| Country | scotland |
| Region | Lowland |
| Established | 1824 |
| Owner | J. Thorne & Sons Ltd (closed 1915) |
| Type | Malt whisky distillery (triple distillation) |
| Number of stills | Wash still, low wines still, and two spirit stills (triple distillation); site demolished, none survive |
| Visitor center | No |
| Status | Closed |
| Phone | n/a |
Greenock Distillery is a former Scotch whisky distillery that stood on Tobago Street in Greenock, a Lowland town on the Firth of Clyde in Renfrewshire, Scotland. It was founded in 1824, when an existing brewery on the site was converted for distilling (some sources place the original brewery's founding as early as 1795), and it remained in continuous production under a succession of owners until financial and wartime pressures forced its closure in 1915. Unusually for a Lowland distillery, Greenock triple-distilled its spirit, producing around 130,000 gallons a year for the Glasgow, London, Liverpool and Manchester trade at its peak.
The distillery occupied a three-acre site that had previously operated as a well-regarded brewery. In 1824 the premises were converted to whisky production under the proprietorship of James Blair & Co., the first registered distiller. Ownership later passed to John Dennistoun, under whom the business was incorporated as the Greenock Distillery Co., and then in 1829 to the partnership of J. Rennie and J. Ballantine, who ran the distillery for nearly sixty years. When the English writer Alfred Barnard visited in the mid-1880s for his survey The Whisky Distilleries of the United Kingdom (1887), he described a substantial works with three granaries, three malting floors and six warehouses holding some 4,000 casks, drawing its process water from Loch Gryfe and employing 24 workers under a 12-horsepower engine. The spirit was triple-distilled through a wash still, a low wines still and two spirit stills, using only prime Scotch barley malted over local peat. In 1896 the distillery was bought by J. Thorne & Sons Ltd, owners of the Aberlour distillery, who continued production into the twentieth century.
Greenock Distillery struggled under the steep excise increases of David Lloyd George's 1909 "People's Budget" and the disruption of the First World War, and the company was liquidated in 1915. The distillery buildings on Tobago Street were subsequently demolished, and no trace of the site survives today. Because Greenock closed more than a century ago and left no working brand behind, no labelled single malt bottlings are known to circulate on today's market; any surviving spirit would exist only as rare, unlabelled trade or blending-house samples, making the distillery a historical footnote rather than an active source of collectible vintage bottlings.
Greenock distillery is located at Tobago Street, Greenock, Renfrewshire, Scotland.
Greenock distillery was founded in 1824.
Greenock distillery is owned by J. Thorne & Sons Ltd (closed 1915).
Greenock distillery is from Lowland, scotland.
You can buy Greenock 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.