Coleburn Distillery — Speyside Single Malt Whisky

Coleburn Distillery is a Scotch whisky distillery located near Longmorn, close to Elgin, in Speyside, Scotland. It was founded in 1897 and was mothballed in 1985 by its then-owner, the Distillers Company Limited (DCL). Unusually for a silent Speyside distillery, its original Victorian buildings survive largely intact, having served since 2014 as a maturation site for independent bottler Murray McDavid, with plans announced in 2025 to bring distilling back to the site by 2027.

History

Coleburn was built in 1897 by whisky blenders John Robertson & Son, on a site near Longmorn a few miles south of Elgin, during the great Speyside distillery-building boom of the 1890s. It was originally equipped with two copper pot stills. In 1915 the distillery was sold to a partnership of the Clynelish Distillery Company (headed by John Risk), John Walker & Sons, and the Distillers Company Limited (DCL). DCL took full control in 1930 after acquiring the Clynelish Distillery Company, placing Coleburn under its Scottish Malt Distillers (SMD) subsidiary. The plant was modernised in the 1950s and 1960s, but like many Scotch distilleries it fell victim to the industry-wide overproduction crisis of the 1970s and early 1980s (the so-called "whisky loch"), and DCL mothballed it in 1985. Its distilling licence lapsed in 1992 and the firing equipment was subsequently dismantled, leaving the distillery silent.

Quick Facts

• Region: Speyside, Scotland
• Founded: 1897
• Owner: Site owned by Winchester Brothers; warehouses operated by Murray McDavid (Aceo Ltd); revival planned under Coleburn Distillery Ltd
• Status: Closed (reopening planned for 2027)
• Stills: Two copper pot stills (original configuration)

Closure & Legacy

Coleburn has stood silent since DCL mothballed it in 1985, one of many casualties of the industry's 1980s downturn. Unlike many closed distilleries, its buildings were not demolished: in 2004 the site was sold to D&M Winchester (Winchester Brothers) with ambitions for a whisky-themed development, and from 2014 independent bottler Murray McDavid (trading name of Aceo Limited) began leasing the traditional dunnage warehouses to mature its own stock, work that continues today. In August 2025 it was announced that distilling itself would return under the name "The Distillery at Coleburn," with master distiller Keith Cruickshank overseeing a planned annual capacity of around 100,000 litres of alcohol and a visitor bistro, targeting a 2027 restart. Because Coleburn spent decades as a single malt component destined mainly for blends (including Johnnie Walker) rather than being bottled extensively under its own name, and has now been closed for around forty years, original single malt releases are scarce; the limited stock that has reached the market, largely through independent bottlers such as Murray McDavid and Gordon & MacPhail, is considered collectible among enthusiasts of "lost" Speyside distilleries.