Scotch distillery re-starts production after 100yrs

After lying dormant for almost 100 years, historic Scotch whisky distillery Annandale has re-started production with a multi-million pound investment.

The Annandale Distillery has re-started production after almost 100 years of laying dormant

The distillery, based in the southern Scottish region of Dumfriesshire, has resumed whisky production and filled its first cask after 95 years.

As reported by Digital Journal, David Thompson, a sensory consumer scientist, and his wife Teresa Church, brought the distillery back into production after acquiring the site in 2007.

With an investment of £10.5m, the couple hope to restore the distillery, which was once owned by Johnnie Walker, to its former glory. When they purchased the distillery three years ago, the buildings had fallen into disrepair.

The distillery plans to release two single malt Scotch whisky labels: the Man O’ Sword, inspired by King Robert the Bruce, and Man O’Words, inspired by Scottish poet Robert Burns, both of which will be available by early 2018.

Annandale also plans to release a blended Scotch whisky called Nation of Scots.

The distillery filled its first cask – a 2^nd-fill American white oak Bourbon barrel – this weekend, with the whisky it contains planned for release in 10 years’ time. After Johnnie Walker ceased using the distillery in 1924, it was used to create the Provost brand of porridge oats until 2007.

“We are going to make a smokey, peaky whisky – which we know was historically made at Annandale Distillery,” Thompson told The Scotsman. “We are also going to make a complex whisky – we are looking for characterful whisky.”