Craigellachie

The Craigellachie distillery is a single malt Scotch whisky distillery in Aberlour, Banffshire near the village of Craigellachie at the center of the Speyside whisky producing area of Scotland. The name Craigellachie means ‘rocky hill’ and refers to the cliff that overlooks the Spey across from The Macallan and Glenfiddich distilleries. Craigellachie was built in 1891 by a consortium led by Alexander Edward and Peter Mackie who had inherited the Lagavulin distillery two years previously. It was built with all modern conveniences with the express intention of making a lighter fruitier character than the older distilleries.One of the earliest descriptors of Craigellachie mentions pineapple as a desirable aroma. After Edwards retired in 1916, Peter Mackie took full control of the distillery, and much of the production was to go into the White Horse blend that the Mackie family had created in 1861.

After Peter Mackie’s death in 1924, Mackie & Co. Distillers changed its name to White Horse Distillers, and the company was sold to Distillers Company Ltd (DCL, later to become part of Diageo). The distillery was extended in the mid-1960s, with the number of stills being doubled to four. Long known locally as ‘The White Horse Distillery’, Craigellachie was sold by Diageo in 1998 to Bacardi, along with John Dewar & Sons which is now Craigellachie’s controlling company. Since Bacardi acquired ownership, a new range of age statements have been launched: a 13-Year-Old, 17-Year-Old, 19-Year-Old and 23-Year-Old.