Glen Moray began as the West Brewery in Elgin and made its first spirit on 13 September 1897.1,2,3 It closed in 1910, and Macdonald & Muir Ltd., the owner of Glenmorangie, bought it in 1920.1,3,4La Martiniquaise-Bardinet has owned it since 2008, mainly to fill casks for its Label 5 blend.4,5,6
Very good review score, 88 out of 100Very good88/100
Lemony and lively, with wee pears, green apples, lime, green pepper and a hint of coconut, this is an elemental malt in the noblest sense.
apple
barley
bourbon
coconut
+10 more
Silent, 1910–1920
Producing, 1920–today
189719502000Today
From brewery to distillery
A brewery laid out like a Scottish farm steading was built on the edge of Elgin in 1831, and the first edition Ordnance Survey map names it the West Brewery.1,2,4 In 1897 the Glen Moray Glenlivet Distillery Company was registered with £16,000 of capital to take over the brewery and run it as a distillery.6,7 It was converted with 2 stills, and its first spirit, made from local barley, went into an unusually wide range of casks for the time, including Marsala wine casks.1,2,3
Sources disagree: the date. This page uses 1831.
1831: Aberdeenshire Council Historic Environment Record, Harpers Wine & Spirit2,19
It closed in 1910, in the slump at the start of the 20th century, while Robert Thorne & Sons focused on their Aberlour distillery.3,4,5 In 1920 it began making whisky again under Macdonald & Muir Ltd., blenders from Leith.1,3,4
Sources disagree: when Macdonald & Muir Ltd. took over. This page uses 1920.
In 1958 the stills doubled to four, and a large Saladin box replaced malting on the distillery floor.4,5,8 Malting at the distillery ended in 1978, 20 years later.4,8 In 1980 its horizontal steam engine by Chrystal of Perth, which drove the machinery when it was first converted, was one of only three still in place.3
Part of Glenmorangie
From 1987 it worked seven days a week, enough for two million litres of spirit a year, and Edwin Dodson became master distiller.1,9,10 In 1996 Macdonald & Muir Ltd. changed its name to The Glenmorangie Company.4 In 2004 LVMH bought the Glenmorangie business for £300 million, gaining the Glenmorangie, Ardbeg and Glen Moray distilleries.4,5,6 Graham Coull took over as master distiller when Edwin Dodson retired in 2005.9,10,11
Next: Part of Glenmorangie, Growing for Label 5, Recent leaders, How it makes its spirit
In 2008 The Glenmorangie Company sold it to La Martiniquaise-Bardinet, as part of a plan to focus on its Glenmorangie and Ardbeg malts.4,5,6 An expansion in 2012 added another pair of stills and new washbacks, giving 3 wash stills, 3 spirit stills and 3,300,000 litres a year.4,5,12 From 2016 it built a new production area with three wash stills, an 11-tonne mash tun and outdoor washbacks.5,12,13 The old still house became all spirit stills; Graham Coull spoke of changing over all six, while a later report said four had been wash stills.5,12,13
Recent leaders
In 2019 Graham Coull left for Dingle distillery in Ireland, and Kirstie McCallum took over as head of whisky creation.11,14 Ross Murphy, manager of the group's Glen Turner grain distillery, also took charge of distilling at Glen Moray in 2019.15 Stephen Woodcock succeeded McCallum in 2021 and was also to oversee the group's Cutty Sark, Label 5 and Sir Edward's blends.15,16
How it makes its spirit
Water comes from the River Lossie, and fermentation lasts 60 hours.4,5,17 Its outdoor washbacks, the tanks where fermentation happens, are stainless steel.12 Its malt comes from the malt suppliers Boort Malt, Crisp, Bairds and Muntons.4 Some of its barley is dried over peat smoke, and in 2017 it made 250,000 litres of peated spirit a year, partly for Label 5.13,17,18 The spirit is distilled twice, first in 3 wash stills and then in 6 spirit stills.5,9,17 The spirit stills are onion-shaped.4 Tube condensers cool the vapour, and their heat exchange saves 30% of energy.4,9 Steam from gas and oil heats the stills.4
