The Glasgow Distillery Company takes its name from one of Glasgow’s original distilleries, founded at Dundashill in 1770, though the Depression and Prohibition caused the closure of hundreds of distilleries in Glasgow. Glasgow Distillery Company was incorporated in 2012 by Liam Hughes, Mike Hayward and Ian McDougall, with all three men possessing a vision to bring malt whisky distilling back to the city for the first time in over a century. The distillery was finally ready to start production in February 2015. The distillation takes place in special copper stills named after family members of the three founders, “Annie”, “Mhairi” and “Tara”.
Their first product to be bottled was the Makar Gin, the first gin to be distilled in the city of Glasgow, which now has several variations due to its popularity, most recently the Makar Cherry Gin. The total Makar range picked up 20 awards in 2017 and 16 awards in 2018. While they have previously bottled single malt whiskies between 26-28 years old under the name Prometheus, they released their own malt whisky in June 2018. 1770 Glasgow Single Malt Scotch Whisky is named after Glasgow's original distillery. Aged in ex-bourbon barrels and finished in virgin oak, the whisky was a huge success with all 5,000 bottles selling out in less than two weeks.
The distillery has planned a £6 million expansion in order to double its whisky making capacity to over one million bottles a year, due to be completed in 2019. This has been kickstarted partially by the success of the Makar Gin, but also through the extensive interest in their inaugural single malt release.