Cairn Distillery — Speyside Single Malt Whisky

The Cairn Distillery is a Scotch whisky distillery located near Grantown-on-Spey, Speyside, Scotland. It was founded in 2022 and is currently owned by Gordon & MacPhail, the independent family firm also known for reviving Benromach Distillery. The Cairn holds the distinction of being the first distillery built within the Cairngorms National Park since the park's designation in 2003.

History

The Cairn was constructed between 2020 and 2022 on a site at Craggan, just outside Grantown-on-Spey, by Gordon & MacPhail — a fourth-generation family business that began as an Elgin grocer and whisky merchant in the 19th century before becoming an independent bottler and, from 1993, a distillery owner in its own right through Benromach. The Cairn represents the company's newest and most modern production site, purpose-built with sustainability and visitor engagement in mind. The distillery houses four wash stills and two spirit stills of traditional copper pot design, engineered with boil balls and upward lyne arms to produce an estery, fruit-forward new make spirit, fermented for 90–100 hours in a bank of washbacks to develop a classic Speyside character of ripe orchard fruit and fresh grassiness. Since distilling began in 2022, Gordon & MacPhail has opened the site to visitors, pairing tours with a restaurant, "The Gathering", and a shop overlooking the surrounding Cairngorms landscape. The Cairn released its first single malt expression, First Peek 3YO, in 2025, offering an early look at spirit maturing on site, while the company has used its own extensive reserves of aged Speyside whisky to launch the CRN57° blended malt range under the Cairn name.

Quick Facts

• Region: Speyside
• Founded: 2022
• Owner: Gordon & MacPhail
• Status: Active
• Stills: 4 wash stills, 2 spirit stills (copper pot stills)

Core Range

The Cairn's core range centres on First Peek 3YO, the distillery's first single malt release, showcasing the estate's young spirit with notes of sultana, vanilla, chocolate and cranberry. Alongside this, Gordon & MacPhail markets the CRN57° blended malt Scotch whisky range under the Cairn name, spanning age statements from 12 to 70 years and drawn from the company's own aged whisky stocks, plus limited-edition annual "Step" series releases such as Step One (12 Year Old, 43% ABV) and Step Two (14 Year Old, 43% ABV).