Looking good: and back in business.

Rosebank Distillery. Established 1840.

Opening for public tours next month.

First Whisky production activity in this vicinity was established in 1840; owned by the Rankine family. The family managed the business until one month before the outbreak of World War One. It then became part of Distillers Group. They used malt whisky from a range of their distilleries to make blended whisky brands. Incorporation into Distillers maybe saved Rosebank. Many independent distilleries went to the wall in years to come.

The Sector moved on, blend demand changed, and Rosebank stopped production in 1993. I was there in October 1991 when working with that Sector. The distillery was in state of disrepair and decline. The site was subsequently vandalised, the whisky copper stills stolen eight years later. Would this be the end of the road folks asked?

No. Not all the malt whisky was used as blended feedstock. Some Rosebank malt output often found its way into the marketplace and got bottled by independent bottlers; some stocks were later laid down for Rosebank Malt speciality brand - my father had some. A lovely lowland malt, it’s now a Vintage series. Over time Rosebank single malt has become ‘one of the greats’ among whiskies.

After a century in corporate ownership the distillery moved back to family ownership when the Russell family, aka Ian McLeod Distillers, bought the site and redevelopment started in 2017. They view it as a boutique distillery and their future lies in making high end single malts. First New Make Spirit was produced in June 2023.

Bottles are now rare, connoisseurs pay a lot; a 32 year old bottle sold for £3,900 in July 2023. One of the world’s whisky analysts viewed Rosebank as a top collectible last year. Further releases of the Rosebank Vintage series will continue over time.

And the New Make Spirit will come to market in due course.