Benromach Distillery

Benromach’s story

Benromach is one of the smaller distilleries operating in the Speyside region of Scotland, with a capacity of around 700,000 litres per year and just a handful of distillery staff. It is located in the small town of Forres, on the road between Inverness and Nairn, and is a local landmark – the tall red brick chimney of the distillery is used as a marker guide for pilots landing at nearby RAF Kinloss.

Benromach is one of the few distilleries in Speyside that is independently owned. The current owners are the independent bottling company Gordon & Macphail, who are based in the nearby town of Elgin. At Benromach, they are one of the wave of small, innovative and independently owned distilleries that use traditional hands-on whisky making skills, experiment and explore different cask finishes, new styles and peating levels. They were also the first Scottish distillery to release an organic whisky, as certified by the Soil Association, in 2006.

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Benromach’s history

Benromach was founded in 1898 by the Benromach Distillery Company, owned by Duncan MacCullum from Campbeltown and F.W. Brickman from Leith. They were given land by local whisky connoisseur Alexander Edward to build a distillery and produce whisky to his tastes. However, it was not long before Brickman’s company went bust and pulled out of the partnership, leaving MacCullum to struggle on alone. MacCullum was also declared bankrupt in 1909 and Benromach was taken over by London based firm Harvey McNair & Co, who changed the name to Forres Distillery, in 1911.

In 1919 John Joseph Calder, a reknowned brewer from Alloa, bought the distillery and changed the name back to Benromach. The distillery was closed between 1931 and 1939, due to the slump that hit the Scotch industry following World War I and Prohibition in America. It was re-opened by Joseph Hobbs, formerly of Ben Nevis distillery, and Hattim Attari, a financier from London. They later sold to a group called the National Distillers of America, who in turn sold to DCL (Distillers Company Limited) in the 1960s.

Benromach closed again in 1983 and was mothballed. It was later sold to the independent bottling company Gordon & Macphail in 1992. They completely refurbished the distillery with an emphasis on traditional hands-on skills and the production of a lightly peated historic style of Speyside whisky. Production began in 1998 with the inauguration ceremony attended by Prince Charles.

• How to pronounce Benromach? ben-row-mack
• Country: Scotland
• Region: Speyside
• Founded: 1898
• Current owners: Gordon & Macphail
• Production capacity per year: 700,000 litres
• Mash tun: 1.5 ton copper dome
• Washbacks: 13
• Stills: 2
• Visitor centre: Yes

Benromach Distillery and Malt Whisky Centre
Invererne Road
Forres
Moray
IV36 3EB
tel – +44(0)1309 675 968
web – www.benromach.com

Did you know?

A spiritual community named the Findhorn Foundation were formed in the local area during the 1960s. They still reside in the sand dunes to the north of Benromach and some of the community live in converted washback tanks from the distillery.