Imperial

SCOTCH SINGLE MALT WHISKIES > I

IMPERIAL

10 years old

43%
THE LEGENDARY
LAST BOTTLE AND EMPTY
Single Cask Single Malt Whisky
Blackadder International,
Logie Green, Larkhall

Long, long ago, in days since hidden by the swirling mists of time, the trusted sword of Blackadder vanquished the dark forces of evil and justly ruled the lands of Northern Scotia.

Built in 1897, the year of Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee, the Imperial Distillery was sited at Carron Railway Station, Morayshire, in order to avoid the high cost of transpor¬tation. The distillery, which is owned by Allied Distillers Ltd, draws water from Ballin-tomb Burn whose source is springs in the Mannoch Hills.

IMPERIAL

15 years old

43%
JAMES MAC ARTHUR'S
FINE MALT SELECTION
James Macarthur & Co, Ltd, Edinburgh
EMPTY

IMPERIAL

13 years old

40%
Distilled: 1979
Bottled: 1992
Gordon & Macphail, Elgin

The capacity was 1,6 million litres a year

Now the dunnage warehouses are empty

Also known as Crown Imperial for a long time, because it had a big Crown

on the top of the malt kiln, after rebuilding the distillery in 1955, the Crown

was taken down.

It was said the water had to much iron in it, therefore the distillery had been

closed.

IMPERIAL

20 years old

40%
CONNOISSEURS CHOICE
Distilled 1970
Bottled 1990
Proprietors:
Dailuaine - Talisker Distilleries Ltd
Gordon & Macphail, Elgin

IMPERIAL

10 years old

40 %
GORDON & MACPHAIL
PRIVATE COLLECTION
A Rare and Exclusive Bottling from
The Directors Private Collection
CALVADOS WOOD FINISH
Distilled 19/09/90
Bottled August 2000
Cask No. 97/403 1,2
3500 Genummerde flessen
Trademark of Proprietors:
Allied Distillers Ltd.
Gordon & Macphail, Elgin

IMPERIAL

10 years old

40%
GORDON & MACPHAIL
PRIVATE COLLECTION
A Rare and Exclusive Bottling from
The Directors Private Collection
COGNAC WOOD FINISH
Distilled 19/9/90
Bottled August 2000
Cask No. 97/304 1,2,3
4500 Genummerde flessen
Trademark of Proprietors:
Allied Distillers Ltd.
Gordon & Macphail, Elgin

IMPERIAL

10 years old

40%
GORDON & MACPHAIL
PRIVATE COLLECTION
A Rare and Exclusive Bottling from
The Directors Private Collection
CLARET WOOD FINISH
Distilled 19/9/90
Bottled August 2000
Cask No. 97/304 4,5,6
3100 Genummerde flessen
Trademark of Proprietors:
Allied Distillers Ltd.
Gordon & Macphail, Elgin

IMPERIAL

12 years old

40 %
Distilled 1991
Bottled 2003
Trademark of Proprietors:
Allied Distillers Ltd.
Gordon & Macphail, Elgin

Built in 1897, the year of Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee, the Imperial Distillery stands majestically among the dark woods of Carron, in a fold of the hills which encompass the glittering Spey.

IMPERIAL

12 years old

60,4 %
GORDON & MACPHAIL RESERVE
Distilled 1991
Bottled 2003
Cask no. 8681
1 st fill Bourbon barrel
Limited Edition
243 bottles
Proprietors: Allied Distillers Ltd
Gordon & Macphail, Elgin.

IMPERIAL

14 years old

43 %
1989
THE ULTIMATE SINGLE MALT
SCOTCH WHISKY SELECTION
Distilled 2/11/89
Bottled 30/9/04
Matured in a Bourbon Barrel
Cask no. 410
Numbered Bottles
The Ultimate Whisky Company, N.L.

