Inchgower distillery information

Inchgower distillery was foudned in 1871 by Alexander Wilson and Company just outisde the coastal fishing port of Buckie in Bannfshire, Speyside. Wilson earlier owned the Tochineal distillery, but the distillery was too small to meet the demand for their whisky, and their landlord had unilaterally decided to double the rent. The equipment used in the new distillery came directly from the Tochineal distillery. The area outside Buckie was well-known for whisky smuggling in the past.

Wilson & Company celebrated their centenary in 1922, and ran the distillery until 1936, when the company went into liquidation, and the distillery was purchased by the Buckie Town Counci for a sum of 1,600 GBPl. In 1938, Arthur Bell & Sons Ltd. bought the distillery from the Town Council for 4,000 GBP, and invested in an extensive rebuilding operation, changing the distillery to be steam-powered, rather than coal, as well as an extensive renovation of the warehouses. Inchgower actually was the second distillery owned by Bell; the first being Dufftown, which they bought in 1933.

In 1966 the distillery was renovated, and the amount of stills was doubled from two to four. At the same time, the stills were converted to become steam heated. Bell’s was acquired by Guinness in 1985, with Guinness also absorbing Distillery Company Limited (DCL) to form United Distillers (UD) in 1987. UD eventually became Diageo when Guiness merged with Grand Metropolitan. Between 2006 and 2007, the distillery was refurbished, with the main addition being a new construction to automatically add yeast to the washbacks. 2011 saw the replacement of two washbacks, and further renovation was done in 2012.

The warehouses at Inchgower can house some 60,000 casks.

Inchgower whisky

99% of the whisky produced at Inchgowers will be used for blending, primarily in Bell’s, White Horse, and Johnnie Walker. Only a few official bottlings were ever released:

  • Flora & Fauna; 14 Years Old (released in 1991)
  • Rare Malts; 22 Years Old (released in 1997)
  • Rare Malts; 27 Years Old (released in 2003)

Distillery info:

NameInchgower
RegionSpeyside
Logo
StatusActive
Founded1871
Water sourceMenduff spring
Owned byDiageo
Address

Burnside Croft
Buckie
Banffshire
AB56 2AB
Scotland

+44 - (0) 1542 - 836700

Visitor centreNo
WebsiteN/A
TwitterN/A
FacebookN/A
CommunityN/A
Map

Distillery Setup:

Component
Capacity
Quantity
Mash tun8.2 tonnes1
Washback40,000 litres6 (Oregon pine)
Wash still13,500 litres2
Spirit Still8,185 litres2
Expected yearly output in LPA (Litres of pure alcohol)2,900,000