Dalwhinnie Distillery

The Victorians described Dalwhinnie as being “madly located”. Even through modern eyes it’s possible to see where they were coming from. Dalwhinnie is the third highest located distillery in Scotland and the meteorological station that has the distinction of observing the lowest recorded temperature in Britain. Dalwhinnie’s isolated location is a key part of its history. “Dalwhinnie” means “meeting place” in Gaelic a nod to the distillery’s excellent central location. The Strathspey Distillery Company founded the distillery in 1897 and originally operated under the name “Strathspey”. Less than a year later however the company went into liquidation and the name of the distillery was changed appropriately as it switched hands to the Dalwhinnie Distillery Company. Production continued with the architect Charles Doig who is responsible for the famous pagoda shaped roof contributing to the expansion of the distillery. The distillery changed hands twice more during the first half of the twentieth century and was briefly owned by an American company Cook & Bernheimer making it the very first foreign-owned scotch distillery. In 1934 a fire destroyed the majority of the distillery and production had to be halted for four years while the site was being rebuilt. After the rebuild was completed in 1938 the distillery had to remain closed until 1940 due to wartime restrictions on barley. Since 1940 the distillery has produced whisky almost uninterrupted save for a brief period in 1986 when the distillery underwent a complete refurbishment.