Dalwhinnie

Between the Grampian and Monadhliath mountain ranges of Inverness-Shire lies Scotland’s highest working distillery, Dalwhinnie. This remote location was chosen for the profusion of local peat, a wonderfully clean water source and, being in the central Highlands, lies not far from the Highland Railway Line, proffering an easy means of transportation. The distillery was founded at the very end of the 19th century and named Strathspey.

Following monetary hardship, the three founding members: Alexander Mackenzie, John Grant and George Stellar were forced to sell to John Sommerville & Co and A P Blyth & Sons, who changed the name to Dalwhinnie and employed the famed Charles Doig of Speyside to redesign parts of the distillery. Today, the distillery serves a dual purpose; malt whisky aside, Dalwhinnie is a station for the Meteorological Office and the manager must take daily readings for the temperature and the weather.

The distillery changed hands several times over the early 20th century, closing in 1934 following a fire in February of that same year and reopening once more in 1938. Dalwhinnie previously had its own floor maltings though they were shut down in 1968. Dalwhinnie's pair of stills proffer a capacity of 2.2 million litres per annum. Dalwhinnie is in Diageo hands and the drinks giant has included the distillery in the Classic Malts range, releasing a Distillers Edition matured in Oloroso casks and the classic fifteen year-old.