Glencadam

Several histories name George Cooper as the founder, but the distillery's own history says his son-in-law, David Scott, built it on land rented from Cooper.^1,2,3 Several histories date David Scott's purchase to 1827, and Difford's Guide records the distillery as mothballed in 1837.^2,3,7 Alexander Milne Thomson took over in 1852, and in 1857 the business became the Glencadam Distillery Company.^2,7 Wallace & Scott owned it from 1860, and the Glencadam Distillery Company again from 1867.² In 1887 Alfred Barnard found five washbacks and malt dried only over peat, with water from Moorfoot Loch.⁸ He recorded an annual output of 40,000 gallons, made by eight workers and sold mostly around Glasgow.⁸ James Ferguson & Sons took over in 1890.²

In 1891 the Glasgow blender Gilmour Thomson and Co Ltd bought Glencadam; several histories spell the name Thompson.^1,2,3 Its whisky became a key part of their Royal Blend, one of the favourite whiskies of King Edward VII.^1,2,3 Between 1914 and 1945 it closed temporarily during both World Wars, as alcohol production was limited to protect barley and malt distilling was finally banned.^1,3 Wikipedia says only that production fell during World War II because of fuel and grain rationing.^1,3

Gilmour Thomson stopped trading in 1954, and the Canadian firm Hiram Walker & Sons Limited bought the distillery.^1,2,9 In 1959 Hiram Walker rebuilt it with two new stills and four steel washbacks, and named George Ballantine & Sons as licensee.^6,7,10 In 1987 Allied Lyons bought Hiram Walker, and Glencadam passed to its Allied Distillers arm, whose Stewart & Son of Dundee used it in Stewarts Cream of the Barley.^1,2,7 Allied mothballed it in 2000 because there was too much whisky on the market, and Difford's Guide adds a lack of cooling water.