Glendullan distillery

Glendullan is one of the larger Malt Whisky distilleries in Dufftown, which is also the home of Glenfiddich and Balvenie. Since Glendullan is mainly produced for blends, the name of the distillery is relatively unknown among the broader whisky drinking mass. Single Malts are found only under ‘The Singleton’ whisky brand or with independent bottlers.

Glendullan Whisky

The Glendullan whisky distillery was located in Dufftown, a small town in the north-east of the Highlands, where the rivers Fiddich and Dullan meet. The Glendullan distillery was noteworthy for two reasons: _Glendullan was only a few years old when it was began to supply the British ruler King Edward VII in 1902. A fact was noted on the distillery bottles for many years, however the distillery currently producing only dates back to 1972._Between 1823 and 1897, seven whisky distilleries were established in the village, which gave rise to the expresion ‘Rome was built on seven hills, Dufftown stands on seven stills’. The distilleries of Dufftown are: _Mortlach_Glenfiddich_Balvenie_Dufftown_Glendullan_Kininvie_Parkmore_Pittyvaich__ConvalmoreThe latter three of these are now closed leaving only 6 however.

A note for visitors

The city has only around 1,500 inhabitants. For those visiting interesting points to see are the Mortlach Church on the outskirts, one of the oldest churches in Scotland the origins of which lie in the 6th century. There is also a Pictic cross in the neighboring cemetery. At the end of the 12th century, Balvenie Castle was built and the settlement at its feet was named Balvenie. In 1817, James Duff, the 4th Earl of Fife, founded the city of Dufftown as accommodation for returning soldiers and named it after himself.

House style

How does Glendullan taste single malt?Founded as a seventh distillery in the area around Dufftown, the Malt Whisky of Glendullan is of a rather light and fruity aroma.

Production

How is Glendullan Whisky produced?Glendullan whiskies are produced with water from sources in the Convall Hills and with the help of six copper stills. The distillery has a 12 ton mashtun made of stainless steel and 10 Washbacks, 8 wooden and 2 stainless steel.

It is far from one of the region’s best-known whiskies, which at a glance at the numbers looks strange at first as Glendullan, with a production volume of 3,700,000 litres of pure alcohol, is one of the largest distilleries in the Diageo group. Alas only 3% of the Glendullan whisky produced is bottled as single malt whisky. An overwhelming 97% of the malts produced is used for blended Scotch, among others for the Old Parr.

History

Glendullan was the seventh and thus the last whisky distillery founded in Dufftown in the heart of the Speyside in 1897/98. In 1919 the name of the company was changed to Macdonald, Greenlees & Williams (Distillers) Ltd. In 1926, Glendullan was taken over by the Distillers Company Limited (DCL). In 1939, DCL passed Glendullan on to the group’s malt arm, the Scottish Malt Distillers (SMD) who closed the distillery from 1940 to 1947.

In 1962, a total renovation took place, at the same time there was an expansion of capacity with the installation of two more stills. Interested in the history of Glendullan, the owners decided in 1972 to build a new Glendullan 2 directly opposite, which after the commissioning of the new distillery both produced simultaneously until 1985. Both produced a different-tasting malt whisky (despite being identical), which prompted the owner to unite (Vat) the aged spirits from both Glendullans before bottling.

In 1985 the original Glendullan distillery was mothballed. Since then, whisky has only been produced on the new site.

Glendullan factsheet

Can I tour Glendullan?

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