Miltonduff’s story
Miltonduff is a large single malt distillery in the Speyside region of Scotland. It is located near the hamlet of Miltonduff, which is just outside and to the southwest of Elgin. The single malt produced at Miltonduff is an important ingredient in the range of Ballantine’s blended Scotch whiskies.
This importance of Miltonduff’s role is reflected in two areas – single malt bottlings from the distillery are few and far between, and the recent announcement of a major expansion plan that will increase the annual production capacity to 16 million litres. This will put it in the Top 5 of Scotch single malt distilleries.
Miltonduff’s history
Miltonduff was founded in 1824 when Andrew Peary and Robert Bain obtained a Licence To Distil following the introduction of The Excise Act in 1823. They built the distillery on land owned by the Duff family, which had been home to an illegal farm distillery known locally as Milton. Peary and Bain decided to honour both by joining the two names together.
Miltonduff changed ownership in 1866 when purchased by William Stuart, and again in 1895 when Thomas Yool & Co. took control. The key date in Miltonduff’s history is 1936 – Hiram Walker purchased the distillery and immediately transferred administration to their newly acquired subsidiary George Ballantine & Son. This started Miltonduff’s long association with the Ballantine’s blended Scotch whisky brand.
In 1987, Allied Lyons acquired control of Hiram Walker taking George Ballantine & Son with it. The company would evolve in to Allied Domecq over time and in turn be acquired by Chivas Brothers, the Scotch whisky wing of Pernod Ricard, in 2005. The Ballantine’s brand came as part of the package and remains the company’s best selling Scotch whisky brand today.
- How to pronounce Miltonduff? mill-tun-duff
- Country: Scotland
- Region: Speyside
- Founded: 1824
- Current owners: Chivas Brothers
- Production capacity per year: 5.8 million litres
- Mash tun: 8 ton
- Washbacks: 16
- Stills: 6
- Visitor centre: No
Miltonduff Distillery
Elgin
IV30 8TQ
tel – +44(0)1343 547433
Did you know?
Miltonduff was home to a pair of rare Lomond stills from 1964 until 1981 – the whisky produced through these was called Mosstowie, which was named after a nearby village.