Balblair Distillery

Balblair’s story

The Balblair distillery is located in the northern Highlands in the village of Edderton, which was found in an European survey to have the cleanest air in Scotland. It lies close to the shores of the Dornoch Firth, near the town of Tain, with the Highlands rising behind it and the North Highland railway line running next to it. The distillery is one of the most picturesque in Scotland.  Water for the distillery is supplied by the Allt Dearg, whose waters are collected from the surrounding hills. This is the original source of water that is still used today and runs via a cut trench to the distillery using gravity.

Balblair is currently owned by Inver House Distillers, which is the Scotch whisky wing of the larger International Beverage Holdings group, and is reasonably small – it produces just under two million litres per year. Single malts from Balblair did not consistently appear until the early 2000s with a considerable investment and rebrand taking place in 2007 – this saw vintages introduced and new decanter-style bottles and unorthodox packaging introduced. The decision was taken in 2019 to revert to age statements, rather than vintages, and this move is reflected in a small core range. Most remains allocated to blending contracts, especially to blends such as Hankey Bannister.

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Balblair’s history

Balblair distillery is one of Scotland’s oldest distilleries with production starting in 1790 – only Glenturret (also in the Highlands), Bowmore on Islay and Strathisla in Speyside have been operating longer. Records suggest, however, that a distillery was in existence at Balblair as far back as the 1740s.

It was founded in 1790 by local man James McKeddy, but came under the ownership of John Ross during the same year. Balblair remained in the Ross family until the late 19th century, at which time the distillery was taken over by Alexander Cowan. However, he ran into financial difficulties and was forced to close in 1911. Balblair would remain closed until 1949. During the 1930s and 40s the Army commandeered some of the buildings at Balblair distillery to help with the war effort during World War II.

In 1948, the distillery was acquired by Robert ‘Bertie’ Cumming, a lawyer from Banff, for £48,000. Bertie also later came to own Pulteney distillery, up in the far northern town of Wick and one of Balblair’s nearest neighbours. Production not only resumed at Balblair but the distillery rapidly expanded with production drastically increased. Cumming sold the distillery upon his retirement in 1970 to Hiram Walker, which went on to become Allied Distillers. Then, in 1996, Balblair was purchased by Inver House Distillers which has been part of the larger International Beverage Holdings since 2006.

• How to pronounce Balblair? bal-blair
• Country: Scotland
• Region: Highlands
• Founded: 1790
• Current owners: Inver House Distillers
• Production capacity per year: 1.8 million litres
• Mash tun: 4.4 ton
• Washbacks: 6
• Stills: 2
• Visitor centre: Yes

Balblair Distillery
Edderton
Tain
Ross-shire
IV19 1LB
tel – +44 (0)1862 821273
www.balblair.com

Did you know?

20% of the Dornoch Firth land area is covered by Scotland’s ‘National Scenic Areas (NSA)’ – areas which are considered nationally important for their scenic quality.