Rosebank distillery

Rosebank Distillery stands beside the Forth and Clyde canal in Camelon, Falkirk, between Edinburgh and Glasgow. The site was first used for whisky-making in 1798 by the Stark brothers, and the present distillery was founded in 1840 by James Rankine. For decades it shipped triple-distilled malt around the world and earned the title ‘King of the Lowlands’. Closed in 1993, the buildings stood empty until 2017 when Ian MacLeod Distillers bought the site and trademarks. The revival has brought new recognition. Within a week of opening in June 2024 it received five-star status from VisitScotland and was named Best Regeneration Project in the 2024 Herald Property Awards. In 2025 it was longlisted for the RIAS Best Building in Scotland Award for restoring the chimney, lockkeeper’s cottage and red-brick buildings. Critics such as Michael Jackson and Jim Murray praised its light, floral single malt. Visitors now walk past the restored chimney and lockkeeper’s cottage to see the working stills and oak casks. The distillery sits across the canal, linked by a swing bridge as in Alfred Barnard’s 1886 account. Warehouses once held half a million gallons, and the site still shows the layout of two former distilleries joined by Rankine in the 19th century. The whisky’s nose is described as light and distinctive, with flavours of fruit, grass and oak.