A distinctive heavily peated whisky that doesn’t subordinate the southern Islay’s, Brora Single Malt Whisky is known for its peated and “waxy” scents much loved in the exclusive Brora 37 Years Old and the Brora 24 Years Old. Established in the Highlands, the Brora Distillery was originally named “Clynelish”, one of Scotland's many lost distilleries the demise of which holds a very sad story.
The Brora Distillery was established in 1819 by the Duke of Sutherland, a landlord who anticipated on creating a market for his farm grown crops. This was a clever decision sales wise, by which numerous people could benefit from the distillery in many ways. The Duke’s tenants benefited from the distillery as they could expand their barley crop, which guaranteed a stable income. In addition to that the distillery’s biowaste served as food for the surrounding cattle breeding industry, by which a sustainable cyclical process was manifested.
Around the midst of the 20th century, the Brora (then named as Clynelish) Distillery was expanded beyond its limits and an eponymous sister distillery was established in 1968 to keep up with the demand for Clynelish Single Malt Whisky. Just a few years later, the whisky industry suffered from a decrease in the market which forced Brora to shut down, leaving the new Clynelish Distillery to run operations on its own. The old distillery was re-opened shortly after, re-named intro “Brora”, by which the symbiotic bond between both distilleries was broken. However, the Brora Distillery closed its doors for good in 1983.
But above all expectations, Diageo announced in 2017 their plans to invest a staggering £35 million upgrade, anticipating to re-open both the Brora- and Port Ellen Distillery in the year 2020! The legacy of the Brora Distillery just might continue its story once again…
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