Glenturret distillery

Glenturret distillery lies in a quiet glen beside the Turret River, two kilometres northwest of Crieff in Perthshire. The hills on either side once hid illicit stills from tax men, and artists still come to paint the valley’s soft light. It sits in the parish of Monzievaird and Strowan, where the river’s pure water begins high on Ben Chonzie. The site was first used for whisky in 1717, long before it became legal. Its early name, Hosh, came from the Gaelic for ‘foot’, marking the spot where barley was once dried. The distillery’s seclusion helped it survive when other Highland sites were lost. The distillery is recognised as Scotland’s oldest working site, though others dispute the claim. John McCallum took charge in 1845, and Thomas Stewart renamed it Glenturret in 1863. It closed during the First World War and again in the 1920s, but reopened in 1957 under James Fairlie, who revived traditional methods. Highland Distillers later turned it into the Famous Grouse Experience, which won a BAFTA nomination in 2002. Today the Lalique Group owns the distillery and plans to remove peat from production in 2025. Visitors walk past the still house where copper pot stills shape the spirit. Water from Loch Turret, filtered through granite, gives the whisky its soft character. The mash tun, wash backs and spirit stills stand in a single line, unchanged for generations. A bronze statue of Towser, the record-breaking cat, stands in the visitor centre, her paw prints on a special bottle. Dylan and Brooke, chosen for their looks, now share mousing duties with Glen and Turret. Outside, the glen’s quiet beauty still draws artists, just as Alfred Barnard noted in the 19th century.