Wolfburn distillery is a
Scotch whisky distillery in
Thurso
Thurso (pronounced ; sco, Thursa, gd, Inbhir Theòrsa ) is a town and former burgh on the north coast of the Highland council area of Scotland. Situated in the historical County of Caithness, it is the northernmost town on the island of Gre ...
,
Caithness,
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...
. After ceasing production in the 1860s, a new distillery of the same name opened in 2013.
History
Wolfburn Distillery was founded just to the west of the town of
Thurso
Thurso (pronounced ; sco, Thursa, gd, Inbhir Theòrsa ) is a town and former burgh on the north coast of the Highland council area of Scotland. Situated in the historical County of Caithness, it is the northernmost town on the island of Gre ...
,
Caithness, in 1821 by William Smith. The distillery was of considerable size for its day and ran as a successful commercial enterprise for several decades, being handed down through several generations of the Smith family. It is thought to have ceased production during the 1850s, although the exact date is a matter of debate. The distillery appears on the first Ordnance Survey map of the area, dated 1872, marked as a ruin. The reasons for its demise are unclear - very little remains of the original distillery and there are no known photographs. However, records of its annual production volumes of whisky can be found in tax returns, which show it producing 28,056 “Total Gallons of Proof Spirit” during 1826 (roughly 125,000 litres) – making it the biggest distillery in Caithness at the time.
Revival
In 2012 a private consortium gained approval from the Caithness planning authorities to build a new Wolfburn distillery in Henderson Park, Thurso. The new distillery is situated approximately 350 m from the site of the old one and draws its water from the
Wolf Burn
The Wolf Burn is a small stream, running from a suspect subterranean source behind the Ormlie housing estate in Thurso, Highland Region in the United Kingdom. Its issue is by Burnside, Caithness. A ribble of stones represents the Wolfburn d ...
(stream), whence it gets its name. The reinvented Wolfburn site consists of four buildings: the distillery itself and three warehouses for the laying down of casks. Local fabricators Forsyths were contracted to install the distillery plant and equipment. Wolfburn is the most northerly whisky distillery on the Scottish mainland and produces single malt Scotch whisky. Production commenced in early 2013.
In February 2016 the new Wolfburn Distillery commenced bottling operations, in a purpose-built on-site bottling facility. The inaugural whisky was launched globally in March 2016 and has gone on to win several gold medal awards in international competitions.
See also
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List of whisky brands
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List of distilleries in Scotland
This is an incomplete list of whisky distilleries in Scotland. According to the Scotch Whisky Association there were 138 distilleries licensed to produce Scotch whisky in the calendar year 2020.
Currently operating distilleries
Malt whisky di ...
References
External links
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Thurso distillery to re-open after more than a centuryWolf Burn Distillery history1877 Ordnance survey mapCanmore Mapping showing details for Wolf Burn (ND16NW 83)
{{Scottish Distilleries
Distilleries in Scotland
Scottish malt whisky
Companies based in Highland (council area)
2013 establishments in Scotland
Food and drink companies established in 2013
Thurso