Clynelish Brora Distillery | Newly Restored

After thirty eight years the stills at Brora Distillery have finally been re-ignited, signalling a new era for the ever popular distillery. Clynelish Distillery continues to be a power house in the production of Johnnie Walker Whisky, and both distilleries are well worth a visit (if you can) to show the juxtaposition between small batch old world whisky (Brora) and new world mass production (Clynelish).

Clynelish Brora Distillery History

In 1819 Clynelish Brora Distillery was established by George Granville Leveson-Gower, then Marquess of Stafford and his wife, Elizabeth Leveson-Gower, the Countess of Sutherland. Elizabeth was born to the Earl of Sutherland and inherited it all at the ripe old age of 1 when her father and mother died suddenly. Upon her marriage to George, he took control of her estates (though not ownership) and together they devised means of deriving income from them, establishing many new businesses such a coal mine, brick and tile works, weaving and salt panning, as well the distillery. Whisky production would increase the profits on the barley they were producing, and they could utilise the coal they were mining nearby as fuel.

Another of their money making ventures was to populate the lands with sheep, and in the process, evict the existing inhabitants. Clynelish, like Talisker, is a clearance distillery. The Sutherland’s oversaw the most brutal of the Highland Clearances. Their agents/factors burned whole villages, including one elderly woman who refused to leave. They wanted to ensure that the people could not return to their homes. Clynelish Distillery is in the heart of Sutherland – a mere 5.8 miles / 9.4 km from Dunrobin Castle, Clan Sutherland’s home since the 1400s.

From 1814 to 1820 roughly 15,000 inhabitants (3000 families) were evicted from around 794,000 acres of land in Sutherland and Caithness further to the north. The families were expected to move to the coastline, an area of approximately 6000 acres, for which the Sutherlands charged a rent of 2s 6d per acre.  They had little choice but to work in the new businesses the Sutherlands had set up.

Despite their efforts, and the abundance of cheap labour, Clynelish was not initially profitable, and its first licensee James Harper went bankrupt in 1827.

By the time of Alfred Barnard’s visit around 1887, Clynelish was well and truly back in business. Barnard notes “the demand for it … has become so great that the firm have for some years been obliged to refuse trade orders”. Clynelish was being sold only as a duty paid product to private customers, not under bond “and the whole stock is thus available for the ordinary business of the firm”. Annual output was 20,000 gallons / 76,000 litres from the two stills. At the time there were three granaries, two malt barns, one kiln (using only peat), four washbacks and one 13ft diameter/3ft 6-inch deep mash tun. Barnard also notes that they were no longer using Brora coal as fuel it was of such low quality. 1

Johnnie Walker Whisky

In 1896 Clynelish was acquired by blenders Ainslie & Heilbron, in partnership with John Risk. Risk purchased Clynelish outright in 1912 and worked very closely with John Walker & Sons. It has proved to be an enduring relationship, as 95% of Clynelish today is used to make Johnnie Walker whisky. DCL acquired both Clynelish and John Walker & Sons in 1925 and still retain ownership under the banner of Diageo.

DCL closed the distillery down during the 1930s and did not resume full production again until 1960. By 1967 the need for Clynelish was so great that DCL build a second much larger distillery on the site, also named Clynelish. The original site was to be retired; however, drought on Islay was affecting production at DCL’s Port Ellen and Caol Ila sites. There were concerns of peated whisky shortages for blending, so after a brief refurbishment, the original site was restarted and renamed Brora. Brora continued making spirit (peated and unpeated) up until the early 80s when demand fell, and so did Brora’s usefulness as a distillery. In 1983 the stills at Brora were once again shut down.

Clynelish on the other hand prevailed, and an expansion/refurbishment was completed in 2017/2018. Clynelish’s former copper-top mash tun is now a beautifully repurposed bar at the (also Diageo owned) Blair Athol distillery in Pitlochry.

Resurrection

In October 2017, Diageo announced that they would re-open Clynelish Brora Distillery (along with Port Ellen Distillery on Islay). Production at Brora Distillery commenced again in 2021. Tours of the distillery are still available, though unfortunately now quite limited, as it is a beautiful example of an older distillery.

Brora Whisky

Until the new-make spirit has had sufficient time to mature (at least 2024 but more likely a lot later) you’ll find it difficult to acquire any Brora bottles other than on specialist sites, for a considerable sum, given the stills have been silent since 1983. Brora whisky was often heavily peated, unlike its sister distillery Clynelish, which has only a whisper of peat.

Clynelish Whisky

Clynelish 14yo used to be one of my favourite whiskies – it’s a slightly sweet, slightly salty (‘maritime’) dram with quite a lot of complexity – hints of toffee, spices and honey.

95% of the whisky made at the Clynelish Distillery is sent off for blending into Johnnie Walker.

Where Are The Clynelish & Brora Distilleries

The Clynelish & Brora Distilleries are 58 miles / 94 km north of Inverness, along the A9.  

Driving : You’ll notice the town of Golspie first, and then Dunrobin Castle (the home of Clan Sutherland since the 1400s). Pass through Brora, turn left at Clynelish Road and follow the brown signs to the distillery.

Public Transport: Clynelish Brora Distillery is relatively accessible by public transportation, being a 1.2 mile / 1.9 km walk from Brora Train Station. For train times see http://www.travelinescotland.com

Clynelish Distillery Tours

Clynelish Distillery is not currently open for visitors.

Brora Distillery Tours

Brora Distillery is open for tours on a restricted or on request basis.

Brora Awakened

An expertly guided tour of the newly restored Brora Distillery followed by a warehouse tasting of limited edition Brora whiskies. 90 minutes duration and £225 per person. Minimum 2 persons per tour, maximum 10. Brora Awakened tours are generally available once a week and must be booked in advance.

Brora Revealed

£450 per person (minimum 2 persons) and 2.5 hours duration. Your tour begins in Brora's historic courtyard where your host will guide you through each era of the distillery's history - all the way from its founding in 1819, its period of silence as a 'ghost distillery' to its meticulous restoration. From there, you'll be led on an in-depth production tour, tracing every step of its meticulous stone by stone restoration and guided through our traditional whisky making process. Your journey culminates in a curated tasting of four exceptional whiskies, personally selected by your host and drawn from Brora's library of historic releases, including distillery exclusive expressions and Brora Prima & Ultima collection. These rare whiskies have been carefully chosen to showcase the characters of our past and help illustrate the vision for our future.

This experience includes: a light lunch platter using local ingredients. Tour bookings are by request only.

What else is nearby

Brora Distillery (Pre-Renovation) Photo Gallery

Other Activities (Inverness)

Resources & Further Reading