Glasgow Distillery takes its name from the original Glasgow Distillery Company, founded in 1770 at Dundashill and closed in 1902 after producing unpeated, peated, and even triple-distilled single malt in its time. For over a century afterwards, the only distillery left standing in the city was Strathclyde, a grain distillery producing base spirit for blends rather than the single malt style now associated with the Lowland region.
That changed in December 2012, when drinks industry veterans Liam Hughes and Mike Hayward, together with accountant Ian McDougall, incorporated The Glasgow Distillery Company Ltd with the aim of bringing single malt whisky production back to the city for the first time in over a century. They secured funding from private investors along with a £130,000 Scottish Enterprise grant, and in 2013 found a home in a repurposed warehouse at Hillington Business Park on the city’s southwestern outskirts, an industrial estate setting a world away from the glens and coastlines usually associated with Scotch whisky.
Production started small and pragmatic. A 500-litre copper hybrid still named “Annie” arrived first, in August 2014, and was put to work on Makar Gin, Glasgow’s first legally produced gin in generations, launched that October. The whisky equipment followed in January 2015: a 2,500-litre wash still named “Tara” and a 1,500-litre spirit still named “Mhairi“, both named after family members of the founders. The first cask of single malt was filled on 5 March 2015.
It took three years of patient maturation before Glasgow 1770 Lowland Single Malt Scotch Whisky – named for the original distillery’s founding date – reached the public.The first release sold out its 5,000-bottle run in under 48 hours via an online ballot in June 2018. Demand kept building, and in August 2019 the distillery doubled its whisky-making capacity by installing an identical second pair of stills, a wash still and a spirit still christened Margaret and Frances after the MacDonald sisters, two of the most influential artists of the “Glasgow Style” movement and members of the pioneering “Glasgow Girls” group. The expansion pushed annual production capacity to around 440,000 litres of pure alcohol, the equivalent of roughly a million bottles a year.
The core Glasgow 1770 range built out over the following two years: Peated launched in September 2019 and went on to win Best Lowland Single Malt at the International Whisky Competition three years running, while Triple Distilled completed the “Signature Range” in May 2020. That same year, the distillery also released Malt Riot, a blended malt whisky named for the 1725 Glasgow malt tax protests, and was named Scottish Whisky Distillery of the Year at the Scottish Whisky Awards.
March 2024 brought a further expansion: the distillery more than doubled its physical footprint with the addition of an on-site maturation warehouse, staffed by its own cooper, to house Small Batch releases, Cask Strength bottlings, and market exclusives. In 2025, ten years after that first cask was filled, the distillery opened its doors to the public for the first time with The Glasgow Distillery Experience, a two-hour, small-group tour through the working site, including a cask sample straight from the warehouse and a coopering demonstration.
Today, Glasgow Distillery’s products reach more than 25 countries, and the distillery remains independently owned by its founders rather than part of a larger drinks group, a rarer position among Scotland’s newer distilleries.
Glasgow Distillery Whiskies (core range)
- Glasgow 1770 The Original – double distilled, unpeated single malt, matured in first-fill ex-bourbon casks with a finish in virgin American white oak.
- Glasgow 1770 Peated – double distilled, peated single malt. Won Best Lowland Single Malt at the International Whisky Competition for three consecutive years.
- Glasgow 1770 Triple Distilled – triple distilled, unpeated single malt, completing the Signature Range.
- Malt Riot Blended Malt Scotch Whisky – a blend of Speyside single malts with unpeated Glasgow 1770 single malt at its heart.
Distillery info:
Detail |
Information |
|---|---|
| Name | Glasgow Distillery |
| Region | Lowland |
| Logo |  |
| Status | active |
| Founded | 2012 (production began 2015) |
| Water source | Loch Katrine |
| Owned by | The Glasgow Distillery Company Ltd |
| Address |
8 Deanside Road, |
| Visitor centre | Yes - The Glasgow Distillery Experience tours |
| Website | https://www.glasgowdistillery.com |
| https://www.facebook.com/glasgowdistillery/ | |
| Community | Yes |
| Map |
Distillery Setup:
Component |
Capacity |
Quantity |
|---|---|---|
| Mash tun | 9,000 tonnes | 1 (semi-lauter) |
| Washback | 5,000 litres | 7 (Stainless Steel) |
| Wash still | 2,500 litres | 2 |
| Spirit Still | 1,500 litres | 2 |
| Expected yearly output in LPA (Litres of pure alcohol) | 440,000 litres |