Glenugie

The site of the Glenugie distillery is just south of Peterhead, not far from the River Ugie’s convergence with the sea at Scotland’s East Coast. The distillery was built in 1831 by Donald McLeod and Co on the site of a disused windmill. In 1837, a brewery was established at the site and in 1875 the distillery passed through the hands of Highland Distillers Co Ltd who renovated it and subsequently shut down the brewery. Glenugie opened and closed several times, remaining shut for the majority of the First World War. Glenugie was acquired and reopened by Seagar Evans and Co Ltd in 1937, prior to this time it had had a long stint of silence. In 1956, Schenley Industries acquired Seagar Evans and Co and the distillery went through renovations, including the installation of a further two stills and coal power was replaced by an oil burner. In 1971, Seagar Evans was renamed Long John International and four years later the company was sold to Whitbread and Co. The Scotch whisky industry was going through a relative downturn and Glenugie was, sadly, one of many injured parties, closing, as it did, in 1983. Today the site is used by Score Group Plc and engineering company. Official bottlings are, naturally, lacking, but there have been some independent releases of Glenugie single malt whisky.