Blair Athol distillery

Blair Athol distillery is a Highland single malt Scotch whisky distillery located on the south edge of Pitlochry in Perthshire, near the River Tummel in Scotland.

Blair Athol distillery

Region: Highland
Location	Pitlochry
Owner	Diageo
Founded	1798
Status	Operational
Water source	Allt Dour Burn
No. of stills	2 wash stills (13,000 liters) 2 spirit stills (12,000 liters)[1]
Capacity	2,500,000 litres
Mothballed	Soon after 1798 to 1825 1932 to 1949
Blair Athol 12
Type	Single malt
Age(s)	12 Years
ABV	43%

It is used in Bell's whisky, and is also normally available in a 12-year-old bottling.^[2]

History

The distillery was founded in 1798 by John Steward and Robert Robertson,^[3] originally named 'Aldour', after the Allt Dour burn the distillery draws it water from, but closed soon after opening.^[4] The distillery opened again and changed ownership to John Robertson in 1825.^[3][2]

It was sold several times in the period after, going from John Robertson to Alexander Conacher & Co., then to John Conacher & Co, which was inherited by Elizabeth Conacher in 1860. It was sold again to Peter Fraser & Co, and again to Peter Mackenzie of P. McKenzie & Co Distillers Limited in 1882.^[3][4]

The distillery closed down in 1932. The mothballed distillery was bought by Arthur Bell and Sons, but didn't open again until it was rebuilt in 1949.^[3] In 1973 the distillery expanded, adding two further stills to the previous two.^[3]

In 1987, Guinness.combined the businesses of Arthur Bell & Sons and Distillers Company.^[5] In 1997, Guinness merged with Grand Metropolitan to create Diageo, the current owner of Blair Athol distillery.^[6]

References

1. Blair Athol on Whisky.com
2. Jackson, Michael (May 2004). Malt Whisky Companion (5th ed.). London: Dorling Kindersley. ISBN 978-1-4053-0234-0. OCLC 60383343.
3. Helen Arthur (2002) [1997]. The single malt companion (in Dutch). Lisbeth Machielsen (trans.). Libero. p. 77. ISBN 978-90-5764-236-4.
4. Johannes van den Heuvel. "Blair Athol distillery profile". Malt madness. Archived from the original on 9 April 2012. Retrieved 9 April 2012.
5. "The Guinness / Distillers Saga: The Aftermath". Scottish Whisky Magazine. Retrieved 15 July 2020.
6. "DIAGEO SCOTLAND LIMITED overview – Find and update company information – GOV.UK".

External links

Media related to Blair Athol distillery at Wikimedia Commons

• Official website

56°41′54.5″N 3°43′15.0″W