Millburn Distillery — Highland Single Malt Whisky

Millburn Distillery is a Scotch whisky distillery located on the eastern edge of Inverness, in the Highland region of Scotland. It was founded in 1807 and was closed in 1985, making it one of the longest-serving distilleries in Inverness before its closure. The distillery buildings were later demolished, and the site today is occupied by a hotel and pub rather than any working whisky production.

History

Millburn was established in 1807 as the Inverness Distillery by a Mr Welsh, making it one of the earliest licensed distilleries in the Highland capital. Ownership passed through several hands over the following century: by 1825 it was under the control of James Rose and Alexander MacDonald, before David Rose acquired it in 1853 and passed it to his son George Rose in 1881. The distillery was sold to blending firm Andrew Haig & Co in 1892, and in 1904 it was renamed "Millburn" under the newly formed Millburn Distillery Company.

In 1921 the distillery was bought by London-based Booth's Distillers Ltd, and in 1935 it passed into the hands of The Distillers Company Limited (DCL) through Booth's merger into that group. From 1943 it was run under DCL's malt whisky arm, Scottish Malt Distillers Ltd. A serious fire in 1922 badly damaged the site, but it was rebuilt and continued production. Throughout its working life, Millburn drew its process water from Loch Duntelchaig and operated a single pair of stills — one wash still and one spirit still — producing a Highland single malt that was used both for bottling and as a component of blends and vatted malts such as the "Mill Burn" vatted malt.

Quick Facts

• Region: Highland, Scotland
• Founded: 1807
• Owner: Closed; last operated by Scottish Malt Distillers Ltd (Distillers Company Limited), predecessor to Diageo
• Status: Closed
• Stills: 1 wash still, 1 spirit still

Closure & Legacy

Millburn was closed by DCL in 1985 amid the wider contraction of the Scotch whisky industry during that period, and the distillery buildings were demolished in 1988. In 1989 the site was redeveloped by brewer Whitbread as "The Auld Distillery" Beefeater restaurant, incorporating some reclaimed distillery features into the design; the site is now operated as a Premier Inn hotel with an attached pub. No original distillery structures remain in production use today. Because Millburn has been silent since 1985 and its stock is finite, original single malt bottlings — largely released as independent bottlings or historic Distillers Company/Diageo "Rare Malts"-era releases — are scarce and sought after by collectors of closed-distillery Scotch whisky.