Glenlossie

Glenlossie is a single malt whisky distillery in Elgin, Morayshire, set among rolling farmland a few kilometres south of the Moray Firth coast. Founded in 1876 by John Duff, it sits beside the Lossie Water, a river that once powered the original waterwheel. The distillery’s red-brick buildings and pagoda roofs date mostly from the 1890s rebuild after an earlier fire. A quiet lane leads to the entrance, where visitors first see the mash house and the still room. Warehouses line the track behind, filled with casks maturing in the coastal air. The distillery is worth the journey for its role in Speyside’s whisky story and its long line of stills. In 1919 it was bought by Distillers Company Ltd, then in 1962 the number of stills grew from four to six. A decade later the first official bottling, Glenlossie 10 year old, reached the market. The whisky is known for its light, malty character shaped by the local barley and water. Blenders use its spirit in blends such as Haig and Johnnie Walker, giving it wide reach. Inside, the still room holds six gleaming copper stills where the spirit is distilled twice. The mash tun and washbacks sit in the mash house, arranged in a single storey of red brick. Outside, the Lossie Water still flows past the back of the site, its banks lined with willows. Beyond the warehouses lie fields of barley ready for the next season’s harvest. The whole place smells of malt and warm copper, a quiet monument to Speyside’s whisky craft.