Glen Garioch Distillery

Glen Garioch is one of the oldest distilleries in Scotland. It was founded in 1797 by the brothers John and Alexander Manson. The distillery remained in the ownership of John Manson & Co. until 1884, when it was sold to J.G. Thompson & Co. The whisky blender William Sanderson bought Glen Garioch in 1908 in order to secure whisky for his blends. In 1933, Sanderson & Son merged with Booth’s Distilleries Ltd., which in turn was acquired by Distillers Company Limited (DCL) in 1937. Glen Garioch fell on hard times after the Second World War. Things started to briefly pick up again in the 1960s, until the distillery was decommissioned in 1968 due to water shortages. The distillery started production again five years later, after it had been sold to Stanley P. Morrison Ltd. Glen Garioch was mothballed in October 1995. When the distillery reopened two years later, it started using unpeated malt instead of the traditional lightly-peated barley. Glen Garioch is currently in the hands of Beam Suntory, who acquired Morrison Bowmore in 1994.