Lochside

SCOTCH SINGLE MALT WHISKIES > L

LOCHSIDE

10 years old

40 %
LAST BOTTLE AND EMPTY
Macnab Distilleries Limited,
Montrose

Highland Malt Eastern Highlands LOCHSIDE (1833-1992)

Lochside distillery began life as a brewery in the 1890s. Is was rebuilt on the site of an earlier brewery which is thought to have dated back to the 1700s.

The new brewery was located beside the Montrose Basin and in its day, was one of the most visible landmarks for miles around with bright cream-washed walls and striking tower.

It was the only location outside Newcastle to produce Newcastle Brown Ale.

After closing in the 1950s the brewery was bought by Joseph Hobbs, who also ran the Ben Nevis distillery. Joseph Hobbs combined the side with trademarks from the Glenmavis Dis¬tillery to cobvert the brewery into Lochside distillery.

The new distillery contained four pot stills and a 21 metre high Coffey still. Lochside distillery was one of a few distilleries which produced both malt and grain whisky.

Following the death of Joseph Hobbs, his son, also Joe, ran the distillery until it was acquired by Destilerias y Crianza, of Madrid, in 1973. The main purpose for the distillery was to produce Scotch Malt to blend with their own Spanish spirit.

After years of industrious production Lochside distillery fell victim to drinks industry over-production problems of the early 1990s.

After swapping hans many times the distillery ended up in the hands of Allied Distillers and was eventually handed over to developers in 1997. Locals campaigned to have the buil¬ding preserved but unfortunately it did not have any listings.

The Sandy Macnab blend, initially for export, was disposed of along with Lochside single malt in the last years of the distillery, leaving stocks in short supply.

LOCHSIDE

21 years old

40 %
CONNOISSEURS CHOICE
Distilled 1966
Bottled 1987
Proprietors: Macnab Distilleries Ltd
Gordon & Macphail, Elgin

LOCHSIDE

31 years old

57.7 %
SILENT STILLS
Distilled 1.7.66
Bottled 28.5.98
Cask No. 3910
230 bottles
Lochside Distillery
Malt Macnab Distilleries Ltd
Signatory Vintage
Scotch Whisky Co, Ltd, Edinburgh

LOCHSIDE

17 years old

40 %
CONNOISSEURS CHOICE
Distilled 1981
Bottled 1998
Proprietors: Macnab Distilleries Ltd
Gordon & Macphail, Elgin

LOCHSIDE

17 years old

40%
RARE OLD SINGLE MALT
SCOTCH WHISKY
Distilled 1981
Bottled 1998
Proprietors: Macnab Distilleries Ltd
Gordon & Macphail, Elgin

LOCHSIDE

20 years old

60,3 %

SINGLE CASK SCOTCH MALT WHISKY
Date Distilled May 81
Date Bottled Jun 01
Society Cask Code 92.8
Outturn 552 bottles
The Scotch Malt Whisky Society,
The Vaults, Leith, Edinburgh
'A Mechanic's Break'

This distillery at Montrose was formerly a brewery and once belongs to James Deuchar & Sons. It was converted to distilling in 1957 by the colourful Canadian Joseph Hobbs, to produce both grain and malt whisky, but closed in the early 1970s and has now been dismoantled.

This example has a fine amber colour and a first nose of ginger-nuts, orange-zest, candied peel and raisins, with a warm waxy note coming through once it settles. Water brings up the latter and edges it towards engine oil, with warm hazel-nuts. The mouthfeel is oily, with plums (straight) and hazel-nuts (reduced) especially in the finish The nose is better straight, but flavour comes up when water is added.

