| Country | scotland |
| Region | Lowland |
| Established | 1795 |
| Owner | Unknown (last recorded owner Robert Stewart, early 1900s); site closed and demolished |
| Type | Grain |
| Number of stills | Patent/column (Coffey) still |
| Visitor center | No |
| Status | Closed |
| Phone | n/a |
Kirkliston Distillery is a closed Scotch whisky distillery that stood just south of the village of Kirkliston, near Edinburgh, in the Lowland region of Scotland. It was founded in 1795 and closed during the 20th century, having spent much of its working life as a grain distillery running one of the earliest commercial column (patent) stills in the country. Almost nothing of the original complex survives above ground, but its distinctive tower-style still house still stands, now converted to housing.
Kirkliston Distillery traces its origins to 1795, when it was established just south of the town of Kirkliston, then a rural village a few miles west of Edinburgh. Like several other Lowland distilleries of the era, it sat close to good arable land and water, and it grew into a significant grain-whisky producer rather than a small malt operation.
The distillery is notable in Scotch whisky engineering history for being among the very first in Scotland to install a continuous still. In 1828 it adopted the Stein still — the pioneering continuous-distillation apparatus patented by Robert Stein — putting Kirkliston ahead of Cameron Bridge (1830), Yoker (1845) and Glenochil (1845) in the shift away from traditional pot-still batch production. The site's tower-style patent still house, which later housed a Coffey (column) still, was one of only two structures of its kind ever built in Scotland, underlining the distillery's role as an early industrial pioneer of grain whisky making.
The distillery was served by rail sidings at the nearby Kirkliston railway station, which closed to passengers in 1930. In the early twentieth century the distillery was owned by Robert Stewart, a prominent Scottish estate owner and Vice Commodore of the Royal Eastern Yacht Club (who commissioned the yacht Minona in 1906). At some point in its later history the site's use shifted from whisky distilling to malting, operating for a period purely as a malt factory rather than a working distillery.
The exact date Kirkliston ceased whisky production is not well documented, but the site's industrial use continued long after distilling stopped: it operated for a time as a malt factory, and part of the grounds was later occupied by the Drambuie liqueur factory, which ran from 1959 to 2001. Both the original distillery buildings and the later Drambuie factory have since been demolished. The one significant survivor is the distillery's tower-style patent still house, a rare piece of early nineteenth-century industrial architecture, which has been converted into residential housing. No original Kirkliston-branded bottlings are documented as circulating in the collector market; as a grain distillery that closed and was demolished long ago, its whisky is essentially unknown outside historical record rather than sought after as a collectible single malt would be.
Kirkliston (grain) distillery is located at Kirkliston, near Edinburgh, Lowland, Scotland.
Kirkliston (grain) distillery was founded in 1795.
Kirkliston (grain) distillery is owned by Unknown (last recorded owner Robert Stewart, early 1900s); site closed and demolished.
Kirkliston (grain) distillery is from Lowland, scotland.
You can buy Kirkliston (grain) 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.