Dalmunach distillery

Dalmunach distillery stands beside the River Spey in Carron, Moray, within the Speyside whisky region. It occupies part of the former Imperial distillery site and draws water from the Ballinom Burn, which rises in the Mannoch Hills. The distillery’s name comes from a pool on the Spey nearby, and it lies beside two long-distance footpaths, the Speyside Way and Moray Way. Built for Chivas Regal blends, it is now owned by Chivas Brothers, part of the Pernod Ricard group. The distillery opened in 2015, opened by Nicola Sturgeon, then Scotland’s First Minister. Its modern design, inspired by a sheaf of barley, won a Royal Institute of British Architects award in the same year. The £25 million project was planned to be energy efficient, using renewable sources. In 2019, Theresa Villiers visited while serving as Environment Secretary, and in 2021 Douglas Ross came during his time as Scottish Conservative leader. Visitors find a large distillery with a 12-tonne Briggs Lauter mash tun and sixteen stainless steel washbacks. Eight pot stills, shaped like onions, recall the old Imperial distillery. The site can produce ten million litres of spirit, most used for blending Chivas Regal. The first single malt bottlings appeared in 2019, when a four-year-old single cask was released.