LOCHSIDE

12 years old

43%
CONNOISSEURS CHOICE
Distilled 1991
Bottled 2003
Proprietors: Macnab Distillers Ltd.
Gordon &Macphail, Elgin

LOCHSIDE

18 years old

46 %
COASTAL SINGLE MALT
SCOTCH WHISKY
Distilled May 1981
Bottled February 2000
Cask Ref: M M 9636
Refill Sherry
Not Chill Filtered
Not Coloured
Murray McDavid! Ltd, Glasgow and London

A sad story. The distillery, established in 1957 is situated in the old trading port of Montrose, south of Aberdeen on Scotland's bleak east coast. Its spirit is lamen¬ tably unknown. McNab sold it to a Spanish company which, to their horror, was ultimately bought out by our friends, Allied; Lochside was then promptly turned into a block of executive flats. Yet this a Coastal Malt of tremendous quality with the briny, seaside flavour and complexity shared with the great malts ahed in close proximity to the sea. This distillery deserved much, much greater recogition, sadly we are too late. Enjoy it while you can, it is a true star: the Springbank of the East.

LOCHSIDE

19 years old

46 %
COASTAL SINGLE MALT
SCOTCH WHISKY
Distilled May 1981
Bottled March 2001
Cask Ref: MM 9637
Refill Sherry
Not Chill Filtered
Not Coloured
Murray McBavid1 Ltd,
Glasgow and London

LOCHSIDE

21 years old

50 %
THE OLD MALT CASK 50o
Single Cask Bottling
Distilled May 1979
Bottled June 2000
306 bottles
No Chill Filtration
No Colouring
Douglas Laing & Co, Ltd. Glasgow

LOCHSIDE

20 years old

46 %
COASTAL SINGLE
MALT SCOTCH WHISKY
Distilled May 1981
Bottled December 2001
Cask Ref: MM 2106
Refill Sherry
Not Chill Filtered
Not Coloured
Murray McDavid Ltd,
Glasgow and London

LOCHSIDE

35 years old

50%
THE OLD MALT CASK 50o
A Single Cask Bottling
Distilled December 1966
Bottled January 2002
216 bottles
No Chill Filtration
No Colouring
Douglas Laing & Co, Ltd, Glasgow

LOCHSIDE

21 years old

60,7 %
East Highland
AUTHENTIC COLLECTION
Cask Strenght
Distilled 1981
Cask: Sherry Hogshead
Bottled: June 2002
No. of Bottles: 306
Distillery: Closed
Wm. Cadenhead, Campbeltown,
Argyll

LOCHSIDE

36 years old

51,8 %

SCOTTISH CASTLES
Series 6 Castle Stalker
Limited Christmas Edition
Cask Strenght
Distilled 1966
Bottled November 2002
Cask No. 3912
Imported by Jack Wiebers
Whisky World, Gemany
The Highlands & Islands
Scotch Whisky Co, Ltd, Glasgow

Castle Stalker

Set on a rocky island on the shore of Loch Liihe this 15th Century Tower House was the ancient seat of The Stewarts of Appin.

The House of Stewart is the family of the old Kings of Scotland and Castle Stalker was used by King James IV as a Hunting Lodge.

Is was used as a garison by government troops during the Rebellion led by Bonnie Prince Charlie (Charles Edward Stewart) in 1745.

LOCHSIDE

22 years old

59%
East Highland
AUTHENTIC COLLECTION
Cask Strenght
Distilled 1981
Wood Type: Sherry Hogshead
Bottled: July 2003
No. of Bottles: 276
Wm. Cadenhead Limited,
Campbeltown, Argyll

LOCHSIDE

13 years old

63,1%
Distilled: 1991
Bottled: 2004
Cask No. 15184
Limited Edition
171 Bottles
GORDON & MACPHAIL

RESERVE

LOCHSIDE

23 years old

46 %

BERRY'S OWN SELECTION
SINGLE 1981 MALT
Scots Whisky
From Lochside Distillery, Montrose, Angus
Highland
Distilled 1981
Drawn from Cask Nos 610/613
Unchillfiltered
Uncoloured
Berry Bros, & Rudd,
3 St. James's Street, London

Lochside 1981

Berry Bros. & Rudd can trace its origins back to 1698 when the Widow Bourne founded her shop opposite St. James's Palace.

