Longmorn distillery information
The Longmorn (stemming from “Lhanmorgund” which is Gaelic for “place of the holy man”) distillery was founded on the site of an old chapel in 1893 by John Duff (formerly manager of Glendronach and Bon Accord, as well as the founder of Glenlossie), Charles Shirres and George Thomson. The distillery is located in the town of Longmorn, in Moray in the Speyside region of Scotland. Distillation started in December 1894. In 1896, Duff bought out his partners, and the year after, in 1897, he founded Benriach right next to Longmorn. However, when the whisky market went into recession, partially due to the collapse of major players in the market like wholesalers Pattison Ltd. in 1898 (some claim these wholesalers were guilty of committing fraud), Duff was financially ruined, went bankrupt in 1909, and was forced to sell both distilleries.
New ownership
The distillery ended up in the hands of Thomas Dewar and Arthur Sanderson, who used the spirit in their blends. Ownership might have switched a few more times (it’s hard to find proper historic records), but eventually the distillery ended up in the hands of Hill, Thomson & Co Ltd, managed by James R. Grant. They, too, used Longmorn in their blends, so the acquisition made sense from a business perspective. The official owner of the distillery was a newly established company by name of Longmorn Grants, which remained in control until 1970, when it merged with The Glenlivet & Glen Grant Distilleries Ltd and Hill, Thomson & Co Ltd to form The Glenlivet Distillers Ltd. In the same year, the malting floor was converted to a boiler room. The merger meant hard-needed capital became available. Around the same time, demand for Longmorn increased, thus leading to the addition of 2 extra stills (raising the total to 6) in 1972, and another two stills in 1974. In 1977, The Glenlivet Distillers Ltd was bought by Canadian Seagrams, through their subsidiary Chivas Brothers, which in turn in 2001 was snagged up by Pernod Ricard, who have been running the distillery ever since. Longmorn was pretty late to switch from direct coal firing of the stills with steam heating. This happened as late as 1994, mainly due to the expansion done in 1974, where the wash stills were placed in a seperate room from the spirit stills. This made it much easier to control the amount of heat needed for distillation, and thus Longmorn could afford to stick to coal firing for quite some time longer than its peers.Longmorn Whiskies
Longmorn mostly is used in blends. However, there is one core expression:- 16 Year Old; matured in American white oak casks, previously used for Bourbon maturing
Distillery info:
Detail |
Information |
|---|---|
| Name | Longmorn |
| Region | Speyside |
| Country | Scotland |
| Logo |  |
| Status | Active |
| Founded | 1894 |
| Water source | Local springs |
| Malting floor | No |
| Owned by | Chivas Borthers / Pernod Ricard |
| Address | Longmorn Distillery Near Elgin Morayshire IV30 8SJ +44 (0) 1343 554139 |
| Visitor centre | No |
| Map |
Distillery Setup:
Component |
Capacity |
Quantity |
|---|---|---|
| Mash tun | 7.5 tonnes | 1 |
| Washback | 42,500 litres | 8 (Stainless steel) |
| Wash still | 16,820 litres | 4 |
| Spirit Still | 3 * 15,000 / 1 * 13,628 litres | 4 |
| Expected yearly output in LPA (Litres of pure alcohol) | 3,500,000 |
Frequently Asked Questions
Longmorn comes from “Lhanmorgund”, Gaelic for “place of the holy man”. The distillery was founded on the site of an old chapel in 1893 by John Duff, formerly manager of Glendronach and Bon Accord and founder of Glenlossie, together with Charles Shirres and George Thomson, in the town of Longmorn, Moray, in the Speyside region. Distillation started in December 1894.
In 1896, Duff bought out his partners, and the following year founded Benriach right next to Longmorn.
When the whisky market slid into recession, partly due to the collapse of major wholesalers Pattison Ltd in 1898, some of whom were accused of fraud, Duff was financially ruined. He went bankrupt in 1909 and was forced to sell both Longmorn and Benriach.
Ownership passed through Thomas Dewar and Arthur Sanderson, and eventually to Hill, Thomson & Co Ltd, managed by James R. Grant, under a company called Longmorn Grants. That company remained in control until 1970, when it merged with The Glenlivet & Glen Grant Distilleries Ltd and Hill, Thomson & Co Ltd to form The Glenlivet Distillers Ltd, the same year the malting floor was converted into a boiler room.
The 1970 merger brought in much-needed capital just as demand for Longmorn was rising, leading to two extra stills in 1972 and another two in 1974, bringing the total to six. In 1977, The Glenlivet Distillers Ltd was bought by Canadian Seagram through its Chivas Brothers subsidiary, which was itself acquired by Pernod Ricard in 2001, the distillery’s owner ever since.
Longmorn was slow to switch from direct coal firing to steam heating, not making the change until as late as 1994. This was largely thanks to the 1974 expansion, which placed the wash stills in a separate room from the spirit stills, making it much easier to control the heat needed for distillation and letting Longmorn stick with coal firing longer than most of its peers.
Longmorn is mostly used in blends, but the distillery has one core single malt expression: a 16 Year Old, matured in American white oak casks previously used for Bourbon.
No, Longmorn does not have a visitor centre.