Balblair distillery
Balblair Distillery is a Scotch whisky distillery located in Edderton, Ross-shire, Scotland.
 View of Balblair Distillery | |
| Region: Highland | |
|---|---|
| Location | Edderton |
| Owner | InterBev (Inver House Distillers) |
| Founded | 1790 |
| Status | Active |
| Water source | The Allt Dearg |
| No. of stills | 1 wash still 20,000l 1 spirit still 8,500l[1] |
| Capacity | 1,800,000 litres of alcohol |
Founded in 1790,[2] the distillery was rebuilt in 1895 by the designer Charles C Doig to be closer to the Edderton Railway Station on the Inverness and Ross-shire Railway line. However, so good was the original water source that the rebuilt distillery chose to ignore a nearby burn in favour of the original Ault Dearg burn. To this day, the Balblair Distillery continues to use this original water source.
John Ross, the founder, ran Balblair as a thriving business and in 1824 he was joined by his son, Andrew. The distillery stayed in the Ross family until 1894 when the tenancy was taken over by Alexander Cowan. In 1948 the freehold was bought by Robert Cumming, who promptly expanded the distillery and increased production. Cumming ran the distillery until he retired in 1970 when he sold it to Hiram Walker. In 1996 Balblair Distillery was purchased by Inver House Distillers Limited.
Balblair has one of the oldest archives in distilling, with the first ledger entry dated 25 January 1800. John Ross himself penned that first entry, which read: “Sale to David Kirkcaldy at Ardmore, one gallon of whisky at £1.8.0d”.
Balblair used to release their whisky by vintage, but in April 2019 they started to release a core range of age statement whiskies. This includes but is not limited to a 12, 15, 18 and 25 year old.
The distillery is now owned by Inver House Distillers Limited, whose other distilleries include the Speyburn-Glenlivet Distillery, Knockdhu Distillery, Old Pulteney Distillery and Balmenach Distillery.
The distillery now has a visitor centre. Open all year to visitors.
Awards
Current Collection
12 Years Old
San Francisco World Spirits Competition 2020 – Gold
International Wine & Spirits Competition 2019 – Silver
International Spirits Challenge 2019 - Silver
15 Years Old
San Francisco World Spirits Competition 2020 – Gold
International Wine & Spirits Competition 2019 – Silver
International Spirits Challenge 2019 – Silver
18 Years Old
International Wine & Spirits Competition 2019 – Gold
International Spirits Challenge 2019 – Gold
25 Years Old
International Wine & Spirits Competition 2019 – Gold
International Spirits Challenge 2019 – Silver
Travel Collection
Balblair 17 Years Old
International Wine & Spirits Competition 2019 – Gold
International Spirits Challenge 2019 – Silver
Archived collection
International Spirits Competition 2018
Balblair Vintage 1991 - Gold
Balblair Vintage 2000 - Gold
International Wine & Spirits Competition 2018
Balblair Vintage 2000 - Gold
Balblair Vintage 1991 - Silver Outstanding
Balblair Vintage 2005 - Silver
World Whisky Awards 2018
Balblair Vintage 1999 - Bronze
Balblair Vintage 1990 - Bronze
International Wine and Spirit Competition 2017
Balblair Vintage 1990 - Gold
Balblair Vintage 1999 1st Release - Exclusive to Travel Retail - Gold
Balblair 2004 Bourbon Matured - Exclusive to Travel Retail - Silver Outstanding
Balblair 2004 Sherry - Exclusive to Travel Retail - Silver Outstanding
Balblair Vintage 1999 - Silver Outstanding
Balblair Vintage 2005 – Silver
San Francisco World Spirits Competition 2017
Balblair Vintage 1999 - Double Gold
International Spirits Challenge 2017[3]
Balblair Vintage 2004 Bourbon Matured - Exclusive to Travel Retail – Gold
Balblair Vintage 2005 – Silver
Balblair Vintage 1999 – Silver
Balblair Vintage 1990 – Silver
Balblair Vintage 2004 Sherry - Exclusive to Travel Retail – Silver
Ultimate Spirits Challenge 2017[4]
Balblair Vintage 1999 - 93 points
Balblair Vintage 2005 - 89 points
Balblair Vintage 1990 - 89 points
IWSC 2016[5]
Balblair Vintage 2005 – Gold Outstanding
Balblair Vintage 1990 - Gold Outstanding
Balblair Vintage 1999 – Silver
Balblair Vintage 1983 – Gold Outstanding
Balblair Vintage 2004 Bourbon - Exclusive to Travel Retail – Silver Outstanding
Balblair Vintage 2004 Sherry - Exclusive to Travel Retail - Silver
Balblair Vintage 1999 - Exclusive to Travel Retail – Silver Outstanding
International Spirits Challenge 2016[3]
Balblair Vintage 2005 – Silver
Balblair Vintage 1990 – Gold
Balblair Vintage 1999 – Silver
Balblair Vintage 1983 – Silver
Balblair Vintage 2004 Bourbon - Exclusive to Travel Retail – Silver
Balblair Vintage 2004 Sherry - Exclusive to Travel Retail - Silver
Balblair Vintage 1999 - Exclusive to Travel Retail – Silver
Ultimate Spirits Challenge 2016 2016 Ultimate Spirits Challenge Results | Spirit Product Awards
Balblair Vintage 2005 – 89 points
Balblair Vintage 1990 – 98 points (Finalist)
Balblair Vintage 1983 – 93 points
World Whiskies Awards 2016[6]
Balblair Vintage 1983 – Gold
San Francisco World Spirits Competition 2016[7]
Balblair Vintage 2005 – Gold
Balblair Vintage 1999 – Silver
See also
- Whisky
- Scotch whisky
- List of whisky brands
- List of distilleries in Scotland
References
- "Balblair". web.archive.org. 13 April 2015.
- "Balblair Distillery". The List. Retrieved 1 October 2013.
- Media, Agile. "International Spirits Challenge 2018 - International Spirits Challenge landing page". internationalspiritschallenge.com.
- "2017 Ultimate Spirits Challenge Results | Spirit Product Awards". www.ultimate-beverage.com.
- "IWSC". IWSC International Wine & Spirit Competition.
- "Gold Medal – Balblair / 1983 Vintage – World Whisky awards 2016". www.worldwhiskiesawards.com.
- "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 27 June 2016. Retrieved 12 June 2017.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