Today, the present generation of Berrys and Rudds continue to manage the family-owned business from Number Three, St. James's Street.

Lochside distillery at Montrose ceased production in 1992 and the whisky is now becoming increasingly rare. The buildings have since been demolished so each sip of this engaging malt is a taste of history.

It is possible to find aromas of gooseberry, tobacco and nuts. The palate has full mean-dering sherry and nut flavours that build with a prickling spiciness.

The finish is long spicy and dry.

LOCHSIDE

22 years old

50 %
THE OLD MALT CASK 50o
A Single Cask Bottling
CLOSED DISTILLERY
Quality and Rarity Value
Distilled 1979 May
Bottled 2001 December
276 Bottles
No Chill Filtration
No Colouring
Douglas Laing & Co, Ltd, Glasgow

LOCHSIDE

19 years old

40 %
1981
RARE OLD SINGLE MALT SCOTCH WHISKY
A Special Single Malt Scotch Whisky
Distilled 1981
Bottled 2000
Proprietors: Macnab Distillers Ltd
Gordon & Macphail, Elgin

LOCHSIDE

Aged 40 years

47,3 %
SIGNATORY VINTAGE
CASK STRENGHT COLLECTION
Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky
Distilled on: 22/12/1966
Matured in a Sherry Hogshead
Cask No: 7535
Bottled on: 29/06/2007
Numbered Bottles
114 Bottles
Natural Colour
Signatory Vintage Scotch Whisky Co, Ltd, Edunburgh

LOCHSIDE

Aged 40 years

54,4 %
SIGNATORY VINTAGE
CASK STRENGHT COLLECTION
Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky
Distilled on: 22/12/1966
Matured in a Sherry Hogshead
Cask No: 7536
Bottled on: 29/06/2007
Numbered Bottles
213 Bottles
Natural Colour
Signatory Vintage Scotch Whisky Co, Ltd, Edinburgh

LOCHSIDE

16 years old

43 %

1991
CONNOISSEURS CHOICE
Highland Malt Scotch Whisky
Distillation Date: September 1991
Cask Type: Refill Bourbon Barrels
Bottling date: July 2007
Proprietors: Macnab Distillers Ltd
Gordon & Macphail, Elgin

Converted from a closed Deuchars Brewery by Joseph Hobbs, Lochside Distillery began production in 1957. like Hobb’s other distillery, Ben Nevis, Lochside had a column still

allowing both malt and grain whisky to be produced. The distillery was a victim of closures

in the 1990s and was subsequently sold for property development

Sweet, toasted malt elements combine with a subtle smokiness

LOCHSIDE

24 years old

43 %
1981
RARE OLD SINGLE MALT
SCOTCH WHISKY
A Special Single malt Scotch Whisky
Distilled 1981
Bottled 2005
Proprietors Macnab Distillers Ltd
Gordon & Macphail, Elgin

LOCHSIDE

18 years old

61.8 %
1 9 9 1
Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky
GORDON & MACPHAIL RESERVE
Distilled 18/09/1991
Cask Type: Refill Bourbon Barrel
Cask No: 15216
Bottled 15/01/2009
Selected by Van Wees, Amersfoort January 2009
Limited Edition
184 Bottles
Gordon & Macphail, Elgin

LOCHSIDE

34 year

46 %
GORDON & MACPHAIL
RARE OLD
A Special Single Malt Scotch Whisky
Distilled: 1981
Lot no. RO/15/07
Bottled: 2015
Natural Colour
Non Chillfiltered
Selected, matured and bottled by
Gordon & Macphail, Elgin

Gorse flower aromas with subtle cucumber and

delicate herbal influences. The palate has rasberry,

blackcurrant and grapefruit flavours complemented

by an underlying lemon citrus zest.

