Balblair Distillery was established in 1790 by its founder John Ross. In the area there had been a farm distillery at Balblair farm near Edderton which started distilling 1749 (see Misaka Udo). In 1798 John Ross aquired the farm lease although he had been already distilling malt at Balblair Distillery which he had built next to the railway line. It is one of the oldest working distilleries in the Highlands. „It was built half a mile away from where the old distillery was,“ Manager John MacDonald says (2011).

The distillery was owned by the Ross Family until 1894 when the wine merchant Alexander Cowan from Inverness bought Balblair. The present distillery was built by him and remained very traditionally.

In 1911 the old Victorian warehouses were used as army barracks after Cowan went bankrupt. There had been no distilling until Robert James Cumming, the owner of Pulteney,  bought the distillery in 1948. He increased the stills from two to three in 1964 and extended the tun room with two more washbacks. In 2013 about 1.370.000 litres of new make spirit were produced. The production will increase to 1.800.000 litres in 2014.

Some scenes of the film The Angels‘ Share were filmed at Balblair Distillery (2011).

Distillery Manager: John MacDonald (since 2006)

There is a new visitor centre which was opened in July 2011 offering excellent tours.

Please double-click and thumbnail the photo to open the tour.

Thank you.