Just a couple of weeks after the 30th anniversary of its closure, Scotland’s Lowland distillery Rosebank began making whisky once again. Owner Ian Macleod Distillers announced that Cask 001 of Rosebank new make spirit was filled on July 18th. The distillery, located in the town of Falkirk, closed on June 30th, 1993. It’s now been brought back to life at its original site along the Forth & Clyde Canal, the old waterway connecting the east and west coasts of Scotland.
Rosebank was established as a family-owned distillery in 1840. It became part of Scottish Malt Distillers in 1914, which subsequently came under the control of Distillers Company Limited, an old forerunner company to Diageo. Its whisky was prized for its gentle floral and citrus character. But in 1993, facing prohibitive costs of upgrading the site and access difficulties due to its location wedged between a road and the canal, then-owners United Distillers (today’s Diageo) decided to close it.
The place was abandoned and derelict by the time Ian Macleod Distillers acquired it from Diageo and British Waterways in 2017, its three stills long since stolen for scrap copper. The new owners used blueprints from the original distillery to replicate the original stills. The new build includes eight Douglas fir wooden washbacks, new worm tubs, warehousing, and a tasting room, crowned by restoration work on the distillery’s distinctively tall chimney, which stands 150 feet high. The distillery team behind this 21st-century revival, headed by distillery manager Malcolm Rennie, aims to make Rosebank in the classic Lowlands style, that gentle character that brought it so much renown.
Fueled by their “ghost distillery” status, the old releases of Rosebank skyrocketed in value over the years. Take a look at some of the highest hammer prices for Rosebank releases.