The Eastern Highlands
LOCHSIDE

Hillside, Montrose. Licentiehouder: MacNab Distilleries Ltd. Eigendom van Distillerias y Crianza del Whisky S.A. (D.Y.C). Het eigendom van Allied Domecq.
Lochside werd gesticht in 1781 als bierbrouwerij met de naam Clayshades, genoemd naar de kleigronden ten westen en zuiden van de brouwerij.
Omstreeks 1830 werd de naam veranderd in Lochside, wat komt van Mary's Loch, gelegen in de nabijheid.
William Ross was toen de eigenaar en verkocht in 1833 de brouwerij aan James Deuchar & Sons te Newcastle on Tyne, een heel bekende bierbrouwer in die tijd.
Die herbouwde de brouwerij naar een ontwerp van Charles Doig, die veel distilleerderijen heeft ontworpen en uitvinder was van de Pagode roof.
Lochside weerspiegelt de Bauhaus stijl die toen opgang maakte in Duitsland.
In de markante toren werd bovenin begonnen met het brouwproces en eindigde met bier beneden, waar paarden en wagens klaar stonden om het produkt naar de lokale pubs en haven van Montrose te brengen, waar het bier met speciale schepen 'Beeries', genaamd naar Newcastle werd verscheept.
Dit laatste hield stand tot 1956 toen Scottish & Newcastle Breweries Lochside kochten, de brouwerij sloot en de produktie overbrachten naar Edinburgh.
In 1957 werd Lochside overgenomen door Joseph W. Hobbs.
Hij had met Amerikaanse steun tijdens de drooglegging een aantal Schotse distilleerderijen overgenomen, en daarmee speculeerde op het einde van die drooglegging om Schotse whisky naar Amerika te verkopen.
Nadat hij de distilleerderijen weer van de hand had gedaan begon hij nu opnieuw als dis-tillateur met Lochside en Ben Nevis.
Tot 1961 bleef graanwhisky het enige produkt.
Maar omdat in het begin van de jaren zestig in Schotland grotere graandistilleerderijen werden gebouwd, zoals Invergordon, en het produkt goedkoper konden produceren zag Höbbs^ in dat zijn kleinschalige produktieeenheden die concurentie moeilijk vol zou kunnen houden.
Hij bouwde een deel van de brouw uitrusting om tot pot stills.
Bedoeling was om de graan- en maltwhisky ter plaatse te blenden, hij noemde dat 'blending at birth'.
Joseph Hobbs stierf in 1964.

Lochside sloot in 1971.
In 1973 neemt het Spaanse Destilerias Y Crianza Del Whisky (D.Y.C.) Lochside over.
D.Y.C, is het eigendom van Allied Domecq.

In 1996 was de laatste whisky uit de lagerpakhuizen verkocht.

Lochside heeft 4 pot stills en had één 67 voet hoge patent still.
De whisky werd gelagerd in Bourbonvaten.
Het water kwam van bronnen in de distilleerderij.
De Mash tun was 6 ton.
De Wash backs, negen stuks waren elk 35000 liter. De twee Wash stills waren elk 20000 liter, de Spirit stills ook 20.000 liter.
De ketels werden met stoom verhit.

A sad story. The distillery, established in 1957 is situated in the old trading port of Montrose, south of Aberdeen on Scotland's bleak east coast. Its spirit is lamen tably unknown. McNab sold it to a Spanish company which, to their horror, was ulti mately bought out by our friends, Allied; Lochside was then promptly turned into a block of executive flats. Yet this a Coastal Malt of tremendous quality with the briny, seaside flavour and complexity shared with the great malts ahed in close proximity to the sea. This distillery deserved much, much greater recogition, sadly we are too late. Enjoy it while you can, it is a true star: the Springbank of the East.

