Glenglassaugh distillery

Glenglassaugh Distillery

Glenglassaugh Distillery
Region: Speyside
Location	Portsoy, Banffshire
Owner	Brown-Forman
Founded	1875
Status	Operational as of November 2008
Capacity	1,000,000 litres/per annum
Mothballed	1986-2008/9

The Glenglassaugh distillery is a malt scotch whisky distillery which restarted production in November 2008 after being acquired by an independent investment group. Following a complete refurbishment by the new owners the distillery was re-opened on 24 November 2008 by the First Minister for Scotland Alex Salmond MSP who praised the company for their commitment to using the traditional equipment and methods to once again make the unique whisky which is produced at Glenglassaugh.

The Glenglassaugh Distillery is a single malt Scotch whisky distillery located in a picturesque site just outside the Speyside region in Northeast Scotland, close to the small town of Portsoy, Banffshire some 54 miles Northwest of Aberdeen. The Distillery was established in 1875 by a local entrepreneur James Moir and his two nephews, Alexander and William Morrison. James Moir had an expanding grocery business in the town of Portsoy and was wanting to establish a distillery that would produce a whisky of the highest quality to satisfy the growing demand from his customers. The site was originally chosen due to its proximity to a clean and pure water supply of the highest quality (Glassaugh Springs), easy access to the nearby barley fields and because it was known locally to have been the site of one of the many illicit distilleries that had operated in the area and which had produced excellent whisky. Following the death of both James Moir and William Morrison, Alexander Morrison was forced to sell the distillery and in 1892 the company was sold to Highland Distillers and until 2008 has been owned by them. Highland Distillers are a subsidiary of The Edrington Group.

In 1960 it was rebuilt and upgraded to double the production capacity and to yield lighter spirit. However, in 1986, when the whole whisky industry was reviewing operations the economics of running this relatively small and remote distillery, the owners decided that they should stop production and the distillery has stayed silent since then. Around this time, Glenglassaugh was sold to the Edrington Group. The whisky from this distillery had traditionally been used in the production of renowned blended whiskies such as Cutty Sark, Laing's, and The Famous Grouse.