Tomintoul

In 1973 Scottish and Universal Investments Trust, owner of the blenders Whyte & Mackay, bought the distillery's company together with Fettercairn and both founding brokers.^1,4,6 Whyte & Mackay used Tomintoul's malt in its blends.^1,4,6 In 1974 two more steam-heated stills went in, taking the distillery from two stills to four and doubling its capacity.^4,7 Lonrho bought Scottish & Universal Investment Trust in 1978, though another history gives 1981.^4,8 Brent Walker bought Whyte & Mackay in 1989, though another history gives 1988, and American Brands bought it in 1990.^4,7,8 Robert Fleming, whose family has made whisky in Speyside for four generations, came to Tomintoul in 1990 to run the distillery.^9,10,11 He later said he was only the third person in charge of the distillery.^9,10,11

Angus Dundee Distillers bought the distillery from Whyte & Mackay in August 2000, and the first cask under the new owner was filled days later.^1,4,5 In 2025 it marked 60 years of making whisky and 25 years under Angus Dundee, with its blend centre supervisor among staff who dated from before 2000.^5,12

Its water comes from the Ballantruan Spring, and its malt comes from various suppliers.^2,4,7 Its normal spirit uses unpeated malt.^4,13 Whisky Advocate reported that it also made some 360,000 litres of spirit a year at around 55ppm, a measure of how smoky the malt is.^4,13 It has 6 stainless steel washbacks, the tanks where fermentation happens.^4,7 Fermentation lasts 54 hours.⁴ It has 2 wash stills for the first distillation and 2 spirit stills for the second.^4,7 All its stills are heated by steam and have boil balls.^4,7 Its condensers, which turn vapour back into spirit, are 3 multipass and 1 shell and tube.⁴ It can make 3,300,000 litres of alcohol a year.⁷ Its style appears to have shifted from overtly fruity in its early years to a more cereal-accented spirit in recent years.⁴

Sources

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