IMPERIAL

15 years old

46 %
SPECIAL DISTILLERY BOTTLING
Allied Distillers Ltd., Dumbarton

IMPERIAL

Aged 17 years

55,7 %
CASK STRENGHT
RARE AULD SCOTCH WHISKY
Region: Speyside Scotch Whisky
Unique Whiskies of Distinction
Fons et Origo
D T C
Date distilled: 01.1990
Cask Number: 352
Date Bottled: 04.2007
207 Numbered Bottles
No Chill Filtration or
Colourings of any kind
Duncan Taylor & Co, Ltd,
Huntly, Aberdeenshire

IMPERIAL

Aged 13 years

56.4 %
WHISKY GALORE
Rare Aged Scotch Whisky
Speyside Region
Distilled 1997
Bottled 2010-10-18
Whisky Galore Ltd, Huntly, Aberdeenshire

IMPERIAL

1 9 9 1

43 %
19 years old
Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whisky
Distilled 1991
Bottled 2010
Specially Selected Produced and Bottled
by and under the responsibility of
Gordon & Macphail, Elgin

IMPERIAL
VINTAGE 1 9 9 5
17 years old

46 %
THE ULTIMATE SINGLE MALT
SCOTCH WHISKY
Speyside Single Malt
Distilled: 09/10/95
Matured in a Hogshead
Cask no: 503339
Bottled: 20/09/13
295 Numbered Bottles
Non Chill Filtered
Selected by The Ultimate Whisky Company, NL

IMPERIAL
VINTAGE 1 9 9 5
Matured for

19 years

46 %
THE ULTIMATE SINGLE MALT
SCOTCH WHISKY
Speyside Single Malt
Distilled: 21/08/95
Matured in a Hogshead
Cask No: 50159
Bottled: 19/11/14
312 Numbered Bottles
Bottle No: 114
Natural Colour
Non Chillfiltered
Selected by The Ultimate Whisky Company NL

IMPERIAL
VINTAGE 1 9 9 5
19 years old

46 %
THE ULTIMATE SINGLE MALT
SCOTCH WHISKY
Speyside Single Malt
Distilled: 21/08/95
Matured in a Hogshead
Cask no: 50169
Bottled: 08/12/14
295 Numbered Bottles
Natural Colour
Non Chill Filtered
Selected by The Ultimate Whisky Company. NL

IMPERIAL
19 years

46 %
THE ULTIMATE SINGLE MALT
SCOTCH WHISKY
Speyside Single Malt
Distilled: 18/09/95
Matured in a Hogshead
Cask no: 50208
Bottled: 19/08/15
290 Numbered Bottles
Natural Colour
Non Chillfiltered
Selected by The Ultimate
Whisky Company.NL

IMPERIAL
Matured for 20 years

46 %
THE ULTIMATE SINGLE MALT
SCOTCH WHISKY
Speyside Single Malt
Distilled: 18/09/95
Matured in a Hogshead
Cask no: 50233
Bottled: 07/12/15
290 Numbered Bottles
Natural Colour
Non Chillfiltered

Selected by The Ultimate Whisky Company. NL

IMPERIAL DISTILLERY / PERNOD RICARD / CHIVAS BROTHERS

16 April 2013

Chivas Brothers, the whisky arm of Pernod Ricard is planning to build the a new distillery

at the site of the mothballed Imperial Distillery, near Carron, Aberlour.

Imperial has been closed for 15 years.

The construction of the new distillery will result in an increase of 10 % in Pernod Ricard’s

malt whisky distilling capacity, this means a 5 million litres spirit a year.

The original distillery buildings have already been demolished.

IMPERIAL

Aged 18 years

43 %

HAMMERFALL

Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whisky

Importer by Brands for Fans

Sweden AB. Stockholm

Distilled & Bottled in Scotland

William Lundie & Co, Speyside.

Pride. Strenght. Honour.

Being true to your Heritage, with a clear vision of your future.

Words that speak as true about The Noble Whisky you hold in

your hand as Hammerfall. Having spent 18 years in oak casks

fulfilling it’s potential, The Hammerfall Imperial is a complex.

smooth and layered whisky that offers an unrivalled depth of

character. Hammerfall have spent 18 years perfecting The

Music they can proudly claim their own.

