Balblair Distillery

Balblair Distillery is located on the southern shore of the Dornoch Firth, a quarter-mile (0.5 km) northwest of Edderton in Easter Ross. It incorporates a single wash still and two copper spirit stills capable of producing around 1.4 million litres (308,000 gallons) of whisky annually. Claiming to be the second oldest working distillery in Scotland, the distillery was founded on a site nearby in 1790 by John Ross but was rebuilt in 1895 closer to the now-closed Edderton railway station. It still draws its water from its original source, the Allt Dearg which originates on Struie Hill, rather than the Craigroy Burn which flows past the distillery. Ross was joined in the business by his son, Andrew, in 1824 and it remained in the family until in 1894 when the tenancy was taken over by Alexander Cowan. The distillery closed in 1911 and the stock was sold over the succeeding years. When the Balnagowan Estate was declared bankrupt in 1941, the distillery was put up for sale. In 1948 it was bought by Robert Cumming, a lawyer from Keith, who expanded it to increase production. Cumming ran a successful business until 1970 when it was sold to Canadian company Hiram Walker. Balblair was purchased by Inver House Distillers in 1996, which is now part of the multi-national ThaiBev.

A visitor centre opened in 2011 and Balblair was featured in the 2012 Ken Loach film The Angels' Share.


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