ROYAL BRACKLA
| Distillery Opened | Capacity | Malting Floor | Washback Type | Number of Washbacks | Number of Wash Stills | Number of Spirit Stills |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1812 | 4 million litres | Dismissed in 1966 | Wooden/ Stainless Steel | 8 | 2 | 1 |
Royal Brackla distillery was founded in 1812 by Captain William Fraser in the castle of Cawdor
Royal Brackla distillery is located in Highlands, near the Loch Ness Lake and for the production of its whisky the Royal Brackla distillery uses the water which comes from Cawdor.
The Royal Brackla distillery was one of the few distilleries to receive a Royal Decree and in 1835 was the first distillery to receive that by King William IV.
When Grand Metropolitan and Guinness merge to form Diageo, anti-trust authorities reacted vehemently and demanding to Diageo sell off all its interests in John Dewar & sons so that there wasn't too much of a stranglehold on the schotch whisky market.
More than 20 companies vied for the bid and Bacardi- Martini was ultimately the victorious bidder.
After the win, Barcardi- Martini acquired the Dewar's brand, included Bombay gin and four distilleries, among them being Royal Brakla.
The Royal Brackla distillery has used its own malts until 1966 and today the Royal Brackla distillery buys it from Speyside.
- 1812 The Royal Brackla distillery was founded by Captain William Fraser.
- 1833 Royal Brackla distillery became the first of three distilleries allowed to use Royal in the name
- 1852 Robert Fraser & Co. taked over the Royal Brackla distillery.
- 1897 The Royal Brackla distillery was rebuilt and Royal Brackla distillery Company Limited was founded.
- 1919 John Mitchell and James Leict from Aberdeen purchase Royal Brackla distillery.
- 1943 Scottish Malt Distillers (SMD) bought John Bisset & Company Ltd and thereby acquires Royal Brackla distillery.
- 1964-1966 The Royal Brackla distillery closed for a big refurbishment and the malting closed.
- 1991 Production resumed
- 1993 A 10 year old Royal Brackla was launched in United Distiller’s Flora& Fauna series.
- 1998 Bacardi-Martini bought Dewar’s from Diego
- 2004 A new 10 year old was launched
- 2014 A 35 year old was released for Changi airport in Singapore.
- 2015 A 12,14 and 21 year old were released.
The Royal Brackla distillery is equipped with a 12.5 ton full lauter mash tun from 1997, six wooden washbacks and another two in stainless steel which have been placed outside the Royal Brackla distillery.
In the end there are two pairs of stills where two are wash stills and only one is spirit still. The stills have tall necks which allow the reflux, spherical lids and an unique shape which is in the middle of Speyside shape and a tall still.
The core range of Royal Brackla distillery consist of:
- 12 yo
- 16yo
- 21yo
- 25yo
- 30yo
- 35yo