Lochside distillery began life as a brewery in the 1890s. Is was rebuilt on the site of an earlier brewery which is thought to have dated back to the 1700s.
The new brewery was located beside the Montrose Basin and in its day, was one of the most visible landmarks for miles around with bright cream-washed walls and striking tower.
It was the only location outside Newcastle to produce Newcastle Brown Ale.
After closing in the 1950s the brewery was bought by Joseph Hobbs, who also ran the Ben Nevis distillery. Joseph Hobbs combined the side with trademarks from the Glenmavis Dis-tillery to cobvert the brewery into Lochside distillery.
The new distillery contained four pot stills and a 21 metre high Coffey still. Lochside distillery was one of a few distilleries which produced both malt and grain whisky.
Following the death of Joseph Hobbs, his son, also Joe, ran the distillery until it was acquired by Destilerias y Crianza, of Madrid, in 1973. The main purpose for the distillery was to produce Scotch Malt to blend with their own Spanish spirit.
After years of industrious production Lochside distillery fell victim to drinks industry over-production problems of the early 1990s.
After swapping hans many times the distillery ended up in the hans of Allied Distillers and was eventually handed over to developers in 1997. Locals campaigned to have the building preserved but unfortunately it did not have any listings.
The Sandy Macnab blend, initially for export, was disposed of along with Lochside single malt in the last years of the distillery, leaving stocks in short supply.

1957

The legendary Joseph William Hobbs

starts production at Lochside Distillery
housed in the old brewery

James Deuchar Brewery
Macnab Distillery Ltd is responsible

for operations and the whisky is used in
their blend Sandy Macnab
Only grain whisky is produced the first years
1961

Malt whisky is also distilled
1964

Joseph William Hobbs passes away

and his son Joe takes over
1973

The Spanish company

Destilerias y Crianza del Whisky

(later to be aquired
by Pedro Domecq) buys the distillery

and restarts production
1974

Grain whisky production ceases
1992

The last distillation takes place in May

and the distillery is then mothballed
1993

Allied Lyons buys Pedro Domecq

and changes name to Allied Domecq
1997

All equipment and stored whisky is

removed from the buildings
2005

The facilities are partly destroyed

by a fire in January
Chivas Brothers (Pernod Ricard) become

new owners, through the acquisition
of Allied Domecq

Mash tun: 1 x 6 tonnes
Washbacks: 9 x 35000 litres
2 wash stills x 18.000 litres
2 spirit still x 18000 litres

1971.

Lochside sluit
In 1973

neemt het Spaanse

Destilerias Y Crianza Del Whisky

(D.Y.C.) Lochside over.
D.Y.C, is het eigendom van

Allied Domecq.

Bedoeling was om de kwaliteit van de Spaanse blends te verbeteren met Schotse malt whisky.
Tegelijkertijd werd een blend gebotteld te Lochside met de naam Sandy MacNab.

In 1987

wordt een tien jaar oude Lochside

single malt whisky uitgebracht.
In Juni 1992

werd de produktie gestopt te Lochside.
In 1996

was de laatste whisky uit de

lagerpakhuizen verkocht.
Lochside heeft 4 pot stills en had

één 67 voet hoge patent still.
De whisky werd gelagerd in Bourbonvaten.
Het water kwam van bronnen in de

distilleerderij.
De Mash tun was 6 ton.
De Wash backs, negen stuks waren elk

35000 liter. De twee Wash stills waren elk

20000 liter, de Spirit stills ook 20.000 liter.
De ketels werden met stoom verhit.

A sad story. The distillery, established in 1957 is situated in the old trading port of Montrose, south of Aberdeen on Scotland's bleak east coast. Its spirit is lamen tably unknown. McNab sold it to a Spanish company which, to their horror, was ulti mately bought out by our friends, Allied; Lochside was then promptly turned into a block of executive flats. Yet this a Coastal Malt of tremendous quality with the briny, seaside flavour and complexity shared with the great malts ahed in close proximity to the sea. This distillery deserved much, much greater recogition, sadly we are too late. Enjoy it while you can, it is a true star: the Springbank of the East.

