Glen Albyn

The Glen Albyn distillery was demolished in 1988 having distilled its last dram five years prior. The buildings lay on what was once the Muirtown Brewery, which proffered ale to the working men who built the Caledonian Canal. Designed by Thomas Telford and James Watt, the canal links the Atlantic with the North Sea, cutting a course through Loch Ness, from whose infamous depths the distillery draws its waters. It was founded by the Provost of... Inverness James Sutherland in 1846 and its fortunes did not begin well.

Glen Albyn was closed for some time, having been put up for sale in 1855. There were no buyers and the buildings were used for milling flour. It was not until 1884 that the distillery was rebuilt, this time with a rail link to the Highland Railway Company main line. Between 1917 and 1919 the buildings were used by the US Navy as a mine factory. Glen Albyn was one of the first distilleries to make use of the innovative French malting systems, the Saladin box, as did the neighbouring Glen Mhor distillery.

The Glen Albyn distillery was purchased by Distillers Company Limited in 1980 and the Box maltings were scrapped and malted barley was bought centrally. Despite being silent for over twenty years, the site still stands. However, it now plays host to a shopping centre. Single malt whiskies from Glen Albyn are rather rare and they are to be found in the form of independent bottlings.

Read more