Bottlings from Balmenach are very difficult to find. Since reopening in 1998, it has not produced an official bottling, leaving independent companies to release the only available varieties. Balmenach is generally quite a fruity spirit, prized in blends for adding a meaty, malty weight to the product. The independent bottlings can highlight farmyard, mineral notes and a biscuit sweetness at the core.
Founded
1824
Owner
Inver House
Production Status
Operational
Capacity
2,000,000 Litres
When Balmenach first became an official and licensed distillery in 1824, founder James McGregor had already been producing whisky for quite some time, using an illicit still on the same farm. The McGregor family held the distillery for almost a century after the licence was granted; selling the business to what would become DCL in 1922.
The whisky has always commanded a great deal of respect and demand in the blending industry, and this ability to lend itself so well to the heart of many blended whiskies means that the current owners have no plans to release an official bottling. Inver House have, however, installed a gin still into the distillery, and Balmenach is now the home of Caorunn Scottish Gin, using pure grain spirit and five Celtic botanicals to create their high quality gin.
Balmenach is quite close to our hearts, but no more so than for Sandy, our warehouse manager, who was raised there and whose father was a stillman at the distillery. Though he moved on to work at Cragganmore, he still lives in Balmenach.