Located a mile (1.5 km) northwest of the village of Brora, on the east coast of the Sutherland district of Highland, the Clynelish Distillery opened in 1967. The first distillery here was founded here in 1819 by Elizabeth Leveson-Gower, Countess of Sutherland (1765 - 1839), as a means to regenerate the local economy and operated almost continuously until the new plant was built. The old buildings remain opposite and the new distillery still draws its water from the Clynemilton Burn.
Between its opening and 1973, Clynelish produced a heavily-peated whisky for blending due to a shortage of Islay malt. Thereafter is has specialised in a lighty-peated malt, emulating the style of the old 1819 distillery. Clynelish is one of the 'four corner' constituent malts of the world-famous Johnnie Walker blend.
Clynelish is classed as a Highland Malt and is today operated by global conglomerate Diageo. In 2017, Diageo announced that it would re-open the original Clynelish as Brora Distillery.
Cycling champion Mark Beaumont opened a new visitor centre at the distillery in 2021, as part of a £185 million investment by Diageo in whisky tourism and promoting the Johnnie Walker brand.
