Glen Flagler distillery

Glen Flagler Whisky

Glen Flagler was built in 1964 by the American group Publicker, who were also called Inver House at the time. As the Garnheath Grain distillery, Glen Flagler and Killyloch were under a single roof it’s contentious whether Glen Flagler and Killyloch represent a single malt distillery or two seperate ones. Few argue that a malt distillery housed within a grain distillery should be considered a seperate enterprise however. Glen Flagler itself existed for just under 20 years and is therefore one of the Scottish distilleries with the shortest production time.

Although the majority of the production was destined for the American blend industry, there were also single malt bottlings in the 1960s and 1970s, all of which are now sought-after collectibles. Some have fetched prices above £1,000. Alas when the demand for blended whisky in America declined, Inver House decided to close the distillery in 1985.

In the 1970s, the owner Inver House also produced the whisky Killyloch, which was removed from the program after only a few years. Both whiskies experienced a brief renaissance when the independent bottler Signatory launched several bottlings of Glen Flagler and Killyloch whiskies in the 1990s.

Production

The Moffat complex (also known as Inver House distillery complex) was an integrated distillery in Moffat, Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, Scotland converted from an earlier paper mill. The Moffat site managed the administration of Inver House Distillers Ltd. a malt house, three named distilleries, warehousing and a bottling plant.

While the malt house was sold to the Associated British Maltsters in 1978, the offices operate at Moffat Distillery are still the administrative headquarters of the Inver House Distillers. The warehouses and the bottling plant are also used for the Group’s other whiskies. The three distilleries were closed again in the wake of the whiskey crisis between 1970 and 1986.

The water from the distillery belonging to the Lowlands / Western Lowlands region came from the Lilly Loch, as with all distilleries in the distillery complex. The malt used came from the migratory malt house which was sold in 1978 and Associated British Malsters Ltd.

Glen Flagler factsheet

Can I tour Glen Flagler?

No, unfortunately Glen Flagler distillery is not open to the public for tours