Blackness Distillery — Lowland Single Malt Whisky

Blackness Distillery is a Scotch whisky distillery located in the village of Blackness, on the Firth of Forth near Linlithgow, in the Scottish Lowlands. It was founded in 2024 and is currently owned and run by Colm and Sheena O'Rourke. A tiny, family-run craft operation set up in converted outbuildings, it is one of the newest working distilleries in Scotland and sits directly alongside the O'Rourkes' village pub, the Lobster Pot.

History

Blackness Distillery was established by Colm O'Rourke, a former fisherman turned publican, and his wife Sheena, who converted domestic outbuildings at their property in the historic harbour village of Blackness — home to Blackness Castle and just a few miles from Linlithgow Palace, birthplace of Mary, Queen of Scots — into a small-batch distillery. Falkirk Council approved planning permission for the change of use, including an ancillary shop and visitor centre, and the couple spent around 18 months learning the craft of distilling before production began. Spirit started flowing from the distillery's twin copper pot stills in 2024.

In mid-2024 the distillery attracted national attention when the UK Intellectual Property Office's Trade Marks Registry initially refused to register the name of its flagship single malt, "Mary Queen of Scotch," on grounds that it risked being disrespectful to the historical figure. Colm O'Rourke successfully appealed, arguing the whisky would be a genuine, respectfully produced Scotch made close to the site of Mary's birth, and the trademark was subsequently granted. Falkirk Council has also licensed the distillery for weekend tasting tours, capitalising on visitor traffic to neighbouring Blackness Castle. As with all new-make Scotch, the whisky must mature in oak casks for a minimum of three years and one day before it can legally be sold as whisky, meaning the distillery's first bottlings were expected roughly two years after production began.

Quick Facts

• Region: Lowland
• Founded: 2024
• Owner: Colm and Sheena O'Rourke (independent, family-owned)
• Status: Active
• Stills: Twin copper pot stills

Core Range

Blackness Distillery's flagship expression is a single malt Scotch whisky named Mary Queen of Scotch, inspired by Mary, Queen of Scots' birth at nearby Linlithgow Palace. As a distillery founded in 2024, its whisky was still maturing towards the legal three-years-and-one-day minimum at the time of writing, so a full core range and specific ABV figures had not yet been published; the distillery also produces small-batch rum and gin, which are available to sample as part of its weekend tasting tours.