Glen Keith

Sam Bronfman, owner of Seagram, wanted another distillery to supply his blends and picked a former meal mill directly behind Strathisla.^2,6,7 Building ran from 1957 to 1960, and its malt first came from Saladin boxes, concrete troughs where barley sprouts before drying.^2,6,7 It was experimental from the start, with three stills for triple distillation; ScotchWhisky.com says it alternated this with double distillation until the 1980s.^1,2,3

In 1970, two more stills were added, making five, all heated directly by gas; Wikipedia says production then switched to double distillation.^2,3,4 One of them, from September 1970, was the first gas-fired still in Scotland.^2,3,4 In 1980 a microprocessor was installed to control the process.²

Production stopped in March 1999.^1,4,8 A report from the silent years said a technical centre, where quality testing is carried out, was on the site.^1,8 In 2001 Pernod Ricard bought Chivas Brothers, which owns Glen Keith.^4,5,9 Extensive rebuilding began in 2012.¹ Richard Lochhead, a Scottish Government cabinet secretary, officially reopened it in June 2013, after an upgrade refurbished its six stills and added six more washbacks, making 15.^1,4,5

It has 3 wash stills for the first distillation and 3 spirit stills for the second.^1,4,5 The stills are slender, which ScotchWhisky.com says points to a light style, and they are heated by steam.⁴ It uses unpeated malt, and sources name its water as Balloch Hill or the Crossburn and Newmill Springs.^1,4 Nine of its washbacks, the tanks where the wort ferments, are wood and six are stainless steel; fermentation lasts 55 hours.⁴ It can make 6 million litres of alcohol a year.⁴ Its new spirit is light and fruity, and most goes into the Chivas Regal, Passport and 100 Pipers blends.^1,4,10