Lochside distillery began life as a brewery in the 1890s. Is was rebuilt on the site of an earlier brewery which is thought to have dated back to the 1700s.
The new brewery was located beside the Montrose Basin and in its day, was one of the most visible landmarks for miles around with bright cream-washed walls and striking tower.
It was the only location outside Newcastle to produce Newcastle Brown Ale.
After closing in the 1950s the brewery was bought by Joseph Hobbs, who also ran the Ben Nevis distillery. Joseph Hobbs combined the side with trademarks from the Glenmavis Dis-tillery to cobvert the brewery into Lochside distillery.
The new distillery contained four pot stills and a 21 metre high Coffey still. Lochside distillery was one of a few distilleries which produced both malt and grain whisky.
Following the death of Joseph Hobbs, his son, also Joe, ran the distillery until it was acquired by Destilerias y Crianza, of Madrid, in 1973. The main purpose for the distillery was to produce Scotch Malt to blend with their own Spanish spirit.
After years of industrious production Lochside distillery fell victim to drinks industry over-production problems of the early 1990s.
After swapping hans many times the distillery ended up in the hans of Allied Distillers and was eventually handed over to developers in 1997. Locals campaigned to have the building preserved but unfortunately it did not have any listings.
The Sandy Macnab blend, initially for export, was disposed of along with Lochside single malt in the last years of the distillery, leaving stocks in short supply.

2005

The facilities are partly destroyed by a

fire in January
Chivas Brothers (Pernod Ricard) become

new owners, through the acquisition
of Allied Domecq

DESTILERIAS Y CRIANZAS

Destilerias y Crianzas was established to build and operate the first whisky distillery in Spain, although for a time it owned Lochside distillery in Montrose, Scotland. The malt distillery provided DYC with whisky for its burgeoning blend, though as its own stocks matured and the company was sold on, Lochside was closed and eventually demolished.

Today DYC produces five whiskies, including a standard blend, an 8-year-old blend, a ‘pure malt’ and 10 Year Old single malt.

Businessman Nicomedes Garcia Gomez had a dream to become the first producer of Spanish whisky, and so founded Destilerias y Crianzas in 1958. The following year DYC built its first distillery in Palazuelos de Eresma in Segovia, which released its first product, DYC blended whisky, in 1963.

DYC purchased its second distillery in 1973, this time Scottish malt distillery Lochside in Montrose from Joseph Hobbs. Lochside’s malt was used as a filling for DYC’s blends, which by the following year included an 8 Year Old.

DYC was taken over by Spanish wine producer Pedro Domecq which closed Lochside, and was itself acquired by British drinks group Allied Domecq.

Upon Pernod Ricard and Fortune Brands’ takeover of Allied Domecq in 2005, DYC was transferred to Fortune, and is now a subsidiary of Beam Suntory.

Lochside's imposing white tower was once unmissable, but is now sadly missed from the Montrose landscape.

Not commonly seen these days, but the few bottlings which have appeared showed it to be a medium-bodied malt with plenty of orchard fruitiness in the mid-palate. A significant number of bottlings have come from Sherry casks.

If you had journeyed to Montrose up until 2005 you would have seen Lochside distillery. In fact, you might even have stopped your car just to gawp at the white tower which sat above the town. It was unlike any distillery built before, or since. The tower had nothing to do with whisky, but students of brewery architecture will recognise it as a classic German brauhaus, in this case reinterpreted by none other than Charles Doig in 1899. His design wasn’t an accident – Lochside indeed was a brewery from 1786 until its closure in 1957.

The site was then bought by Joseph Hobbs who by then was the owner of Ben Nevis. Hobbs had spent much of the 1940s working as an agent for National Distillers of America’s Scottish arm, Train & Macintyre, and had already brought two east coast distilleries – Glenury Royal and Glenesk – under their control.

When he bought Lochside he installed a Coffey still – four pots were add in 1961 – and began selling and trading both, as well as blending the two as new makes for the distillery’s Sandy McNab blend. The practise was stopped on Hobbs’ death in 1964.

His son, Joe Junior, retained ownership until 1973 when Spanish distiller Destilerias y Crianzas [DyC] bought it as a source for the some of the malt it used in its top-selling DYC blend. The Coffey still was decommissioned and the distillery ran until the early 1990s when DYC [by then part of Sherry and wine firm Pedro Domecq] was itself taken over by Allied Distillers.