Hammerfall Imperial Single Malt is a Tribute to the Dedication

and hard work of The Knights of The 21st Century, whose

knowledge and craft have produced this 18 year old Single

Malt Scotch Whisky of pure Perfection.

IMPERIAL

1 9 9 5

56.9 %

Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whisky

Distilled: 09 .10.1995

Matured in a Hogshead

Cask No: 50308

Bottled August 2011

for MANUFACTUM

Bottled by Signatory Vintage Scotch Whisky Co, Pitlochry

IMPERIAL

1 9 9 7

53,6 %

14 years old

GORDON & MACPAIL RESERVE

SCOTCH WHISKY

Speyside

Distillation date: 17/11/1997

Cask Number: 4968

Cask Type: Refill Sherry Hogshead

Bottling Month: August 2011

60 Numbered Bottles

Unchillfiltered

Natural Colour

Exclusively Bottled for Van Wees

Specially Selected, Produced and Bottled by

Gordon & Macphail, Elgin.

Colour: Dark Straw

Nose: Fresh and herbal – fresh mint notes with a defined toasted malt edge.

Hints of sweet Sherry lingers

Palate: Warming with a burst of cracked pepper. Some exotic fruit influences

emerges. With a toasted malt edge.

Finosh: Long and smooth.

Speyside
IMPERIAL

Carron, Morayshire. Eigendom van Allied Distillers Ltd. De gedistilleerd groep van Allied Domecq.
Imperial werd gesticht in 1897, het jaar van het diamanten regerings jubileum van Koningin Victoria, dat het hoogtepunt van het Britse Imperium en van de Schotse whiskyindustrie markeerde.
Nieuwe distilleerderijen werden gebouwd, bestaande vergroot.
Architekt was Charles Doig.
Thomas Mackenzie, de stichter van Imperial was al deelgenoot in Dailuaine en Talisker.
Werden de distilleerderijen in de Hooglanden over het algemeen gebouwd van graniet, Imperial werd gebouwd van rode Aberdeen stenen.
De muren waren twee voet dik om tegen brand bestand te zijn, en al de deuren waren van ijzer.
Imperial staat naast het Carron spoorwegstation.
In 1898 was er een fusie tussen Dailuaine en Talisker, die zaken ging doen onder de naam van Dailuaine - Talisker Distilleries Ltd.
Imperial kwam ook onder de direktie van de groep. De produktie van Imperial startte in Juli 1898.
In 1899 was er het bankroet van de Pattison's en Mackenzie besloot dat Dailuaine en Talisker genoeg konden produceren en Imperial ging dicht.
Dit zou twintig jaar duren.
Van de 161 werkende distilleerderijen in 1899 waren er in 1910 nog maar 124 over ge-bleven.
Na de dood van Mackenzie in 1915 namen zijn belangrijkste afnemers, James Buchanan, John Walker, John Dewar en de Distillers Company Ltd (D.C.L.) de bedrijven over.
Imperial werd in 1919 weer opgestart om in 1925 weer te sluiten.
Gedurende dertig jaar werd er alleen nog maar gemout ten behoeve van andere distilleerderijen.

In 1955

werd Imperial weer opgestart.
In 1954 en 1955

werd Imperial gemoderniseerd,

aangesloten op het electriciteitsnet,

vier nieuwe ketels geinstalleerd die

werden gestookt met kolen.
In 1967

werd de vloermouterij vervangen

door het Saladin systeem.
In 1969

werden de kolengestookte ketels

vervangen door ketels verhit met stoom.
Imperial werd in 1985 gesloten.
In 1989

koopt Allied Domecq Imperial en

de distilleerderij wordt opgestart.
De gehele opbrengst ging altijd in de

Peter Dawson blends.
Het water komt van bronnen in de

Mannoch Hills.
In Mei 2000

wordt Imperial weer (tijdelijk ?) gesloten.
Het water kwam eerst van Ballintomb Burn,

tegenwoordig van Aldach Springs.
De Mash tun is 11.5 ton.
De zes Wash backs hebben elk een inhoud

van 56000 liter.
De vier ketels worden met stoom verhit.

