Glen Ord distillery information
Originally established as the Ord Distillery Company, the Glen Ord distillery was founded in 1838 by Thomas Mackenzie, using the name Ord Distillery Co. and licensed to Robert Johnstone and Donald McLennan. It is located just outside the town Muir of Ord, slightly north-west of Inverness, on “The Black Isle”, an area that takes its name from the dark fertile earth. The site used to be the spot of an illicit distillery, one of many in the area. Johnstone went bankrupt in 1847, followed shortly after by McLennan. The distillery was put up for sale, and finally passed on to Alexander McLennan and Thomas MacGregor in 1855. McLennan left the distillery to his wife when he passed away in 1870. The widow McLennan wasted little time, and in 1877, seven years after McLennan’s death, she married Alex MacKenzie, a banker who switched careers and took over management of the distillery. In 1878 a new still-house was constructed, but it burnt down shortly after, so work started over. In 1896, Mackenzie died, and the distillery was subsequently sold to James Watson & Company, whisky blenders from Dundee. Watson himself died in 1923, without heirs, leading to the distillery to be put up for sale. John Dewar & Sons ended up buying it in the same year, and in 1925, merged with Distillers Company Limited (DCL). DCL in 1930 transferred all their distilleries, including Glen Ord to Scottish Malt Disttillers (SMD). Until 1949, the distillery used paraffin lamps for lighting, but at this year a water turbine was installed. In 1958, two of the stills were switched from direct firing to direct oil firing. In 1961, the malting floor was closed, and instead the distillery was outfitted with Saladin boxes. The next year, the two other stills were switched to steam heating, thus allowing SMD to experiment with how the manner of firing the stills affected the end produce. The distillery was rebuilt in 1966, according to the Waterloo design (also used at Caol Ila and Glendullan, among others), and gained two extra set of stills in the process, bringing the total amount to six. In 1968, drum maltings were installed to further increase the malted barley output, and a dark-grains plant was added to convert waste from the distillation process to cattle feed. The Saladin boxes were taken out of production in 1983, but the drum maltings are able to produce sufficient amounts of malt for both Glen Ord as well as other northern-Highlands distilleries owned by Diageo. In 1988, a visitor center was opened. DCL was eventually absorbed by United Distillers Plc (UD), which in turn became part of the Diageo stables. In 2012, Diageo started expanding the distillery, doubling the amount of washbacks from ten to twenty, and the amount of stills from six to twelve. The visitor centre itself was rebuilt and reopened in July 2022, adding a circular whisky bar and a deli showcasing local producers, with tours built around The Singleton brand.Glen Ord Whiskies
A significant part of the whisky distilled at Glen Ord was used for blending, with only limited amounts being released as official bottlings. However, that recently changed, when Diageo decided to make Glen Ord part of their Singleton brand releases. In Europe, The Singleton of Dufftown is sold. The Americas buy Singleton of Glendullan, and Asia gets Singleton of Glen Ord. The Singleton name was used earlier to indicate whisky from Auchroisk, but that ceased in 2001. Whisky produced at Glen Ord has used several names during the years. Originally, it went by the name of Glenoran (or Glen Oran). Glen Ordie is another variant that has been seen, as has Ord, Muir of Ord and Glen Ord. Official bottlings include:- 12 Year Old (round bottle, 1993 until 2004)
- 28 Year Old (released in 2003)
- 12 Year Old (square bottle, from 2004)
- 25 Year Old (released in 2004)
- 30 Year Old Special Release, limited edition, 6,000 bottles (released in 2005)
- Singleton of Glen Ord 12 Year Old (released in 2006)
- Singleton of Glen Ord 18 Year Old (released in 2006)