Lochside was considered surplus to requirements by its new parent and with most whisky firms being leery about adding capacity so soon after the slump, it was closed and sold to developers who, sadly, didn’t have the wit to retain the landmark tower in their designs and in 2005 it was demolished.

Pernod Ricard

2005 - present

Chivas Brothers

Allied Domecq

1994 - 2005

Allied Lyons

1992 - 1994

Destilerias y Crianzas

1973 - 1992

Joseph Hobbs

1957 - 1973

LOCHSIDE

DISTILLERY & BRAND

Lochside's imposing white tower was once unmissable, but is now sadly missed from the Montrose landscape.

LOCHSIDE DISTILLERY

HIGHLAND SINGLE MALT SCOTCH WHISKY

LOCHSIDE HISTORY

Pernod Ricard logo

PARENT COMPANY

Pernod Ricard

2005 - present

CURRENT OWNER

Chivas Brothers Holdings

PREVIOUS OWNERS

Allied Domecq

1994 - 2005

Allied Lyons

1992 - 1994

Destilerias y Crianzas

1973 - 1992

Joseph Hobbs

1957 - 1973

JOSEPH HOBBS

Shipping magnate. Naval veteran. Bootlegger. Cattle rancher. Joseph Hobbs was all of these things – and, to boot, one of the leading lights of the 20th century Scotch whisky industry. Iain Russell tells the story of no ordinary Joe.

Joseph William Hobbs

Renaissance man: Joe Hobbs was one of whisky's most colourful characters

Some said he shot down a Zeppelin during the First World War. Others insisted that he built Canada’s tallest skyscraper, and that he was a bootlegger during Prohibition in the US. There was even a rumour that he smuggled guns into Spain during the Civil War…

Joseph William Hobbs was the ‘Great Gatsby’ of the Scotch whisky world: everyone had a story about him, but his past was clouded in mystery. Who was he? Where did he come from? And how did this whisky industry outsider acquire the business contacts required to become one of Scotland’s leading distillery owners?

Only sketchy details exist of Joe’s early years. It seems that he was born in Hampshire in 1891, and emigrated with his family to farm 480 acres in British Columbia. During the First World War, he returned to the UK and served in the Royal Navy aboard a destroyer, before becoming an airman. After the war, he joined the Canadian naval reserve with the rank of Lieutenant Commander.

There is a story that Joe found work as a salesman for Gilbey’s during the 1920s, but the evidence for his involvement in the drinks business is somewhat hazy. Except, that is, for his involvement in the shipment of Scotch and other spirits to Prohibition-era United States.

As president of shipping company Hobbs Brothers Ltd, Joe owned the cargo ship Lillehorn, the sleek steam yacht Stadacona and a fleet of smaller vessels such as the Naden and the Hurry-on which were involved in running booze into California during Prohibition.

The ships were often given unpronounceable new names, such as Kuyakuzmt, to confuse the US authorities, and they were involved in the transport of many hundreds of thousands of cases of whisky and other contraband to the California during the 1920s.

The liquid cargoes were not only shipped from Canada and Mexico. Geoffrey Cousins’ official history of William Teacher & Sons recounts how, during the 1920s, the Scottish firm sent tens of thousands of cases of Teacher’s Highland Cream in quart bottles to Antwerp, where they were loaded on to the Lillehorn and shipped via the Panama Canal to the west coast of the US.

The whisky was then transferred from the mother ship to speedboats and other small vessels, and smuggled ashore for distribution to local bootleggers – the standard modus operandi adopted by Hobbs for delivering his shipments to Californian customers.

Prohibition-era America

Liquid assets: Joe Hobbs made a fortune from bootlegging during Prohibition

No-one knows how much money Joe made from his whisky ‘re-exportation’ business during the 1920s, but we do know that he had other, more respectable commercial interests.