De twee Wash stills zijn groot 20.500 liter,

de twee Spirit stills zijn elk 18.500 liter.
De Capaciteit is 2,5.000.000 liter spirit per jaar.

Imperial Distillery was established in 1897, the year of Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee, which marked the apogee of the British Empire. Contingents from India, Canada and the Colonies joined the celebrations in London, and Joseph Chamberlain presided over the first Imperial Conference, attended by the Prime Ministers of fourteen overseas territories.
Thomas Mackenzie, who founded the distillery, had major interests in Dailuaine-Glenlivet Distillery Ltd. and in Talisker Distillery Ltd. The demand for their makes, in the 1890's, exceeded the supply; so Imperial was built to make good the shortfall. The two companies were combined in 1898 to form Dailuaine-Talisker Distilleries Ltd., to which Imperial was transferred.
Imperial was sited at Carron Station to avoid the heavy cost of cartage from railhead suffered by distilleries built before the Railway Age. Its water was piped from the Ballintomb Burn, which flows from springs in the Mannoch Hills. This supply drove a turbine that provided the motive force for all the machinery. The Northern Scot commented, possibly not without prompting, but certainly notwithout justification, that the "internal arrangements" represented "the concentrated result of long experience in distillery construction". Charles Doig, the architect, built Imperial entirely of red Aberdeen bricks within a framework of iron beams and pillars, to resist damage by fire; all internal doors were made of iron, and some of the walls were two feet thick. When it was still being built, a local journalist noted that one of the malt kilns had been surmounted by an enormous imperial crown which, "once gilded, would flash and glitter in the sunlight like the crescent on a Turkish minaret ... among the dark pine woods of Carron and the brown hills which encircle the rushing Spey".
Mashing began at Imperial in the week ending 2 July 1898. That year marked the climax of a period when the output of distilleries had been greatly expanded and companies had been formed to build new ones. With the resounding failure of Pattisons Ltd., a Leith blending company, in 1898, investors lost interest in speculating in whisky and the boom turned into a recession. Imperial worked for the 1898-99 season and then closed for twenty years, because Dailuaine and Talisker could meet the reduced demand. The number of actively working Scotch distilleries, which reached a peak of 161 in 1899, fell to 124 in 1910. Malt whisky prices fell too.
Dailuaine-Talisker admitted in 1910 that it was trading at a loss. Negotiations to achieve a merger with another leading Highland distillery company ended in failure; and after Mackenzie's death in 1915, a consortium of customers -James Buchanan & Co. Ltd., John Dewar & Sons Ltd., John Walker & Sons Ltd., and The Distillers Company Limited - acquired a majority interest. When these companies merged in 1925, Dailuaine-Talisker became a subsidiary of the enlarged DCL.

