Braeval is a malt whisky distillery near Chapeltown, built in 1973 as Braes of Glenlivet and one of the first wholly automated distilleries in Scotland.1,2,3 Chivas Brothers calls it a core single malt component of its Chivas blend.4,5 It became Braeval in 1994 to avoid confusion with The Glenlivet.3,6,7Pernod Ricard has owned it since 2001.2,7,8
Sharp, herbal and almost acerbic neat, this Braeval improves with water, revealing lemons, green apples and a welcome barley-syrup sweetness.
Producing, 1973–2002
Silent, 2002–2008
Producing, 2008–today
Name
Braes of Glenlivet, 1973–1994
Braeval, 1994–today
19732000Today
Built by Seagram
1973–2001
Seagram apparently planned it as the first of five distilleries in five years, and the first mash ran before the roof was on.1,2,3 It had three stills when built, and two more were added in 1975.3,6,7 A sixth still followed in 1978.3,6,7 Under Seagram, from 1973 to 2001, its spirit was filled into casks and stored at Keith, since it had no warehouses of its own.3,6,7
Sources disagree: when it opened. This page uses 1973.
1973: Historic Environment Scotland (trove.scot), Wikipedia, Wikipedia (German), ScotchWhisky.com (Whiskypedia)1,2,7,8
Pernod Ricard bought Chivas Brothers in 2001, when Seagram sold its spirits business, and the distillery came with it.2,7,8 Pernod Ricard mothballed Braeval in 2002, pausing production.2,6,7 It restarted in July 2008 to meet future demand for blended whisky.2,6,7
Sources disagree: when Pernod Ricard took over. This page uses 2001.
2001: Wikipedia, Wikipedia (German), ScotchWhisky.com (Whiskypedia)2,6,7,8
Running on bio-fuel
In 2021 Chivas Brothers named Braeval its first zero direct carbon distillery, after a switch to rapeseed residue bio-fuel it said would save 6,671 tonnes of carbon yearly.4,5
How it makes its spirit
Its water comes from Preenie & Kate's Well.2,6,7 No malting has ever taken place there, and its pagoda roof, an industry badge, is purely decorative.3,6,9 It buys its malt from the malt supplier Crisp.3,6,9 Its malt has a peat level of less than 1ppm, or parts per million.6 It has 13 stainless steel washbacks, the tanks where wort, the sugary water from the mash, ferments into wash.6,7 Fermentation lasts 74 hours.6 It has 2 wash stills and 4 spirit stills.
