Strathmill distillery information
The Strathmill distillery was established in 1891, under the name of the Glenisla-Glenlivet distillery. It was built on the site of an existing corn mill, established by A. G. Johnstone as Strathisla Mills in 1823 (though evidence has been found that there had been illicit distilling going on at the location as early as 1825). This explains the name, with “Strath” being Gaelic for a long valley, and the distillery being housed in a mill. It changed names to Strathmill in 1895, when it was bought by W. & A. Gilbey (aka Gilbey’s), a gin producing company that at the time also owned the Knockdhu distillery and would also end up owning Glen Spey.
In 1962, The Gilbey Brothers merged with Justin & Brooks (J&B) and United Wine Traders, and took on the name of International Distillers & Vintners (which would evolve into Diageo eventually). The amount of stills was doubled from 2 to 4 in 1968. In 1972, International Distllers & Vintners were snagged up by Watney Mann; which merged with Grand Metropolitan Hotels in the same year. In 1997, Grand Metropolitan merged with Guinness to form, Diageo, who are the current owners of the distillery.
An interesting note is that Strathmill was the first distillery to ship its whisky by tanker. The name of the first tanker to do so was Whisky Galore.
Strathmill whisky
The lions share of Strathmill has always been used for blends, particularly J&B and Dunhill. Most whisky distilled will be transferred to Auchroisk for filling. Very little bottling actually takes place on-site. However, there have been two official Single Malt releases:
- Strathmill 25 Year Old. Centenary celebration, released in 1992.
- Strathmill 12 year old Flora & Fauna, released in 2001.
It is possible to find some independent bottlings, though you might have to spend some time looking for them.
Distillery info:
| Name | Strathmill |
| Region | Speyside |
| Logo |  |
| Status | Active |
| Founded | 1891 |
| Water source | Local Spring |
| Owned by | Diageo |
| Address |
Strathmill Distillery +44 (0) 1542 882295 |
| Visitor centre | No |
| Website | http://www.malts.com |
| N/A | |
| N/A | |
| Community | N/A |
| Map |
Distillery Setup:
Component |
Capacity |
Quantity |
|---|---|---|
| Mash tun | 9 tonnes | 1 (Stainless Steel) |
| Washback | 46,500 litres | 6 (Stainless Steel) |
| Wash still | 11,000 litres | 2 |
| Spirit Still | 6,700 litres | 2 |
| Expected yearly output in LPA (Litres of pure alcohol) | 2,300,000 |