Imperial Distillery restarted production in 1919. A visitor reported in 1925 that it had two of the largest pot stills in Scotland: a wash-still with the "tremendous capacity" of 0 gallons and a spirit still holding 0 gallons. The water turbine was still the main source of power, but a steam engine was used for the tun-room switchers and for pumping. In the same year, the company met insuperable difficulties in the disposal of effluent. So Imperial ceased distillation once again. For the next thirty years it was used as a makings, except during the second world war, when it was requisitioned by the Army authorities as a billet for troops and a military store. Some of the sol-diers enlivened the tedium of their leisure hours by throwing hand grenades in the dam, which has tended to leak ever since. It had been put to a harmless recreational purpose- in the previous decade, when the Caledonian Swimming Club of Aberdeen used it for their summer gala.
The makings began working again after the war ended. The premises were then lighted by gas, and the turbine drove all the machinery through a system of belts and pulleys. When it broke down, a farm tractor was borrowed to keep the plant working. All was changed in 1954, when electric power was obtained from the national grid. Experiments carried out in a pilot plant at Aultmore Distillery (and subsequently at Imperial) had been successful in developing a technique whereby the solid matter in the effluent of malt whisky distilleries could be evaporated, dried and recovered as a high-protein animal feedingstuff. There was now no obstacle to restarting distillation; and the company needed additional capacity. The mash-house and stillhouse were therefore mod-ernised and refitted, and an effluent treatment plant was built, to enable the production of whisky to restart in 1955. No. 4 warehouse was also built, and the model of the imperial crown, which had rusted; was taken down.
The two pot stills were heated by coal-burning furnaces, fired by hand until 1960 when they were converted to mechanical stoking. Two additional stills were installed in 1964, and all four were converted to internal heating by steam five years later.
The drawing overleaf represents the appearance of the buildings before the floor maltings were demolished in 1967. The latter were replaced by a Saladin maltings, with new accommodation for storing barley, malt and peat.
Until 1967, a miniature steam locomotive had shunted incoming supplies of barley, coal and casks, and outgoing casks of whisky, on the private sidings that connected Imperial and Dailuaine Distilleries with Carron Station. As both distilleries are sited at the bottom of the Spey Valley, and are approached by narrow roads twisting down steep hillsides, there can be traffic problems in times of heavy snowfall.

The business of Dailuaine-Talisker Distilleries Ltd. was wound up in 1982 and taken over by Scottish Malt Distillers Ltd., another Distillers Company subsidiary. S.M.D. now operates Imperial Distillery and owns 24 houses for occupation by employees. The entire output is sold to blenders. Peter Dawson Ltd., Glasgow, proprietors of Peter Dawson "Special" Scotch whisky, holds the licence.

Allied Distillers
Februari 2003
Dumbarton Distillery sluit. Het komplex waar ook het hoofdkantoor van Allied was gevestigd, herbergde ook de malt whiskies Lomond, waarvan slechts één botteling bekend is, uitgebracht door de Scotch Malt Whisky Society, The Vaults, Leith, Edinburgh onder code nummer 98.1, en Inverleven.
De capaciteit van de Grain distilleerderij Strathclyde wordt vergroot tot 39 miljoen liter spirit per jaar, dat was 32 miljoen liter.
Het hoofdkantoor wordt gevestigd te Kilmalid.
Het enorme gebouwencomplex is verkocht aan twee projectont-wikkelaars

The capacity was 1,6 litres a year
Now the dunnage warehouses are empty

1897

First name Dailuaine 2

Thomas Mackenzie, who already owns

Dailuaine and Talisker, founds the distillery

helped by architect Charles Doig.

The distillery's name hints at Queen Victoria's

Diamond Jubilee this year

1898

The distillery is inaugurated in the summer

and is administered by Thomas Mackenzie's

company Dailuaine - Talisker Distilleries Limited
1899

The Pattison whisky crash forces Imperial

to close
1916

Imperial is bought by Distillers Company Ltd

(D.C.L.) , Dewar's, Johnnie Walker and

W.P. Lowrie
1919

Production restarts
1925

Imperial becomes fully owned by D.C.L.

and closes again although the maltings

remain active
1955

Imperial, now administered by

Scottish Malt Distillers (S.M.D.) reopens
1965

The number of stills is doubled from

two to four and a Saladin box is installed

for malting
1985

Imperial closes
1989

Allied Distillers buys Imperial from

United Distillers and starts refurbishing
1991

Imperial once again in operation
1998

Imperial is mothballed
2005

Chivas Brothers (Pernod Ricard)

become new owners through the

acquisition
of Allied Domecq
2008
The owners received demolition permission for the buildings from Moray Council with
permission to build new housing in the grounds. Estate Agents Bell Ingram were tasked
with selling the premises before everything was put on hold in 2006
In over 100 years it has been out of production for 60 % of the time
Virtually all the distilling equipment is still in place which means one stainless steel
mash tun with traditional mixing gear, six washbacks made of larch and two pairs of
stills

Also known as Crown Imperial for a long time, because it had a big Crown
on the top of the malt kiln, after rebuilding the distillery in 1955, the Crown
was taken down.

