Macduff’s story
Macduff is a single malt distillery in the east Highlands of Scotland, close to the coastal town of Banff. It sits on the banks of the River Deveron. This lends its name to the distillery’s single malt presence. The Deveron brand, which was previously named Glen Deveron, sells over half a million bottles per year across the world. It has a particularly strong presence within the travel retail sector.
However, the distillery’s main function (and the reason it was built) is to provide single malt for blends. It is particularly associated with the popular William Lawson’s blended Scotch brand, for which it is a major ingredient. The blend is most sold in France but also popular in Spain, Portugal and Mexico.
Macduff distils a soft, sweet and fruity spirit that exhibits green apple and nutty notes. The new make spirit is often described as having a slight oily texture. Most of the spirit is matured in one cask type – ex-bourbon barrels sourced from the American whiskey industry. A small percentage is also matured in ex-sherry casks from Spain.
Macduff’s history
The Macduff distillery was established in 1960. This was a time that saw a Scotch whisky industry boom on the back of increased sales of blends. Several distilleries were built to support this, especially in Speyside and the Highlands. It was founded by Macduff Distillers Ltd. – this was formed of a group of Glasgow whisky brokers including George Crawford, Marty Dyke, Brodie Hepburn and James Stirrat.
The distillery was designed by renowned mid-century architect William Delme-Evans. In 1966 the distillery was sold to Block, Grey & Block and they formed Glendeveron Distilleries. Then in 1972 Macduff was acquired by William Lawson Distillers, part of the larger Martini & Rossi group. They saw the distillery as perfect for supplying their popular William Lawson’s blend. This was the beginning of Macduff’s association with the brand.
Martini & Rossi operated Macduff for over 20 years before being purchased by Bacardi in 1993. They remain the current owners and run it via John Dewar & Sons, their Scotch whisky wing. Under Bacardi’s ownership both the single malt brand and William Lawson’s blend have grown in sales considerably.
- How to pronounce Macduff? mack-duff
- Country: Scotland
- Region: Highlands
- Founded: 1960
- Current owners: John Dewar & Sons (Bacardi)
- Production capacity per year: 4 million litres
- Mash tun: 7.8 ton
- Washbacks: 9
- Stills: 5
- Visitor centre: No
Macduff Distillery
Banff
Aberdeenshire
AB45 3JT
tel – +44(0)1261 812612
www.aberfeldy.com
www.dewars.com/aberfeldydistillery
Did you know?
Macduff has an odd number of stills – 5. This is unusual as stills tend to work in pairs at most distilleries. The quirkiness does not stop there – the stills have upwardly tilting lyne arms with a right-angled kink in them.