Teaninich Distillery celebrates 200th Anniversary – Scotch Whisky News
Teaninich Distillery celebrates 200th Anniversary
Established in 1817 by local landowner and chief of the Munro clan, Captain Hugh Munro, Teaninich Distillery in Alness, Ross-shire is one of Scotland’s most modern and innovative Scotch whisky distilleries.
One of the first legitimate distilleries to be built in the north highlands, Teaninich established itself at a time when illicit distilling was rife. By 1887 it was the first distillery north of Inverness to have electricity and a telephone, and this tradition of innovation has continued throughout its history. In 2000, Teaninich became the first distillery in the Scotch industry to pioneer the use of a mash-filter, rather than the traditional mash-tun, in its production regime. This filter produced produce ultra-clear wort, and Teaninich is one of only two distilleries in Scotland to use this process.
The distillery has seen huge change since it opened for business 200 years ago, from being forced to suspend production between 1939 and 1946 due to barley shortages during World War II to a £26 million investment from Diageo in 2013 to build a new stillhouse. This project was the equivalent of building a new medium-sized distillery, adding six brand-new copper wash stills and six spirit stills, to double production capacity to 10 million litres of Scotch per year.
Though few of the original buildings from 1817 still exist, Teaninich with its gleaming new stillhouse overlooking the Cromarty Firth is one of the Diageo’s most important distilleries, producing the highest-quality single malt for a range of world-leading blended Scotch whisky brands, such as Johnnie Walker. Teaninich is defined by a partnership between heritage and progress, with everyone at the distillery working together to make the great Scotch they have produced for centuries, and will for centuries to come.
