until it joined DCL in 1925.

This company can trace its origins back to 1868 whenJames Ainslie & Co. was founded as a wine and spirit merchant in Leith, Edinburgh. The company proved to be very successful and, at the height of the whisky boom, purchased the Clynelish distillery in 1896 and completely rebuilt it within two years.

However, James Ainslie & Co. suffered along with the rest of the Scotch whisky industry after the Pattison crash of 1898, and in 1912 only survived bankruptcy by selling Clynelish to James Risk (the former owner ofBankier distillery in the Scottish Lowlands) and DCL,who took a half share each. The next year the company merged with fellow blenders Walter Baillie & Sons, Robertson Brothers and John Gillon & Co. to formAinslie, Baillie & Co. of Leith.

This company traded until 1921 when, upon the retirement of Robert Ainslie, son of founder James, the company was liquidated and taken over by Sir James Calder, the chairman of blender Alexander & Macdonald. Calder merged the company with another old blending company, David Heilbron Ltd., and distilling company Colville Greenlees & Co, owner of theArgyll distillery in Campbeltown, to form Ainslie & Heilbron (Distillers) Ltd.

By 1925 Ainslie & Heilbron had become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Calder’s expanded MacDonald, Greenlees & Williams Ltd. of Leith. That same year he soldMacDonald, Greenlees & Williams to DCL, along with his own distillery Dalwhinnie, bringing Ainslie & Heilbron under the control of the distilling giant.

Ainslie's

BLENDED SCOTCH WHISKY

King's Legend

BLENDED SCOTCH WHISKY

Real McTavish

Diageo

Arthur Bell & Sons

Bulloch Lade & Company

Distillers Company Limited

Grand Metropolitan

Guinness UDV

James Buchanan & Company

John Haig & Company

John Walker & Sons

Justerini & Brooks

Lothian Distillers Company

Mackie & Co

Macleay Duff Distillers

Peter Dawson

RH Thomson & Company Distillers

W&A Gilbey

White Horse Distillers

William Sanderson & Son

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.

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 Lagavulin distillery manager and to work with the fantastic team there for so many years,’ said Crawford.

‘However, the opportunity to bring Port Ellen distilleryback 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).

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 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 exemplify 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 manufac¬turing 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.

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 1897 by 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 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.

Water: Clynemilton Burn

LATEST NEWS

CLYNELISH AND CARDHU REVAMP PLANS REVEALED

March 201

Plans for a ‘major transformation’ of Clynelish and Cardhu’s distillery visitor centres have been unveiled.

Rural footfall: Clynelish’s ‘comprehensive upgrade’ is set to bring more tourism to Brora

The plans, revealed this week to the distilleries’ stakeholders and neighbours, have been proposed as part of spirits giant Diageo’s £150m investment in its whisky tourism facilities.

Clynelish distillery, which is situated north of Inverness on the Sutherland coast, will receive a ‘comprehensive upgrade’ to its visitor centre, including the installation of a new bar and tasting area alongside ‘enhanced landscaping’ on the land surrounding the distillery.

Jacqueline James-Bow, Clynelish distillery brand home manager, said: ‘Scotch whisky tourism is one of the major attractions driving economic growth in rural communities such as Brora.

‘We are bringing investment and creating exciting new economic opportunities for the community.’

Clynelish is situated adjacent to silent distillery Brora, which is set to reopen in 2020 as part of a separate £35m investment by Diageo.

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