The Auchentoshan Distillery lies northwest of Glasgow, at the foot of the Old Kilpatrick Hills in Dunbartonshire. Auchentoshan is Gaelic for ‘corner of the field’. Even though the current distillery was founded in 1823 whisky was probably distilled here much earlier; the distillery is built on the site of an old monastery with the same name, and since the art of distilling came to Scotland via the monasteries whisky had probably been produced here long before the Auchentoshan Distillery received their licence. The earliest written record of the Auchentoshan Monastery is dated 1649.

Auchentoshan has passed through many hands over the years. In 1974 the distillery was acquired by Eadie Cairns Ltd, a well-known brewing family. Eadie Cairns restored and repaired the distillery and used their retail channels to launch a single malt bottling –up until then Auchentoshan had only been used for making blended whisky. The distillery was sold again in 1984 when it was bought by Stanley P. Morrison, the current Morrison Bowmore Distillers which are owned by the Japanese beverage producer Suntory.

Production at Auchentoshan

The barley is bought from several private and central mating companies and is used completely unpeated. The malt is ground in a Porteus mill before it is mashed in two stainless steel mash tuns. The distillery use four wooden washbacks and three made from stainless steel.

Auchentoshan are the only distillery in Scotland to practice the traditional Lowland triple distillation. As a result, Auchentoshan is a very light whisky which receives much of its final character from the maturing where the whisky interacts with the wood in the casks. Auchentoshan whisky is mostly stored in Sherry and bourbon casks but also for example in Pedro Ximénez barrels which are used for their Three Wood bottling.

The whisky destined to become single malt whisky is stored in three traditional dunnage warehouses. The larger part of the production is sold to the blended industry and is stored in two modern racked warehouses.

Auchentoshan is an important part of virtually all major blended brands.

Contact Auchentoshan

Auchentoshan Distillery
Old Kilpatrick
Dalmuir, Duntocher
Dunbartonshire, G81 4SG
Scotland

Phone: +44 (0) 141 558 9011
Fax: +44 (0) 141 558 9010
eMail: info@morrisonbowmore.co.uk

Visitors: Visitors are welcome after advance booking.

Owner: Morrison Bowmore Distillers Ltd / Suntory