A third distillery at Dufftown
Janet Sheed Roberts, the last remaining granddaughter of William Grant, opened it on 4 July 1990; The Spirits Business says its first spirit ran on 25 June.1,2,3 The wash, the fermented beer, is pumped from its washbacks at The Balvenie to its own still house, which began with 6 stills.1,2,3
Nine stills
By 1999, demand had increased the washbacks to 9 and the stills to 9, with a pair of spirit stills for each wash still.1,2,3 That gives it 3 wash stills and 6 spirit stills.1,2,3 The spirit stills are similar in shape to those at Glenfiddich, but the wash stills are larger.3 It usually makes a double-distilled spirit.4
Malt, water, and washbacks
In 1999 all its malt was bought in, at a very light two parts per million phenols, and none of it came from The Balvenie's own malt.2,3 Its water comes from the Conval Hills, and in 1999 its washbacks were wooden.1,2 Its fermentation is slightly longer than at The Balvenie.3 Malt master David Stewart said they aimed for a malt between the light Glenfiddich and the heavier malt of The Balvenie.2,3,5 Its spirit is described as more floral than Glenfiddich's.2,3,5
Into the blends
Its spirit is normally used in William Grant & Sons blended whiskies, primarily Clan MacGregor, and more recently as the backbone of the Monkey Shoulder blended malt.1,3,6 Jim Murray reported in Whisky Magazine that it had then made up 15 per cent of the malt in Grant's, and that casks sent to rival blenders were renamed Aldunie.1,3,6
A silent year and trials
The distillery fell silent for a year in 2011.3 In 2013 it ran a triple distillation for just one week as a trial.4,5 In 2019 its newly set up arm, Kininvie Works, ran trials such as a mash with 11% malted rye in its copper pot stills.