Glenburgie is a Speyside malt whisky distillery near Alves in Moray, founded by William Paul as Kilnflat in 1829.1,2,3 Some sources date it to 1810, but official records of whisky made there begin in 1829.1,2,3 Since 1936 it has been closely tied to the Ballantine's blend.1,2,3Chivas Brothers has owned it since 2005.2,3,4
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Producing, 1829–today
Name
Kilnflat, 1829–1871
Glenburgie, 1871–today
182919001950Today
Kilnflat and the early years
In 1839 its wash still held less than 90 gallons (409 litres), and only 16 bushels of barley were mashed each week.5 It closed in 1870 after running into money trouble, and stood unused until 1878.1,3 In 1871 William Paul sublet it to Charles Hay, who renamed it Glenburgie.2,3,6 Other sources place the new name with the reopening in 1878.2,3,6 Wikipedia and Alfred Barnard name him Charles Kay rather than Hay.3,5,7
Sources disagree: when it became Glenburgie. This page uses 1871.
Fraser & Grant took it on in 1880.2,5 In 1881 it became the first whisky project of distillery architect Charles Chree Doig, who oversaw rebuilding and upgrades on the site.5 Alexander Fraser & Co of Elgin took over in 1882 and raised capacity to 1,400 bushels a week in 1883.2,3,5 In 1887 Alfred Barnard found two small pot stills of 1,500 and 800 gallons, five washbacks, and a kiln heated with Dava and Dallas moor peat.7 He put its yearly output at about 24,000 gallons.7 The business was incorporated in 1895.3 The firm went bankrupt in 1925, and Glenburgie Distillery Ltd was formed.2,3
Stodart, Hiram Walker and Ballantine's
Whiskypedia lists Donald Mustard as owner from 1925 to 1930.2 The distillery stood unused again from 1927 to 1935.1,3 Blenders James & George Stodart, owner of the Old Smuggler blend, then took over but never made whisky there.2,5 Whiskypedia dates Stodart's ownership from 1930, while the Scotch Malt Whisky Society says Stodart bought the silent distillery two years after the 1925 bankruptcy.2,3,5 In 1930 a Scottish subsidiary of Canada's Hiram Walker-Gooderham & Worts bought 60 per cent of James & George Stodart Ltd.2,5 Hiram Walker took full control in 1936 and restarted production, mainly to make malt spirit for its blend.
Margaret Nichol
1936–1959
Margaret Nichol joined Glenburgie Distillery Ltd in August 1927 as company secretary and the directors' representative on site.5 She managed the distillery from 1936 to 1959.3,5 The Scotch Malt Whisky Society says Glenburgie can claim to be the first Scottish distillery to appoint a woman manager; earlier women distillers came from owning families.3,5
Glencraig and the Lomond stills
1958–1981
From 1958 to 1981 two Lomond stills, pot stills with short, cylindrical necks, ran beside the usual pair and made a second malt, Glencraig.1,
Next: Margaret Nichol, Glencraig and the Lomond stills, Allied years, A new distillery, How it makes its spirit
Bottles by year distilled
Every bottle in Peated with a vintage year.
Margaret Nichol as manager, 1936–1959; Glencraig and the Lomond stills, 1958–1981
A heritage record says they made a lighter spirit, and Whiskypedia says the still was designed for a light, fruity one, while two whisky writers call it heavier.1,2,8
The plates in their necks were hard to clean, and in 1981 the Lomond stills were removed and replaced with a pair of conventional pot stills.2,5,8
Allied years
Ownership passed to Allied Lyons when it bought Hiram Walker in 1987.2,3,5 In 1994 Allied Lyons merged with Pedro Domecq to form Allied Domecq.4,5
A new distillery
In 2004 Allied Domecq replaced the old, hemmed-in distillery with a larger, open-plan plant for £4.3 million; manager Richard Clark recalled the cost as about £4.5m.2,3,5 Only a small stone office with the original bond survived from its earliest days, and one old still was moved into the new plant.2,3,5 In 2005 Pernod Ricard's Chivas Brothers took over Glenburgie and the Ballantine's brand as part of buying many of Allied's assets.2,3,4 Another pair of stills went in during May 2006, bringing the total to six; a ScotchWhisky.com interview instead says the 2004 plant had an extra pair.3,5,9
Sources disagree: the date. This page uses 2004.
2004: Scotch Malt Whisky Society (Unfiltered, Gavin D Smith), ScotchWhisky.com (Whiskypedia), ScotchWhisky.com2,5,9
Glenburgie uses unpeated malt from Simpsons and Bairds.2 Its water comes from local springs.2,7 Fermentation takes place in 12 stainless steel washbacks.2,5 It lasts 54 to 100 hours, though the Scotch Malt Whisky Society gives 52 hours.2,5 It has 3 wash stills and 3 spirit stills.2,3,5 The stills are onion-shaped and heated by steam through an external heat exchanger.2,5 Shell and tube condensers cool the still vapour.2 Since 2006 it can make 4,200,000 litres of alcohol a year; the Scotch Malt Whisky Society gives 4.25m litres.2,3,5 Whiskypedia calls the new spirit fragrant, sweet and slightly grassy, and says blender Sandy Hyslop keeps almost all of it for Ballantine's.2
Sources disagree: the date. This page uses 2006.
2006-05: Scotch Malt Whisky Society (Unfiltered, Gavin D Smith)5
