Archaeology Notes

Event ID 663875

Category Descriptive Accounts

Type Archaeology Notes

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/663875

NH78SE 15 centred 76730 83800

Glenmorangie Distillery [NAT]

OS (GIS) MasterMap, June 2009.

(Location cited as NH 767 838). Glenmorangie Distillery, Tain, rebuilt c. 1888. A smallish distillery, with a fair proportion of old buildings, including two malting kilns.

J R Hume 1976.

Established in 1843, the distillery is situated on the north side of Tain, and was converted from what was the Morangie Brewery. It is one of only 2 distilleries in Scotland that makes whisky from hard water (from Tarlogie Springs nearby). After being described by Barnard in the early 1880s (p.163)) as being primitive and almost ruinous, the distillery was modernised, a process which involved the early use of steam coils (as opposed to direct flame from coal fires) to heat the wash in the pot stills. The pot stills themselves are said to be the tallest in Scotland.

Having spent part of the First World War silent, the distillery was purchased by Macdonald & Muir of Leith in 1918, the current owners. In the decades after the Second World War, Glenmorangie established itself as one of the premier single-malt whiskies. The strength of the brand was such that distilling capacity was expanded from two to four in 1980 at a time of contraction elsewhere in the industry, and doubled again in 1990. The increased capacity was such that the malt barns were unable to satisfy the demand for malted barley. From 1980, therefore, floor-malting ceased at the distillery, and all malt was bought in from central maltings. The maltings and kiln were subsequently converted to house a new Mash House and Tun Room, and a new Still House was built in 1990.

Other changes to the site have included a major expansion of bonded warehouse capacity with the addition of several tall rack-storage blocks, which augment single-storeyed traditional warehouses at the north end of the site near to the Highland Railway. The popularity of the Glenmorangie brand, and the integration of whisky distilleries into tourist visitor trails, also encouraged the opening of a museum and new visitor centre in 1997 and 2000 respectively.

Information from Glenmorangie plc and Alfred Barnard (1887), 'The Whisky Distilleries of the United Kingdom', Hume, J R and Moss, M S, 'The Making of Scotch Whisky'

Information from RCAHMS (MKO) 2003.