Brora distillery

Brora distillery stands on the east coast of Scotland’s Highlands, beside the village of Brora. Built in 1819 by the Marquess of Stafford, it first traded under the name Clynelish until 1968. A new Clynelish distillery opened that year, and the original site became Brora. George Lawson and his sons ran the distillery from 1846 until they sold it to James Ainslie and John Risk in 1896. In 1912 The Distillers Company joined Risk and took full control by 1925. The distillery is recognised for its unusual peating history. Between 1969 and 1973 it made heavily peated whisky to replace Islay supplies during a drought. After 1973 it returned to lightly peated Highland style. Production stopped in 1983 and the site was mothballed until 2021, when it reopened under Diageo. The 1972 Brora 40 year old released in 2014 became the most expensive single malt ever sold by Diageo at the time. Visitors find a working distillery with modern stills and traditional stone buildings. The site overlooks the Moray Firth and the village of Brora. Warehouses hold casks of maturing spirit from both the old and new eras. The first new cask was filled in May 2021, marking the return of production.