Clynelish Distillery

New Clynelish Whisky Distillery in Brora
©2022 Gazetteer for Scotland

New Clynelish Whisky Distillery in Brora

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 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.


Use the tabs on the right of this page to see other parts of this entry arrow

If you have found this information useful please consider making
a donation to help maintain and improve this resource. More info...

By using our site you agree to accept cookies, which help us serve you better