Dufftown Distillery

Peter Mackenzie, Richard Stackpole, John Symon and Charles Macpherson built the Dufftown-Glenlivet distillery inside a former mill.^3,5,7 Diageo says Peter Mackenzie founded it at the height of a Scottish whisky boom, and whisky was first made there in 1896.^1,2,3 In 1897 it passed to P Mackenzie & Co, the firm that owned Blair Athol distillery in Pitlochry.^5,6,8

The end of Prohibition raised demand for whisky, and in 1933 Arthur Bell & Sons bought Dufftown along with Blair Athol.^4,5,6 It was mothballed from 1941 and made spirit again from 1947.^9,10 After that pause, Dufftown went on to be a major part of the Bell's blend.^9,10 In 1968 its floor maltings were shut down.^5,8 Sources differ on the stills: the local heritage record says they went from 2 to 4 in 1974 and from 4 to 6 in 1979.^3,5,8 Whiskypedia instead says the stills numbered eight by 1979 and number six today.

Guinness bought Arthur Bell & Sons, and with it Dufftown, in 1985.^4,5,8 In 1987 Guinness combined Arthur Bell & Sons with the Distillers Company to form United Distillers.⁴ In 1997 Guinness merged with Grand Metropolitan to form Diageo.^4,5,8 Dufftown was Diageo's largest distillery until Diageo's Roseisle distillery opened in 2010.^5,12

Dufftown draws its water from Jock's Well, a spring high in the Conval Hills.^2,5,13 Diageo tells a legend that rival distillery managers diverted the stream from the well at night.^2,5,13 Its malt is not peated, and fermentation lasts 75 hours.⁵ It ferments in 12 steel washbacks, the tanks where wort, the sugary water from the mash, becomes wash.⁵ It has 3 wash stills and 3 spirit stills.^8,13 Its spirit stills are larger than its wash stills, as at few other distilleries.⁵ Steam heats the stills, and shell and tube condensers turn the vapour back into spirit.