The Benromach distillery

In a century of existence, it has been left dormant more than it is has been in production due to recessions, war rationing and a succession of new owners. But the distillery in Forres, a large village on the edge of Speyside, saw its lucky star rise in 1993, when renowned independent bottlers Gordon & MacPhail fulfilled their dream: to breath new life into Benromach distillery, which had already been slumbering for a decade. This was a natural progression for the Elgin-based merchants who had already bottled casks of Benromach on a number of occasions that had been left to age in their warehouses.

The first distillate saw the light of day after five years. All of the production equipment was redesigned and rebuilt, without replicating its original components: a new brewing vat, fully renovated fermentation vats and two new stills. All the production processes were concentrated onto a single floor, almost contained within a single room, with a view to ensuring a better control by our three distillers who orchestrate every second of the distillation process. Every cask is hand-filled, hand-weighted and hant-stamped before maturing for many yearsin their traditional dunnage warehouses.

IBenromach benefited from Gordon & MacPhail’s hefty maturing expertise, with a preference for second-fill barrels and sherry barrels, and American oak as opposed to the Spanish variety. However, if the Urquhart family purchased Benromach, it’s above all to recreate the very special pre-1960’s style of Speyside: A beautifully balanced Single Malt exuding a luscious, light touch of smoke

In 1998, the distillery’s inauguration was honoured by a royal visit from Prince Charles and six years later the first ‘new formula’ "Traditional" Benromach was born. Since then, as well as producing organic whisky, Gordon & MacPhail have been experimenting with different levels of peat and types of barley.