Glen Spey

Glen Spey is a whisky distillery near Rothes in Moray, set among rolling farmland where the River Spey bends east. The site began in 1878 as Mill of Rothes before becoming Glen Spey under James Stuart & Co. In 1887 the London firm W. & A. Gilbey paid £11,000 for the distillery, making it the first English company to own a Scottish malt distillery. A serious fire in 1920 damaged the buildings, but the stills were rebuilt and doubled in 1970 to four. The distillery later joined International Distillers & Vitners and eventually became part of Diageo after the merger of Guinness and Grand Metropolitan. The water for the whisky comes from Doonie’s Spring on the hills above the Spey valley. Malted barley arrives from large malting plants along the Moray Firth, then passes through a 2-tonne stainless steel mash tun and eight 25,000-litre wash backs. Distillation takes place in two 12,000-litre wash stills and two 7,500-litre spirit stills, all heated by steam coils. The result is a single malt that appears in the Flora and Fauna series as a 12-year-old expression. Visitors follow a short path from the car park to the distillery gate. Inside they see the gleaming stainless steel tun room and the row of large wooden wash backs. The still house holds the four copper pot stills, their swan-neck lyne arms rising toward the roof. Beyond the still room a quiet courtyard opens to views across the Spey floodplain. The aroma of malt and warm copper fills the air, and the stills’ steady hum fills the background.