John Crabbie & Co. have traded in wine and spirits since 1801, building a far-reaching business from Leith that sourced, produced, and exported across the world as the British Empire expanded. 

That history feeds directly into Bonnington Distillery, founded in 2017 on Graham Street in Leith, close to the original John Crabbie site. Beginning production in 2020, Bonnington is the first single malt distillery in Leith for nearly a century. With capacity for around 2,200 casks a year, production choices are deliberately considered, from bespoke squat neck stills inspired by Crabbie’s 1860s designs to water drawn from a deep local aquifer. 

Access to peated and unpeated malt, alongside a growing library of cask types, sets the distillery up for an experimental and forward-looking future.