Balblair Distillery

Balblair

View of Balblair Distillery
Region: Highland
Location	Edderton
Owner	InterBev (Inver House Distillers)
Founded	1790
Status	Active
Water source	The Allt Dearg
No. of stills	1 wash still 20,000l 1 spirit still 8,500l
Capacity	1,800,000 litres of alcohol

1 wash still 20,000l

Balblair Distillery is a Scotch whisky distillery located in Edderton, Ross-shire, Scotland.

Founded in 1790, the distillery was rebuilt in 1895 by the designer Charles C Doig to be closer to the Edderton Railway Station on the Inverness and Ross-shire Railway line. However, so good was the original water source that the rebuilt distillery chose to ignore a nearby burn in favour of the original Ault Dearg burn. To this day, the Balblair Distillery continues to use this original water source.

John Ross, the founder, ran Balblair as a thriving business and in 1824 he was joined by his son, Andrew. The distillery stayed in the Ross family until 1894 when the tenancy was taken over by Alexander Cowan. In 1948 the freehold was bought by Robert Cumming, who promptly expanded the distillery and increased production. Cumming ran the distillery until he retired in 1970 when he sold it to Hiram Walker. In 1996 Balblair Distillery was purchased by Inver House Distillers Limited.

Balblair has one of the oldest archives in distilling, with the first ledger entry dated 25 January 1800. John Ross himself penned that first entry, which read: “Sale to David Kirkcaldy at Ardmore, one gallon of whisky at £1.8.0d”.

Balblair Single Malt whisky is bottled in four vintages - 2000, 1997, 1989 and 1979 - with the design inspired by the nearby Pictish stone Clach Biorach, which is thought to be 4000 years old. The 1989 vintage won a Gold Medal and was judged "best in class" in the 2007 International Wine & Spirits Competition, and was recommended by Ian Buxton in 101 Whiskies to Try Before You Die.