Balblair Distillery is situated in Edderton and was founded in 1790 by John Ross. They claim to be the second oldest distillery in use in Scotland. The name Balblair means Baile á Bhaláir in gaelic and means battlefield and derives from when the the vikings raided the sorroundings in the 11th century.
The distillery was ownde by the Ross family until 1894. After a few shifts in ownership and production stops between 1915 and 1947 Balblair Distillery was baought by the lawyer Robert Cumming from Banff.
Robert had great visions for Balblair and increased the site and the total capacity. Worse times for whisky and Balblair forced Robert to sell and Hiram Walker bought it in 1970. 1996 Balblair was bought again by the present owners Inver House Distillers who also owns Speyburn and Pulteney Distilleries. A significant part of the production goes to Ballantines blended.
Production at Balblair
Balblair water source: Allt Dearg which has a soft and peaty water.
They buy the malt from central malting factories
Mashtun: Iron and takes 4,25 ton at the time.
Washbacks: Six in oregon pine, 22.000 litres.
Wash still: One 19.093 litres steam heated.
Spirit stills: Two 11.044 litres
They mainly bourboncasks to mature whisky in traditional dunnage warehouses
Total production is around 1.5 milion litres per year.
Contact Balblair
Balblair Distillery
Edderton
Tain
Ross-shire IV19 1LB
Skottland
Phone:+44 (0) 1862 821273
Manager: derek.sinclair@inverhouse.com
Visitors: By appointment.
