Glengyle is a Campbeltown distillery that William Mitchell opened in 1872, after a dispute with his brother John at Springbank.1,2,3 It closed in 1925 and stood silent until 2004.1,2,4 Its single malt is sold as Kilkerran.5,6
Very good review score, 88 out of 100Very good88/100
Deep smoky notes of tar, iodine and motor oil meet buttery dough, peaches and pears, while rich peat and a fruity core make this a reliable heavily peated…
butter
chalk
coal smoke
dough
+20 more
By Ruben
Producing, 2004–today
1872190019502000Today
Built next to Riechlachan
He had first joined his other brothers at Riechlachan, and he built Glengyle next door to it.1,2,3 In 1873, soon after it was finished, a storm took off the roof.4 Alfred Barnard's 1887 book described two pot stills, six washbacks and a kiln that dried malt with peat only.5,7 Output then was 90,000 gallons a year.5,7
Sources disagree: when it opened. This page uses 1872.
1873: Historic Environment Scotland, Grace's Guide to British Industrial History3,5
Sold and closed
After the post-war downturn, Glengyle was sold in 1919 to West Highland Malt Distilleries, a group formed that year to buy six Campbeltown distilleries and rationalise the local industry.1,4,5 The group went into liquidation in 1923, and in 1924 Glengyle sold at auction for £350.4,5 Production stopped in 1925, and the remaining whisky stock was sold off.1,2,4
Silent
1925–2004
For decades, local clubs and companies used the buildings, including as a rifle range and a feed store.1,8 In 1940 Bloch Brothers, owners of Glen Scotia, bought the distillery and the Glengyle brand name.4,5,8 Their plan to reopen it failed because of the Second World War.4,5,8 Campbell Henderson bought it in 1957, but its attempt to restart production also failed.4,8,9 In 1996 the buildings were listed as Category B.
Back with the Mitchell family
In 2000 Mitchell's Glengyle Ltd, a new subsidiary of J&A Mitchell & Co Ltd, bought the distillery.1,2,6 The new firm was headed by Hedley G Wright, then chairman of J&A Mitchell and great-great-nephew of William Mitchell.1,2,6 The Glengyle name had passed to Bloch Brothers, so the new owners chose Kilkerran, the old Gaelic name for Campbeltown, for the single malt.5,6 After a four-year rebuild, the first spirit ran in March 2004, in a plant Frank McHardy designed, using two stills first made for Ben Wyvis.
Next: Back with the Mitchell family, How it makes its spirit, Owned by trusts
Releases by year
Bottles in Peated distilled at Glengyle, by release year.
1
1
1
1
2
1
1
4
2009201520202025
Bottles by year distilled
Year distilled
Bottles
2009
1
2015
1
2016
1
2018
1
2022
2
2023
1
2024
1
2025
4
21 bottles without a year aren't shown.
Sources
14 sources. Something wrong? Report it from the menu at the top of the page.
Its owners say it was the first new distillery in Campbeltown in over 100 years and helped secure the town's status as a whisky region.1,2,8
How it makes its spirit
Its barley is malted on the floor maltings at its sister distillery, Springbank.8,10 Its malt is peated to 8-10ppm, meaning parts per million of peat smoke compounds in the malt.8,10 For some editions it changes the peat level and the distillation.8,10 The wort, sugary water from the mash, ferments in four washbacks made of boatskin larch, a larch wood.8,11 Fermentation lasts 72 to 110 hours.8 It has one wash still and one spirit still.4,9 Both are onion-shaped and heated by steam kettles and coils.8 The stills were reshaped with rounded shoulders and upward-slanting lyne arms, the pipes that carry off the vapour, to give more reflux.8,11 Reflux sends vapour back to be distilled again, and the resulting style is light and fragrant.8,11 Shell and tube condensers turn the vapour back into spirit.8 Its water comes from Crosshill Loch.4,8 It can make 750,000 litres of alcohol a year, but usually makes 30,000 to 50,000.8,10,11 It shares a team with Springbank and runs for around three months a year, usually October to December.8,10,11 90% of its spirit goes into single malt.8
Owned by trusts
Hedley G Wright died in 2023, and his shares passed to three local trust funds.1,2 The trusts are meant to make sure the community keeps benefiting from the company.1,2
Very good review score, 88 out of 100