Glenkinchie Distillery — Lowland Single Malt Whisky

Glenkinchie Distillery is a Scotch whisky distillery located near the village of Pencaitland, East Lothian, in the Scottish Lowlands. It was founded in 1837 and is currently owned by Diageo, the world's largest spirits company. Glenkinchie is one of the few surviving Lowland distilleries and has represented the region in Diageo's prestigious Classic Malts Selection since 1988.

History

Whisky production on the site traces back to around 1825, when brothers John and George Rate began distilling at a farm called Milton nearby. In 1837 the operation was formally established as Glenkinchie, a name derived from "De Quincy," an early landowning family whose name was corrupted over time to "Kinchie." The Rate brothers' venture ran into financial trouble and the distillery closed in 1853, with the site repurposed as a sawmill for nearly three decades.

In 1881, a group of Edinburgh businessmen led by Christian Salvesen and John Gray revived the distillery, rebuilding it on a larger scale. In 1914 Glenkinchie joined a group of Lowland distilleries to form Scottish Malt Distillers (SMD), which was absorbed into the Distillers Company Limited (DCL) in 1925 — a corporate lineage that, via Guinness's 1986 acquisition of DCL and the 1997 merger of Guinness with Grand Metropolitan, led to today's owner, Diageo. Malting on site ceased in 1969, and the old malting floors and kiln were later converted into a whisky museum. For most of the 20th century Glenkinchie's output went almost entirely into blends, most notably Johnnie Walker and Haig, but in 1988 it was chosen as the Lowland representative in the original Classic Malts Selection, cementing its identity as a single malt in its own right. A new visitor centre opened at the distillery in 2020.

Quick Facts

• Region: Lowland, Scotland
• Founded: 1837
• Owner: Diageo
• Status: Active
• Stills: 1 wash still, 1 spirit still

Core Range

Glenkinchie's core range centres on the Glenkinchie 12 Year Old (43% ABV), a light, grassy, floral Lowland single malt that is the distillery's flagship expression and a cornerstone of the Classic Malts Selection. Diageo also releases a Glenkinchie Distiller's Edition (43% ABV), a 12-year-old expression finished in Amontillado sherry casks for added richness. Limited distillery-exclusive bottlings are periodically available at the on-site visitor centre.