Craigellachie

Guinness took over DCL in 1986, and DCL was renamed United Distillers in 1987.^4,11 In 1997 Guinness and Grand Metropolitan merged to form Diageo.^4,12,13 In 1998 regulators required Diageo to sell John Dewar & Sons, and Craigellachie went with it to Bacardi.^1,5,13 John Dewar & Sons now runs the distillery, and its spirit, long used mostly in White Horse, now goes mainly into Dewar's blended whisky.^1,5,13

Its malt comes from Boortmalt Glenesk, where a kiln used only for Craigellachie burns heavy fuel oil, which makes steam with sulphur in it.^4,14 The malt is peated to 1-2ppm.⁴ In 2001 a new 10-ton full lauter mash tun was put in, with rakes that move up and down as well as sideways.¹⁴ The wort, the sugary water drawn off the mash, ferments for 56 hours, or 55-65 hours by another account.^4,14 It has 8 larch washbacks, or fermenting vessels.^4,7,14 It has 2 wash stills and 2 spirit stills.^5,7,14 The stills are bulb-shaped; pans heat the wash stills and coils heat the spirit stills.