The Glendullan Distillery (Macdonald Greenlees Ltd

Status: Operational

Established: 1897

Owner: Diageo plc

Capacity: Not supplied

Visitor Policy: Not generally accessible

Tel: Not supplied

Pronounced ‘Glen-Dul-lan’, this Speyside distillery was built between 1897-98 by William Williams & Sons, an Aberdeen based firm of blenders who in 1919 changed their name to Macdonald, Greenlees & Williams (Distillers) Ltd.

Built on a site that could use water drawn from the River Fiddich and also take advantage of the railway siding at the neighbouring Mortlach distillery, Glendullan was the last of the seven distilleries built in Dufftown. Collectively known as the ‘Seven Stills of Dufftown’, the others were Mortlach (1824), Glenfiddich (1887), Balvenie (1892), Convalmore Distillery (1893), Dufftown (1896), Parkmore (1894). It is said that Rome was built on seven hills and Dufftown was built on seven distilleries.

In 1926, Glendullan was acquired the Distillers Company Ltd (DCL), one of the ancestors of Diageo which now owns the distillery. Glendullan was completely refurbished in 1962 but only ten years later a brand new distillery was constructed next door to the old one. This had six stills (3 wash & 3 spirit) as opposed to the originals pair and both ‘Glendullan’ distilleries were operated side by side and their production blended together and sold as Glendullan single malt whisky. Such a whisky would not be allowed to be marketed as a ‘single malt’ these days.

In 1985 the old distillery was mothballed and then converted into a workshop for distillery engineers.