Mannochmore whisky – Speyside

Mannochmore distillery information

The Mannochmore distillery was built by Scottish Malt Distillers, or SMD and licensed to John Haig & Co. in 1971 directly next to the Glenlossie distillery. Both distilleries are located in Thomshill, two miles south of Elgin, in the heart of the Speyside. When it was established, Mannochmore was mostly intended to provide filler whisky for the blending of Haig whisky. The distillery is constructed in a style typical of the 1960s and 1970s called the “Waterloo street style”, where efficiency is key. The same style was used when the Coal Ila distillery was rebuilt in 1972.

The distillery was closed in 1985, and remained closed until 1989. In 1992, the first official bottlings were released, followed in 1996 by the infamous “Loch Dhu”, nicknamed “The black whisky” due to its extremely dark color, which was obtained by maturing the whisky in double charred barrels, and quite some added caramel color. While it originally did not receive a favorable reception (except for in Denmark), it nowadays is sort of a cult whisky, with bottles of Loch Dhu (“The black lake”) increasingly harder to find.

In 1999, Mannochmore was transferred to United Distillers & Vintners Ltd. (UDV), who moved it to Diageo plc in 2004.

Mannochmore whisky

Most whisky distilled is still headed for Haig blends, but a few official bottlings have been released:

  • Flora and Fauna, 12 Year Old (circa 1990)
  • Loch Dhu (1996 – 1997)
  • Rare Malt, 21 Year Old (1997)

Distillery info:
NameMannochmore
RegionSpeyside
Logo
StatusActive
Founded1971
Water sourceThe Bardon Burn
Owned byDiageo
Address

Mannochmore
Thomshill
Elgin, Moray IV30 3SF
Scotland

+44 (0)1343 - 86 20 00
Visitor centreNo
WebsiteN/A
TwitterN/A
FacebookN/A
CommunityN/A
Map

Distillery Setup:

Component
Capacity
Quantity
Mash tun11.5 tonnes1 (Cast iron, Full lauter)
Washback55,000 litres8 (Larch)
Wash still3 litres14,400
Spirit Still3 litres17,000
Expected yearly output in LPA (Litres of pure alcohol)3,200,000