Glenmorangie Distillery

Glenmorangie’s story

Glenmorangie is one of the most famous names in the world of Scotch whisky. The distillery is located in the town of Tain on the shores of the Dornoch Firth estuary and is approximately 40 miles (65km) north of Inverness. Their single malts whiskies are multi award-winning and are consistently in the Top 4 for world sales – it sits behind only Glenfiddich, The Glenlivet and The Macallan. The iconic Glenmorangie Original is also the best selling single malt in Scotland.

The success of Glenmorangie is based on a history of innovation starting in the 1860s. It became one of the first distilleries to sell their whisky outside of their local area and by the start of World War I it would be one of the first single malts to be established throughout the British Empire. The current stills at Glenmorangie are exact replicas of the original second hand stills that were installed in 1843 and create the famous and unique light, fragrant and fruity spirit. The 12 stills are the tallest in Scotland at 5 metres (14.5 feet) high, the same height as a male adult giraffe, and make the still house resemble a cathedral. It was also one of the first distilleries in Scotland to use the finishing process within maturation during the 1980s.

The water used for production at Glenmorangie is unusual in whisky making – this is hard water taken from the mineral-rich Tarlogie Springs which bubble up through the bedrock in the distillery grounds. Most distilleries use softer water. Another difference that Glenmorangie have is the casks in which they mature their whisky. The current owners, Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessey, embarked on research to find the wood to make casks that would perfectly compliment their whisky. They decided on white American oak and more specifically wood from the north facing slopes of the Ozark Mountains in the American state of Missouri. Glenmorangie now owns a forest in the region where casks are made, filled with bourbon in Kentucky and once empty, shipped to the distillery.

---

Glenmorangie’s history

The imposing distillery building at Glenmorangie was formerly a brewery. Illegal distilling is known to have taken place since the mid 1600s at the nearby Morangie Farm and the brewery was built and started production in 1738. The Morangie Farm Brewery was converted to a distillery in 1843 by William Matheson, a partner in the nearby Balblair distillery. He spent much of his money in the purchase of the site and therefore had to buy second hand stills from a gin distillery in London. This explains why Glenmorangie has much different stills to other Scottish distilleries – gin stills were generally much taller than the copper pot stills traditionally used for whisky and have longer, thinner necks.

Production started at the distillery in 1849 but by 1887, the demand for Glenmorangie whisky had outgrown the original site. The facilities were expanded and modernised. Part of this included the installation of steam coils to heat the stills. They were the first distillery to do this, instead of heating them by direct fire. Glenmorangie became a victim of the depression that hit the whisky industry following the Prohibition era in America and closed between 1931 and 1936. Shortly after production restarted, World War II began and barley was rationed which again forced the distillery to close between 1941 and 1944.

However, the distillery went from strength to strength once it re-opened and has established itself as one of the leading and best-selling Scotch single malt whiskies in the world. As a result of its increased popularity the distillery was doubled in capacity in 1980 and doubled again in 1990 to eight stills and four million litre capacity. The current owners are the French drinks giant, Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessey (LVMH), who took over in 2004 and rebranded the entire range in 2007. This was rebranded again more recently in 2023. LVMH are also responsible for increasing the annual capacity further to the current 12 still and seven million litres per annum set up. They have also built The Lighthouse – an experimental craft distillery, which is next to the main distillery building and opened in late-2022.

• How to pronounce Glenmorangie? glen-muh-ran-jee
• Country: Scotland
• Region: Highlands
• Founded: 1843
• Current owners: Moët Hennessy
• Production capacity per year: 7.1 million litres
• Mash tun: 11.5 ton
• Washbacks: 12
• Stills: 12
• Visitor centre: Yes

Glenmorangie Distillery
Tain
Ross-shire
IV19 1PZ
tel – +44 (0)1862 892 477
www.glenmorangie.com

Did you know?

The town of Tain, where Glenmorangie is located, is one of the oldest known settlements in Scotland. Artifacts and remains have been found there dating back to the 9th century. Tain translates as ‘flow’ from the local Gaelic and this refers to the nearby River Tain.