Speyburn Distillery's story

Queen Victoria was the first British monarch to celebrate a Diamond Jubilee, and Hopkins's goal of filling the first cask of Speyside single malt Scotch whisky and placing it in the dunnage warehouse during this momentous year was an important goal for Hopkins, one few thought he'd achieve.

Locals traditionally refer to the Speyburn Distillery as 'The Gibbet' (pronounced 'jib-it') because of its location near 'Cnock na Croiche' meaning 'hill of the gibbet', a gibbet being an old word for gallows.

1916 - Hopkins sold Speyburn to the Distillers Company Limited.

1939 - To support the war effort, the distillery was temporarily shut down to be used as barracks by two Scottish Artillery regiments; it reopened in 1947 after the war had ended.

1962 - The original coal-fired stills were replaced with less polluting and more controllable indirect steam-heated pot stills.

1967 - When Speyburn was built in 1897, it was the first malt whisky distillery to install the innovative Galland-Henning Pneumatic Drum Maltings. Laid out over three levels, mechanically driven germination drums slowly revolved to stop the rootlets matting together so negating the manual labour previously required for traditional floor maltings. Although they ceased operating in 1967, the drum maltings at Speyburn is the only surviving example with the original workings, including four original wooden malt hoppers preserved.

1992 - The current owners, Inver House Distillers, acquired Speyburn and started to invest in the distillery.

2014 - The distillery began an expansion programme to double its production capacity.

2023 - The distillery opened its doors to the public for the Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival 2023 to mark its 125th anniversary. Later that same year, Speyburn announced that it would permanently open to visitors.

2024 - Speyburn unveiled its vibrant new packaging and refreshed core range, marking the next exciting chapter for the distillery.