For example, he was vice-president of a Toronto firm of stockbrokers, GA Stimson. That firm was involved in one of the most spectacular Canadian building projects of the 1920s, raising the finance for the construction of the famous art deco Marine Building in downtown Vancouver.

When it opened in 1930, the Marine Building was the highest skyscraper in the British Commonwealth. Unfortunately, its opening coincided with the onset of the Great Depression and it proved almost impossible to fill the building with commercial tenants. Stimson & Co went bust in 1933; Hobbs lost a fortune, and the precocious entrepreneur had to look to pastures new.

After the repeal of Prohibition in 1933, American companies rushed to secure supplies of Scotch to import legally to the US. Hobbs and two partners, Hatim Attari and Alexander Tolmie, set up Associated Scottish Distillers (ASD) to help them out. The new firm worked closely with Train & McIntyre, a Scotch whisky company that had recently become a subsidiary of the American conglomerate, National Distillers.

In 1936, ASD acquired Glenury Royal Distillery in Stonehaven, buying Glenlochy and Bruichladdich a year later. Glenesk, Fettercairn and Benromach were added in 1938, and Train & McIntyre transferred Strathdee to ASD’s management. Glenesk was converted to a grain distillery (renamed Montrose) that year, to ensure supplies of grain whisky that were independent of the dominant player in the grain whisky market, The Distillers Company Ltd.

Under Joe’s leadership, ASD had become a major force in the Scotch whisky world, and supplied vast quantities of blended Scotch for the US market. Unfortunately, the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939 led to shortages and disruption to production, and the firm was unable to exploit its assets to the full. After the war, the group was broken up, and National Distillers sold Train & McIntyre to DCL in 1953.

RETURN TO THE FRAY

Undaunted by the stalling of his latest whisky venture, Hobbs returned to the fray after the war. He was convinced that large multinational companies such as DCL, Seagram and Hiram Walker were working to establish a cartel, to drive entrepreneurs like him out of the Scotch whisky business. Much of the rest of his life was spent in challenging the might of these industry giants.

Joe, like some others, feared that the Scotch Whisky Association (SWA) was dominated by the multinationals and no longer represented the interests of small independent firms. In 1952 he was the driving force in the formation of the Independent Scotch Whisky Association, a rival trade organisation which, under his charismatic chairmanship, became a thorn in the side of the SWA. At the same time, he set out to re-establish a business that was not reliant on fillings from the industry’s giants.

First, he returned to the acquisition trail. During the 1930s, he had set up a company called Macnab Distilleries as a vehicle to acquire and operate the Glen Mavis Distillery. The sale fell through, but Joe kept the company name. In 1955, Macnab Distilleries acquired the Ben Nevis Distillery, once associated with the famous Long John brand.

Joe installed a Coffey still and began making both single malts and grain whiskies there. He claimed that by blending his whiskies on site, and allowing them to marry for long periods in the wood in his warehouses, he was able to produce superior blended Scotches to those of his competitors.

In 1956, Macnab Distilleries purchased the Lochside Brewery in Montrose, and Joe built a grain and a malt whisky distillery on the premises. Once again, he was able to make, blend and bottle his own whiskies, without relying on any other company for fillings. His was a truly independent whisky company.

Joe was not only famous in Scotland as a whisky baron. In 1944, he bought the grand Inverlochy Castle and its vast estates in Inverness-shire. He captured the imagination of schoolboys all over the country when he set up the Great Glen Cattle Ranch there, and brought cowboys to the Highlands.

He retained his love of the sea, and his steam yacht Torlundy (an old landing craft which he converted after the Second World War) became well-known along the West Coast of Scotland. A later acquisition, the Ocean Mist, was acquired a few years before his death in 1963. It is now serving as a floating restaurant in Leith.

There is no evidence that Joe was ever involved in gun-running, so only one question remains: did he really shoot down a Zeppelin?

The answer is no: that was the other Hobbs boy. Joe’s brother Basil shot down the airship near Folkestone, and he was also credited with the sinking of two German U-Boats during the First World War. But that’s another story of another great character in the history of the whisky trade…