| Country | scotland |
| Region | Highland |
| Established | 1897 |
| Owner | John Haig & Co. (Distillers Company Limited) |
| Type | Single Malt Scotch Whisky |
| Number of stills | |
| Visitor center | No |
| Status | Closed |
| Phone | n/a |
Glencawdor Distillery is a Scotch whisky distillery that once stood in/near Nairn, Highland, Scotland. It was founded in the mid-1890s and was closed in 1927, with its buildings demolished in 1930. Designed by the noted distillery architect Charles Chree Doig, it was one of several short-lived Highland distilleries built during the speculative Victorian whisky boom, and its site and output today survive only in historical records and occasional independent bottlings.
Glencawdor Distillery (also recorded historically as Glen Cawdor or Glen Cawder) was built on the site of Nairn's former town meal mill, on the south side of what is now the A96. It was established by the Glencawdor Distillery Company, a partnership of David McAndie (a wine and spirit merchant based in Inverness/Nairn who was also a part-owner of Glenlochy Distillery in Fort William), James Mill of Nairn, and James Mackillican of Calcutta. Sources give a founding date of 1896, with the distillery designed and built out through 1897-1898 by architect Charles C. Doig, one of the era's most prolific and influential distillery designers. Production is recorded as having started in October 1897.
The distillery's independence was brief. The Pattison crash of 1899, which triggered a wider crisis of confidence in the Scotch whisky trade, hit Glencawdor hard: two of the three founding partners withdrew from the business, leaving David McAndie in sole control. Distilling ceased in 1901 when the company went into liquidation. An attempt to sell the site at auction in 1902, with an asking price of £10,500, attracted no bids. In 1903 the assets were finally sold, for an estimated £6,000-£7,000, to John Haig & Co of Markinch, one of the founding member firms of the Distillers Company Limited (DCL), the forerunner of today's Diageo.
Under John Haig & Co, Glencawdor continued in production for a further two and a half decades before finally closing in 1927, a casualty of the broader contraction and rationalisation of Scotch whisky capacity in the interwar period. The redundant distillery buildings were demolished in 1930, and no working distillery structures survive on the site today; the Highland Council Archive holds surviving architectural plans, including a 1898 Charles Doig drawing for a new duty-free warehouse, as physical evidence of the site's history.
Because Glencawdor operated for only around three decades and closed nearly a century ago, surviving original bottlings are extremely rare and would be of significant interest to collectors of lost Highland malts, though none are known to be in wide circulation. The Glencawdor name has since been registered as a UK trademark for Scotch whisky products, but this reflects use of the historic name for commercial branding rather than any revival of distilling on the original site.
Glencawdor distillery is located at Nairn, Highland, Scotland.
Glencawdor distillery was founded in 1897.
Glencawdor distillery is owned by John Haig & Co. (Distillers Company Limited).
Glencawdor distillery is from Highland, scotland.
You can buy Glencawdor 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.