Rosebank is a distillery beside the Forth & Clyde canal, just west of Falkirk, founded by James Rankine in 1840.1,2,3 Its spirit is triple distilled, and the vapour is condensed in worm tubs, a pairing its owner calls unique.1,4,5 It closed in 1993 and began making spirit again in 2023.1,2,5Ian Macleod Distillers has owned the Rosebank name and stock since 2017.1,3,6
Very good review score, 89 out of 100Very good89/100
A powerful, vivacious whisky pairing walnuts and bitter oranges with grey pepper, smoked beef, chocolate and coffee, finishing on eucalyptus and camphor.
amontillado
bitter
black pepper
cake
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Producing, 1840–1993
Silent, 1993–2023
Producing, 2023–today
184019001950Today
Before Rosebank
Records show the Stark brothers ran a distillery in the area as early as 1798.3,6,7 In 1817 James Robertson opened a distillery nearby, which ran for only two years.3,6,8 Records are unclear whether it stood on the same site as the later Rosebank.3,6,8 In 1827 John Stark opened the Camelon distillery on the west bank of the canal.3,6
The Rankine years
In 1840 James Rankine turned the maltings of the old Camelon distillery into Rosebank.1,2,3 The buildings were enlarged in 1845.3,7,8 In 1861 the Camelon distillery went bankrupt, and Rankine bought it.3,8 In 1864 James Rankine's son, R W Rankine, rebuilt the distillery and enlarged it south of the canal.2,3,7 The old Camelon buildings were pulled down in 1865, except one kept as a small maltings, and new maltings were built on the site.2,6,7 When Alfred Barnard visited in 1886, a swing bridge linked the maltings to the distillery across the canal.3,7 He saw three old-fashioned pot stills and three worm tubs, and peat was mostly used to dry the malt.3,7
Sources disagree: the date. This page uses 1865.
1865: Alfred Barnard (transcribed by Whiskipedia)7
In March 1894 a limited company, Rosebank Distillery Ltd, took over the business from R W Rankine for £120,000.2,9,10 In 1898 the collapse of a Leith blending firm hurt profits, but the business recovered.2 In 1914 Rosebank was a founding member of Scottish Malt Distillers, a group of Lowland distilleries.2,3,6 In 1925 Scottish Malt Distillers became part of Distillers Company Limited.1,3,6 Rosebank says the Distillers Company's blends took almost all the spirit it made.
Closed
United Distillers owned Rosebank from 1986.6 Around 1990 the old maltings across the canal became a Beefeater restaurant.2,9,12 It closed on 30 June 1993, with too much blended whisky on the market and an estimated £2m effluent upgrade its owner would not pay.1,2,6Diageo became the owner in 1997.6
Silent
1993–2023
After it closed in 1993, the distillery lay empty for three decades, and whisky making on the site was barred until at least 2018.
Next: Closed, Silent, Rebuilt, How it makes its spirit
In 2002 Diageo sold the buildings to British Waterways but kept the Rosebank trademark.3,6,14
In 2008 thieves stole its 3 copper stills for their copper.1,2,4
Rebuilt
In October 2017 Ian Macleod Distillers bought the Rosebank trademark and Diageo's remaining stock, and agreed to buy the site from Scottish Canals.1,3,6 Building began in 2019, with a new glass-fronted production area and the canal-side buildings turned into offices and tasting rooms.4,11 The Boby mill was the only old equipment to survive, and it was fully restored.4,11 In March 2022 three new stills, made by Forsyths from the original Abercrombie blueprints, were installed.11,15 Each still has a completely different shape: the wash still appears to have its swan neck cut off and capped, and the spirit still is small and dumpy.4,11,15 On 5 June 2023, with Malcolm Rennie as distillery manager, Rosebank began making new spirit again.5,11,16 The first cask, Cask 001, was filled on 18 July 2023.4,16 The distillery opened to visitors in June 2024.4,11
How it makes its spirit
It uses unpeated malt from Crisp Maltings in Alloa.1,4 Its 8 washbacks, where wort, the sugary water from the mash, ferments, are made of Douglas fir.4,16 Fermentation takes 62–72 hours.4 Spirit from the wash still is distilled again in the tall, narrow-necked intermediate still, then again in the squat spirit still with its flat head.4 Triple distillation gives the spirit what Rosebank calls its fruity floral style.1,4 Each worm tub holds a long spiral of copper that turns vapour back into spirit; with less copper contact, they are said to give a heavier spirit.4,5,17 It can make 1 million litres of alcohol a year.4,12 The old distillery buildings are listed as Category B.2
