Glen Moray distillery
Glen Moray began it’s life as the West Brewery, but was converted for distillation in 1897, unfortunately the pattison whisky crisis meant that Glen Moray was only operational until 1910. A short lived attempt to restart production in 1912 lasted only a few months.Following further financial troubles the distillery is sold to Macdonald & Muir part owners of Glenmorangie in 1920
Production resumes in 1923 and with the exception of the year 1932 when no whisky was produced at all, the distillery remained in production until 1958 when it was rebuilt with Saladin floor maltings. In 1978 the malting at the distillery ceased altogether the number of stills was expanded from two to four stills.
In 1996 Macdonald & Muir Ltd. was renamed Glenmorangie Plc. and focus was made on promoting the Glenmorangie brand, the following year Glenmorangie acquired Ardbeg and Glen Moray became something of a forgotten sister a trend which continued after the sale to Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessey in 2004.
Happily while Louis Vuitton announced a shift from production for blends in 2008 the French company La Martiniquaise bought Glen Moray making it a cerntrepiece of their Label 5 and Glen Turner blends, since then distillery capacity and production has scaled considerably and around 30% of production is now released as Malt.
Glen Moray factsheet
| Name | Pronounced | AKA | Region | Country of Origin |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Glen Moray | glen mur*ray | Speyside | Scotland | |
| Status | Active | Whisky Type | Website | Tours Available |
| Active | 1897 - Present | Malt | Glen Moray | Tour Link |
| Manager | Distiller | Blender | Owned by | Parent Group |
| Graham Coull | La Martiniquaise |
Glen Moray Timeline:
1828: Elgin West Brewery is established
1897: Elgin West Brewery is reconstructed as Glen Moray distillery
1910: Glen Moray is mothballed following the Pattison whisky crash
1912: Glen Moray reopens briefly but closes again the same year
1920: Financial issues result in Glen Moray being sold to Macdonald & Muir Ltd. the owner of owner of Glenmorangie
1923: Production resumes
1932: Production ceases for the year
1958: The distillery is refitted with Saladin floor maltings
1971: Stills become steamheated
1978: Floor maltings are terminated
1979: Stills increased to four
1996: Macdonald & Muir Ltd. change their name to Glenmorangie Plc.
2004: Glenmorangie Plc. is acquired by LVMH Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy
2008: Glen Moray is sold to La Martiniquaise and become components in the top selling Label 5 blend and Glen Turner blended malt
2009: Glen Moray makes it's first peated whisky
2010: La Martiniquaise open Starlaw grain distillery
2012: The distillery is expanded, all six of the existing warehouse stills are changed over to spirit stills and a further three wash stills are added
2016: A Lauter mashtun is fitted