| Country | scotland |
| Region | Highland |
| Established | 1886 |
| Owner | Northern Distilleries Limited (closed; formerly Gerston Distillery Company) |
| Type | Single malt Scotch whisky distillery (closed) |
| Number of stills | |
| Visitor center | No |
| Status | Closed |
| Phone | n/a |
Ben Morven Distillery is a Scotch whisky distillery located near Halkirk, Caithness, in the Highland region of Scotland. It was founded in 1886 and was closed in the early 1910s after a short and commercially unsuccessful life. It is one of the lesser-known "ghost" distilleries of Caithness, built as a successor to an earlier local distillery and later renamed after Morven, the highest hill in the county.
The distillery was built in 1886 on the banks of the River Thurso, near Gerston Farm outside Halkirk, by the London-based Gerston Distillery Company, which intended it as a replacement for its earlier, older Gerston distillery nearby. It drew its process water from the Calder Burn. The new works struggled to establish a foothold, and in 1897 the plant was sold to Northern Distilleries Limited, which gave it the name Ben Morven, after Morven, the highest hill in Caithness and a landmark visible from the site. Under its new ownership and name, the distillery continued in production on a modest scale into the early twentieth century but never achieved commercial success.
Ben Morven closed around 1911, having failed to establish a lasting market for its whisky, and sources differ on exactly what became of the buildings afterwards: some records describe the distillery as demolished by 1914, while local accounts note that the stillhouse survived standing for a long time after closure. No original Ben Morven bottlings are known to circulate among collectors today, and the distillery's history is preserved mainly through local and industry records rather than surviving whisky. It remains one of the more obscure lost distilleries of the Caithness whisky-making era, overshadowed by better-documented regional contemporaries such as Wick's Old Pulteney and the long-vanished Gerston works it replaced.
Ben Morven distillery is located at Near Gerston Farm, Halkirk, Caithness, Highland, Scotland.
Ben Morven distillery was founded in 1886.
Ben Morven distillery is owned by Northern Distilleries Limited (closed; formerly Gerston Distillery Company).
Ben Morven distillery is from Highland, scotland.
You can buy Ben Morven whisky at Glenbotal.co.uk. We currently stock a selection with free UK delivery on orders over £99.
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About Glenbotal
The idea of Glenbotal came to us naturaly: as whisky lovers, we were always on the lookout for new experiences in the whisky world. That’s why we created Glenbotal and became our very own first customers. We buy unique and hard to find spirits from auctions, ballots, and private collections. Then, we share them with a small circle of friends and people who can appreciate a good dram.