Glen Elgin is a Morayshire distillery founded in 1898 by banker James Carle and former Glenfarclas manager William Simpson.1,2,3 It began production in May 1900 but closed five months later.1,3,4 It is one of only a handful of distilleries that still cool the vapour from their stills in worm tubs: long, winding copper pipes in wooden tubs of cold water.1,4,5Diageo has owned it since 1997, and Diageo's master blender Craig Wallace calls it critical to many Diageo blends, including Johnnie Walker and White Horse.1,2,4
Outstanding review score, 90 out of 100Outstanding90/100
WF's Little Duos, today Spectacular new indie Glen Elgin
Producing, 1898–1900
Silent, 1900–1904
Producing, 1904–today
189819502000Today
Built as the boom ended
Architect Charles Doig predicted it would be the last distillery built on Speyside for half a century.4,5 The next one, Glen Keith, came in 1958.4,5 Production had begun as the whisky industry fell into a recession set off by the failure of the blender Pattisons Ltd.1,3,4 In 1901 it sold at auction for £4,000 to the Glen Elgin-Glenlivet Distillery Co Ltd.1,3,4 Production restarted in 1904 but stopped again a year later.3,4 In 1906 the wine merchant and whisky blender JJ Blanche & Co bought it for £7,000 and restarted production.1,3,6
Sources disagree: when JJ Blanche & Co took over. This page uses 1906.
1906: Scotch Malt Whisky Society (Unfiltered), ScotchWhisky.com (Whiskypedia), Wikipedia (German)1,3,4
After JJ Blanche died in 1929, Scottish Malt Distillers, part of the Distillers Company, bought the distillery; sources date the sale to 1929, 1930 or 1936.1,2,3 It was licensed to White Horse Distillers, and its whisky went into White Horse blends.1,2,3 Until 1950 a paraffin engine and a water turbine powered its machinery, and electricity arrived that year.1,5 In 1964, during the boom in US Scotch sales after the Second World War, its stills went from two to six.1,3,4
From United Distillers to Diageo
In 1986 Guinness took over the Distillers Company, which had owned the distillery since 1930.1,7 In 1987 Guinness combined the Distillers Company with Arthur Bell & Sons to form United Distillers.2,7,8 In 1997 Guinness, which owned United Distillers, merged with Grand Metropolitan to form Diageo.1,2
Silent for upgrading
1992–1995
From 1992 to 1995 the distillery was silent while it was upgraded and new stills were installed.1,3,4 Production began again in September 1995.3,9
Major refurbishment
2023–2024
In 2023 and 2024 the distillery was silent for some months during a major refurbishment.4 Two stills, two washbacks and four of its six worm tubs were replaced, and its warehouses got new roofs.4
How it makes its spirit
Its water comes from the springs of the Millbuies Loch, and its malt is unpeated.
Next: Silent for upgrading, Major refurbishment, How it makes its spirit
German Wikipedia names United Distillers maltings at Burghead and Roseisle as its malt source, while Whiskypedia lists its malt as mainly in house.1,3,9
The SMWS counts nine larch washbacks, the tanks where fermentation happens, while German Wikipedia counts six.1,9,11
It has 3 wash stills for the first distillation and 3 spirit stills for the second.2,3
Whiskypedia lists both kinds of still as plain in shape, and steam heats them.1,9
Slow water flow in its worm tubs keeps vapour on copper longer, helping make a lighter spirit, though heavier than from the copper-tube condensers most distilleries use.1,4,5
Worm tubs add depth to an otherwise quite light and very fruity spirit; Whiskypedia credits clear wort, the sugary water from the mash, long fermentation and slow distillation.1,4
Review score, 8.7 out of 10