STORIES AROUND THE DISTILLERY

The Ancient Burgh

The Glenmorangie Distillery lies near Tain, Ross-shire, Scotland's oldest Royal Burgh. It was once an important place of pilgrimage, on account of St Duthus, born nearby and the Bishop of Tain in the 11th Century.

The earliest documented reference to distillation on this site is to be found in 1703. An entry in the "Tain and Balnagown Documents" records the death of George Ross of Morangie, son of Thomas the Abbot, amongst whose possessions were included "one aquae-vitae pot still, stand and ffleake (worm)".

The district is blessed by nature for the making of malt whisky, but to the 'essential ingredients' listed by Sir Robert Bruce Lockhart, the location adds its own special grace.

"The history of malt whisky lies shrouded in the mists of the Celtic dawn. It is a fact that for centuries a spirit distilled from fermented barley mash has been made all over the Highlands, where nature still supplies the essential ingredients for its distillation: home-grown barley for the malt, the unpolluted water of the hill burns, the rich dark peat of the moor, the pure air of the mountains....the granite rocks from which the water springs" - Sir Robert Bruce Lockhart (1951)

Licensed in 1843, from when many of the buildings date, the distillery has seen only six managers in the 150 years since. During this time, succeeding generations of local families - our workforce is only sixteen - have passed on their skills and secrets: a continuous tradition of commitment to the distiller's art, and to the integrity of old and tried methods.

The peaceful life of the distillery - built on a farm and retaining the perennial rhythms of farming - is as constant as the seasons. In particular, the processes we follow to create Glenmorangie have hardly altered since the distillery began legally to produce whisky.

THE STORY OF GLENMORANGIE MALT WHISKY DISTILLING Introduction Chronology of Distilling The Early Days of Distilling Illicit Whisky Distilling STORIES AROUND THE DISTILLERY Introduction The Ancient Burgh The Immortal Walter Scott The White Lady GLENMORANGIE DISTILLERY Introduction Early Days at Glenmorangie Enmeshed in the local rural framework A comfortable little backwater Maltbarns into makeshift barracks New owners and the Roaring Twenties A return to older ways Progress has some advantages THE HISTORY OF THE AREA Introduction Earliest Times The Dark Ages Ross in the Middle Ages The Wars of Independence The Church of St Duthac at Tain The Reformation/Ross of Morangie

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