It was said the water had to much iron in it, therefore the distillery had been
closed

IMPERIAL DISTILLERY / PERNOD RICARD / CHIVAS BROTHERS
April 2013
Chivas Brothers, the whisky arm of Pernod Ricard is planning to build the a new distillery
at the site of the mothballed Imperial Distillery, near Carron, Aberlour.

Imperial has been closed for 15 years.

The construction of the new distillery will result in an increase of 10 % in Pernod Ricard's
malt whisky distilling capacity, this means a 5 million litres spirit a year.

The original distillery buildings have already been demolished.

Imperial's history is littered with periods of closure, until it was finally demolished to make way for the giant Dalmunach.

Imperial was dogged by poor timing. Its chequered history meant that it never had a chance to become established as a single malt brand. Too late for the very earliest wave, by the time the category was becoming popular in the 1970s it was already committed to supplying fillings. When the single malt market came of age in the early 1990s, Imperial was closed.

Bar one half-hearted Allied Distillers bottling, it has only ever been seen under independent bottlers and, for many years, was also somewhat ignored. Then, slowly, Imperial’s gentle, floral, American cream soda style began to win friends. While it has not reached the cult status of Brora or Port Ellen, its reputation continues to grow. Sadly, there isn’t much stock left. Bad timing again.

The Imperial plant was built by Thomas Mackenzie in 1897 – the year of Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee, and, as the name suggests, the construction was a grand scale. The maltings even sported a gigantic cast iron crown at its apex. Mackenzie had already had considerable success in whisky – he owned his new distillery’s neighbour Dailuaine, itself a mighty plant, and then year after would merge the business with Talisker.

The market was however beginning to turn sour and while the two established distilleries survived – and prospered, when the downturn came in 1899 it was Imperial which was put into mothballs. It reopened in 1919 by now under a consortium of the major blending firms and DCL. When the Great Merger of the firms took place in 1925 Imperial joined DCL’s distilling arm Scottish Malt Distillers.

That didn’t help its fortunes as it was closed once again and this time lay silent for 30 years. When it reopened it was with new Saladin maltings. A decade later, with another whisky boom in full swing, it was expanded again with two new stills.

Two decades of production followed before it was mothballed once more in 1985 and then sold to Allied Distillers in 1989. Further refurbishment followed and spirit began to run once more in 1991. Sadly this was only for a short period and, once again, Imperial was mothballed, this time in 1998. It joined the Chivas Brothers portfolio after Pernod-Ricard bought Allied in 2005.

With another (apparent) boom starting around 2010 it seemed that Imperial’s time may have come again, but its new owners kept it silent. In 2013, the buildings were demolished to make way for the new Dalmunach distillery. The Empire strikes back

1897

Imperial distillery is built by

Thomas Mackenzie

1898

The distillery becomes part of

Dailuaine-Talisker Distilleries

1899

Imperial distillery closes

1919

Following WWI the distillery

reopens

1925

Imperial joins DCL but is

mothballed

1955

The distillery reopens and is

fully modernised

1964

Imperial is expanded to four

stills and Saladin matings

1985

Imperial is mothballed once again

1989

The distillery is sold to

Allied Distillers

1991

Production restarts under its new owner

1998

Imperial is mothballed for the last time

2000

A 10-year old expression is released by

Allied

2005

Imperial is part of the Allied estate bought

by Pernod-Ricard/ Chivas Brothers

2013

The distillery is finally demolished

2015

Dalmunach distillery opens on the old

Imperial site

Pernod Ricard

2005 - present

Chivas Brothers

Allied Domecq

1994 - 2005

Allied Lyons

1989 - 1994

United Distillers

1986 - 1989

Distillers Company Limited

1925 - 1986

Dailuaine-Talisker Distilleries

1898 - 1925

Thomas Mackenzie

1897 - 1898

Imperial's history is littered with periods of closure,

until it was finally demolished to make way for the

giant Dalmunach.