Balblair distillery is a

Scotch whisky Scotch whisky (; sco, Scots whisky/whiskie, whusk(e)y; often simply called whisky or Scotch) is malt whisky or grain whisky (or a blend of the two), made in Scotland. All Scotch whisky was originally made from malted barley. Commercial distil ...

distillery Distillation, or classical distillation, is the process of separating the components or substances from a liquid mixture by using selective boiling and condensation, usually inside an apparatus known as a still. Dry distillation is the heati ...

located in

Edderton Edderton ( gd, Eadardan) is a village near Tain, lying on the shores of the Dornoch Firth, Easter Ross and is in the Highland council area of Scotland. It has approximately 388 inhabitants. It is the location of the Balblair Distillery, and of t ...

Ross-shire Ross-shire (; gd, Siorrachd Rois) is a historic county in the Scottish Highlands. The county borders Sutherland to the north and Inverness-shire to the south, as well as having a complex border with Cromartyshire – a county consisting of ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. Founded in 1790, the distillery was rebuilt in 1895 by the designer

Charles C Doig Charles Chree Doig (1855–1918) was a Scottish architect who introduced the pagoda design to Scotch whisky distilleries. Life and work He was born in Angus in 1855. After schooling, he worked for a local architect in Meigle and then from 1882 f ...

to be closer to the

Railway Station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

on the

Inverness and Ross-shire Railway The Inverness and Ross-shire Railway was a Scottish railway company formed in 1860 to build a line from Inverness to Invergordon. It opened in 1862 as far as Dingwall and in 1863 to Invergordon. It was extended to a Bonar Bridge station in 1864 ...

line. However, so good was the original water source that the rebuilt distillery chose to ignore a nearby

burn A burn is an injury to skin, or other tissues, caused by heat, cold, electricity, chemicals, friction, or ultraviolet radiation (like sunburn). Most burns are due to heat from hot liquids (called scalding), solids, or fire. Burns occur mainl ...

in favour of the original Ault Dearg burn. To this day, the Balblair Distillery continues to use this original water source. John Ross, the founder, ran Balblair as a thriving business and in 1824 he was joined by his son, Andrew. The distillery stayed in the Ross family until 1894 when the tenancy was taken over by

Alexander Cowan Alexander Cowan (17 June 1775 – 13 February 1859) was a Scottish papermaker and philanthropist. He was a cousin and friend of Thomas Chalmers, the prominent Scottish minister. Through his business he was a friend and associate of the publisher ...

. In 1948 the

freehold Freehold may refer to: In real estate *Freehold (law), the tenure of property in fee simple *Customary freehold, a form of feudal tenure of land in England *Parson's freehold, where a Church of England rector or vicar of holds title to benefice p ...

was bought by Robert Cumming, who promptly expanded the distillery and increased production. Cumming ran the distillery until he retired in 1970 when he sold it to

Hiram Walker Hiram Walker (July 4, 1816 – January 12, 1899) was an American entrepreneur and founder of the Hiram Walker and Sons Ltd. distillery in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. Walker was born in East Douglas, Massachusetts, and moved to Detroit in 1838. He p ...

. In 1996 Balblair Distillery was purchased by

Inver House Distillers Limited Inver House Distillers Limited is a malt whisky distiller, based in Airdrie, Scotland. The company is a subsidiary of ThaiBev, one of the largest alcoholic-beverage companies in Southeast Asia. Inver House Distillers owns and operates five dis ...

, whose other distilleries include

the Speyburn-Glenlivet Distillery Speyburn distillery in Rothes, Moray, Scotland, was founded in 1897 by John Hopkins & Company for the sum of £17,000. The site was chosen by John Hopkins himself for its unpolluted water supply from the Granty Burn, a minor tributary of the Riv ...

, Knockdhu Distillery, Old Pulteney Distillery and

Balmenach Distillery Balmenach distillery was established in 1824 by James McGregor, from a family of farmers and illicit distillers who resided in Tomintoul. History Situated in the district of Cromdale on the banks of the River Spey the distillery stands in bene ...

. Balblair has one of the oldest archives in distilling, with the first ledger entry dated 25 January 1800. John Ross himself penned that first entry, which read: “''Sale to David Kirkcaldy at Ardmore, one gallon of whisky at £1.8.0d''”. Balblair used to release their whisky by vintage, but in April 2019 they started to release a core range of age statement whiskies. This includes but is not limited to a 12, 15, 18 and 25 year old. Following its appearance in several scenes in the Ken Loach film "

The Angels' Share ''The Angels' Share'' is a 2012 comedy-drama film directed by Ken Loach and starring Paul Brannigan, John Henshaw, and William Ruane. Set in Glasgow, Scotland, it tells the story of a young father who narrowly avoids a prison sentence. He is de ...

", Balblair Distillery opened a visitor centre in its former malting building. As well as containing a shop, the visitor centre is the starting point for regular tours of the distillery.

References

External links

Balblair Website
* {{Authority control Distilleries in Scotland 1790 establishments in Scotland Scottish malt whisky

See also

References

External links