Mortlach
The Mortlach Distillery was the very first legal distillery brought to life in Dufftown, followed by its runner up Glenfiddich. The Mortlach Distillery produces approximately 2,9 million liters of whisky per annum, the majority of which is processed in the Johnnie Walker blend. In addition to that, Mortlach Single Malt Whisky is released by independent bottlers such as the exclusive Mortlach 25 Years Old Signatory Vintage and the Mortlach 1954 Gordon and MacPhail, while the Mortlach 16 Years Old Flora & Fauna is one of the most renowned flag ship whiskies in the distillery’s core range.
Mortlach was officially founded -and licensed by James Findlater in the year 1823, however the story has been told that illicit distilling took place on the site of Mortlach years earlier. Less than a decade after its establishment, Mortlach was purchased by John Robertson, who would become the first of the many different owners that this distillery would have throughout the following years.
Around the midst of the 19th century, the Mortlach Distillery was purchased by James and John Grant, the founders and owners of the Glen Grant Distillery. Having most of the distilling equipment removed to the Glen Grant Distillery, the Grant brothers left Mortlach dormant and passed on the ownership of the distillery to John Gordon, who by then had it converted into a brewery.
In the year 1867, the Mortlach Distillery was acquired by George Cowie, a competent railway surveyor who was involved in the development of Britain’s infrastructure throughout most of his career. After George Cowie passed away in 1896 his son Alexander took command of the Mortlach Distillery, introduced the signature 2.81 distillation process and expanded the production capacity from two to four stills. Alexander Cowie even constructed a railway siding from the distillery to the train station, by which he secured Mortlach to have its own distribution channel.
The Mortlach Distillery was acquired by John Walker & Sons in 1923, which on its turn was acquired by the distillery’s current owner DCL (Diageo).
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