- Singleton of Glen Ord 15 Year Old (released in 2013)
- Singleton of Glen Ord 18 Year Old (released in 2013)
- Singleton of Glen Ord 12, 15 and 18 Year Old, the standard core range as currently sold
- The Singleton Glen Ord Into the Blue, 17 Year Old Special Release, matured across Mexican ex-mezcal casks and second-fill Spanish sherry casks (released in 2025)”
Distillery info:
Detail |
Information |
|---|---|
| Name | Glen Ord |
| Region | Highland |
| Country | Scotland |
| Logo |  |
| Status | Active |
| Founded | 1838 |
| Water source | Allt Fionnaidh |
| Malting floor | No |
| Owned by | Diageo |
| Address | Glen Ord Distillery Muir of Ord, Ross-shire IV6 7UJ United Kingdom |
| Visitor centre | Yes |
| Website | http://www.discovering-distilleries.com/glenord/ |
| Community | Friends of the Classic Malts |
| Map |
Distillery Setup:
Component |
Capacity |
Quantity |
|---|---|---|
| Mash tun | 12.5 tonnes | 1 |
| Washback | 59,000 litres | 20 (Oregon pine) |
| Wash still | 18,000 litres | 6 |
| Spirit Still | 16,000 litres | 6 |
| Expected yearly output in LPA (Litres of pure alcohol) | 10,000,000 |
Frequently Asked Questions
Glen Ord sits just outside Muir of Ord, slightly north-west of Inverness, on “The Black Isle”, an area named for its dark fertile earth. The site was previously home to an illicit still, one of many in the area. Over the years, the whisky produced here has gone by several names: Glenoran, Glen Oran, Glen Ordie, Ord, Muir of Ord and Glen Ord.
Glen Ord was founded in 1838 by Thomas Mackenzie as the Ord Distillery Co., licensed to Robert Johnstone and Donald McLennan. Johnstone went bankrupt in 1847, followed shortly by McLennan, and the distillery was sold to Alexander McLennan and Thomas MacGregor in 1855. When McLennan died in 1870, he left the distillery to his widow.
Seven years after her husband’s death, the widow McLennan married Alex Mackenzie, a banker who switched careers to take over management of the distillery, in 1877. A new still-house was built in 1878 but burned down shortly after, requiring the work to start over. Mackenzie died in 1896, and the distillery was sold to whisky blenders James Watson & Company of Dundee.
James Watson died without heirs in 1923, and John Dewar & Sons bought the distillery that same year. Dewar & Sons merged with Distillers Company Limited (DCL) in 1925, which transferred Glen Ord to Scottish Malt Distillers in 1930. DCL was eventually absorbed by United Distillers Plc, which became part of Diageo.
Glen Ord was rebuilt in 1966 following the Waterloo design, also used at Caol Ila and Glendullan among others, gaining two extra sets of stills to bring the total to six. Drum maltings were added in 1968 alongside a dark-grains plant that converts distillation waste into cattle feed, and after the Saladin boxes were retired in 1983, the drum maltings continued producing malt for Glen Ord as well as other Diageo distilleries in the northern Highlands.
Diageo made Glen Ord part of its Singleton brand, sold in Asia as The Singleton of Glen Ord, while Europe gets The Singleton of Dufftown and the Americas get The Singleton of Glendullan. The Singleton name was previously used for whisky from Auchroisk, but that use ended in 2001.
In 2012, Diageo began expanding Glen Ord, doubling the number of washbacks from ten to twenty and the number of stills from six to twelve. The visitor centre itself was rebuilt and reopened in July 2022, adding a circular whisky bar and a deli showcasing local producers, with tours built around The Singleton brand.
The current core range is sold as The Singleton of Glen Ord, in 12, 15 and 18 Year Old expressions. Past releases have included a round-bottle 12 Year Old sold from 1993 to 2004, a 28 Year Old in 2003, a square-bottle 12 Year Old from 2004, a 25 Year Old also in 2004, a limited 30 Year Old Special Release of 6,000 bottles in 2005, and a 17 Year Old Into the Blue Special Release matured across Mexican ex-mezcal and second-fill Spanish sherry casks in 2025.
Yes, Glen Ord has a visitor centre.