Bladnoch distillery
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Bladnoch distillery is a
Single malt Scotch whisky Single malt Scotch refers to single malt whisky made in Scotland. To qualify for this category, a whisky must have been distilled at a single distillery using a pot still distillation process and made from a mash of malted barley. Therefore, ...
distillery in south west
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 ...
. It is one of six remaining Lowland distilleries, located at Bladnoch, near
Wigtown Wigtown ( (both used locally); gd, Baile na h-Ùige) is a town and former royal burgh in Wigtownshire, of which it is the county town, within the Dumfries and Galloway region in Scotland. It lies east of Stranraer and south of Newton Stewart. I ...
,
Dumfries and Galloway Dumfries and Galloway ( sco, Dumfries an Gallowa; gd, Dùn Phrìs is Gall-Ghaidhealaibh) is one of 32 unitary council areas of Scotland and is located in the western Southern Uplands. It covers the counties of Scotland, historic counties of ...
. The distillery is situated on the banks of the
River Bladnoch The Bladnoch is a river in Wigtownshire in the Machars of Galloway in southwest Scotland. One of the earliest descriptions of it is given by Sir Andrew Agnew of Lochnaw and Sir David Dunbar in an appendix to Andrew Symson's work "A Large Descrip ...
, and is the most southerly whisky distillery in Scotland.


History

The distillery was founded by John and Thomas McClelland in 1817 and during the period 1823 - 1826 produced of whisky, an average of per annum, and in the year 1826 - 1827 this had risen to . By 1845 twenty workers, exclusive of tradesmen, were employed in converting 16,000 bushels of barley per annum into spirit. In 1878 the distillery was enlarged and modernised, presumably to cope with rising production. By 1887 the site occupied with a further being farmed by the proprietor, who was the son and nephew of the founders; the output had risen considerably to per annum. In 1887 the distillery was described, by John Barnard on his tour of distilleries, as: :"A square pile of buildings erected around a courtyard, with all the water used in the works coming from a mill dam supplied from the upper reaches of the river; an overshot water wheel does all the driving power. The Malting House is a mainly stone building with a slated roof, the woodwork painted red; it has three floors, the ground floor for malting and the top floors for barley, each possessing a stone step. There are besides, two other barns similarly arranged. At left and right angles of the court are the kilns each loaded by a hoist, floored with perforated iron plates and heated with peats. On the top floor of the intermediate building there is a Malt Deposit on a level with the kilns and underneath there is the Mill and Grist Loft. :"Also within the quadrangle is the Mash House, square containing two Heating Coppers holding together 5,700 gallons and a Tun in diameter and five and a half feet deep with stirring gear. Sunk in the bed of the watercourse is the Underbank, holding 3,000 gallons. A few steps up from the yard is the Back House where against the wall are six Washbacks, two holding 6,000 gallons and four holding 3,500 gallons; also a Miller's Refrigerator and the Wash Charger with a capacity of 3,500 gallons. The Still House, the oldest part of the establishment contains three old Pot Stills consisting of a Wash Still of 13,000 gallons and two Low Wines Stills each of 400 gallons. :"The Receiving Room contains three Low Wines and Feints Receivers, the
Spirit Safe A spirit safe or intermediate spirit receiver is an enclosed device used in the distillation of Scotch whisky. The distillate from the still A still is an apparatus used to distill liquid mixtures by heating to selectively boil and then ...
and a Spirit Receiver holding 400 gallons. Outside there are three Worm Tubs fed from the river and adjacent a Spirit Store containing a vat holding 530 gallons and the Excise and Distillery Offices. There are four Bonded Warehouses ranged round a second courtyard holding 805 casks containing 80,700 gallons. The Peat Shed is supported on iron columns and has a slated roof. In the main courtyard is a small cooperage and cask shed." During the 1890s "misfortunes" which are not specified struck the distilling industry; these could have been the reduction nationwide in the production of barley, a possible rise in excise duty and the growth of the various
temperance movement The temperance movement is a social movement promoting temperance or complete abstinence from consumption of alcoholic beverages. Participants in the movement typically criticize alcohol intoxication or promote teetotalism, and its leaders emph ...
s. The other distilleries in
Galloway Galloway ( ; sco, Gallowa; la, Gallovidia) is a region in southwestern Scotland comprising the historic counties of Wigtownshire and Kirkcudbrightshire. It is administered as part of the council area of Dumfries and Galloway. A native or i ...
were forced to close but Bladnoch survived. Between 1911 and 1937 it was owned by Wm Dunville & Co. Ltd, an Irish company, and on the outbreak of
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
whisky production ceased, but malt continued to be produced until 1949 when the distillery closed until 1957. Upon re-opening under new ownership whisky production began again and continued under a number of different owners until 1983 when Bell's took over and initiated a programme of modernisation and computerisation. In 1987 the United Distillers Group took over Bell's and continued the modernisation as a result of which the weekly production rose to over , more than eight times the output in 1887. In 1993, the distillery was closed by United Distillers. The mothballed distillery was discovered by the Armstrong Brothers while on holiday in the area in 1994. After several years spent finding and replacing the old plant and equipment, the distillery reopened for production in late 2000. The first 8-Year-Old Single Malt produced by the Armstrong brothers became available in 2009. The company operating Bladnoch Distillery, Co-Ordinated Development Services, went into administration on 10 March 2014. The distillery was purchased in July 2015 by Australian entrepreneur David Prior, who had sold his five:Am yoghurt business for £52m in August 2014. Prior is thought to be the first Australian to buy a Scotch whisky distillery. Bladnoch Distillery resumed production in spring of 2017, with much new equipment, including a 5 tonne
mash tun In brewing and distilling, mashing is the process of combining a mix of ground grains – typically malted barley with supplementary grains such as corn, sorghum, rye, or wheat – known as the "grain bill" with water and then heating the ...
, six Douglas Fir wooden washbacks, two 12,500 litre capacity wash stills, two 9,500 litre capacity low wines stills, and a steam boiler that will be fuelled with LPG. In late 2016, Prior officially relaunched Bladnoch, and announced three new expressions, created from aged stocks by master distiller Ian MacMillan: the no age statement Samsara, the 15-year-old Adela and the 25-year-old Talia. Bladnoch Distillery also produces premium blended Scotch Whisky brand, Pure Scot. In July 2019, Dr Nick Savage joined Bladnoch Distillery as Master Distiller. Nick has formerly worked for William Grant & Sons and as Master Distiller of The Macallan. Bladnoch Distillery opened its Visitor Centre and Melba Cafe at an official opening ceremony on 11 September 2019. The Duke and Duchess of Rothesay unveiled a commemorative plaque during the ceremony.


See also

*
Whisky Whisky or whiskey is a type of distilled alcoholic beverage made from fermented grain mash. Various grains (which may be malted) are used for different varieties, including barley, corn, rye, and wheat. Whisky is typically aged in wooden c ...
* List of whisky brands *
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


Bladnoch Distillery websitePrevious Bladnoch Distillery website (liquidation)Millionaire Australian revives Scottish whisky distillery
Nine News (Australia) segment telecast on 11 October 2015 about David Prior's purchase of and plans for the distillery {{Coord, 54, 51, 30, N, 4, 27, 43, W, dim:50_scale:500_region:GB-DGY_type:landmark_source:dewiki, display=title Scottish malt whisky 1817 establishments in Scotland Food and drink companies established in 1817 Companies based in Dumfries and Galloway Wigtown Distilleries in Scotland