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Glenkinchie whisky distillery

In 2017, the Glenkinchie Distillery celebrated its 180th birthday. The distillery near the capital of Scotland is one of the last in the Lowlands. It is located on the way from Northern England to Edinburgh on the beautiful east coast of Scotland. Due to its proximity to Edinburgh, the whisky produced there is also called Edinburgh Malt.

Glenkinchie factsheet

Name Pronounced AKA Region
Glenkinchie glen*kin*chee Lowlands
Country of Origin Status Active Whisky Type
Scotland Active 1837 - Present Malt
Website Tours Available Owned by Parent Group
Glenkinchie Tour Link Diageo

Glenkinchie equipment & site

Still makerAbercrombie
CondensersWorm tub

What Glenkinchie makes

Whisky

  • Glenkinchie 12

Shop: at the distillery.

Glenkinchie Timeline:

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  1. 1837Established by the Rate brothers, John and George, who had been originally farmers and grew and malted their own barley on the premises
  2. 1840Said to have been worked by James Gray of Leechman & Gray
  3. 1851Operating
  4. 1852John Rate is licensee
  5. 1853The Rate brothers went bankrupt, and the distillery was used mainly as a cowshed. A part was sold to a farmer Christie and converted into a sawmill
  6. 1880-81The distillery was bought by the Glen Kinchie Distillery Co., a consortium of whisky merchants and blenders from Leith and Edinburgh and production was started again after rebuilding the distillery and maltings
  7. 1890The Glen Kinchie Distillery Co. was founded with Major James Gray as General Manager. Reconstruction and refurbishment is going on for the next few years
  8. 1890-1914Limited company
  9. 1914Became a founding member of Scottish Malt Distillers Ltd. (SMD), established to consolidate the resources and interest of malt distillers in the Lowlands. Two stills. Licensed to John Haig & Co. Ltd.
  10. 1925Scottish Malt Distillers Ltd. (SMD) is bought by Distillers Company Ltd. (DCL), and Glenkinchie is licensed to join John Haig & Co.
  11. 1939-45One of the few distilleries allowed to maintain a small production during WWII
  12. 1968Floor maltings stopped being used
  13. 1969The old floor maltings is converted into a museum
  14. 1972Stills became steamheated
  15. 1988-89Malt becomes available as a single malt as part of United Distillers’s Classic Malt range
  16. 1996Opening of new visitor centre

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Can I tour Glenkinchie?

Yes Glenkinchie distillery is tourable. On Trip Advisor the distillery has been rated as excellent by 723 of 930 tours to date. This gives Glenkinchie an overall rating of 4.5