Coleburn, A Lost Speyside Distillery, Is Being Revived

After four decades of silence, one of Speyside’s lost distilleries is poised to make a return. Coleburn Distillery, mothballed since 1985, will be reborn as The Distillery at Coleburn—a modern whisky production site with historic roots and a projected annual capacity of one million liters of pure alcohol. At the helm of the distillery’s revival will be Keith Cruickshank, former master distiller at Benromach. Cruickshank has particular experience in this field, as Benromach was also closed in the early 1980s and subsequently brought back into working order by Gordon & MacPhail in 1998. He left Benromach in January 2025 after more than 26 years, and will now serve as master distiller and head of whisky at Coleburn, overseeing spirit production and helping shape its future character.

The original Coleburn Distillery was established in 1897, designed by legendary distillery architect Charles Doig. Located between Elgin and Rothes, Coleburn was originally built to supply malt whisky for blends including Johnnie Walker and Usher’s. Like many distilleries of its time, Coleburn fell victim to the downturn of the early 1980s and the Distillers Company Ltd., a forerunner company to Diageo, mothballed it during a wave of closures that decade.

The revival is being led by D&M Winchester Ltd, owned by brothers Dale and Mark Winchester, who purchased the Coleburn buildings in 2004. Over the past two decades, they have developed the site’s Victorian dunnage warehouses into a thriving whisky bonding and cask management business. Now, they’re beginning to realize their long-held vision of creating a comprehensive whisky resort offering world-class hospitality. Plans go well beyond distilling. Over the years, the proposed development has included preparations for a five-star hotel with restaurants, spa, gym, conference facilities, event space, music studio, and entertainment center. One of the site’s historic Doig pagodas is even set to be incorporated into a penthouse suite, blending architectural heritage with the perfect Instagram moment for whisky lovers. But one step at a time: This early phase of the development covers the rebirth of the distillery and a bistro. To bring this part of the vision to life, D&M Winchester has appointed Organic Architects, leaders in sustainable distillery design, to finalize construction plans that, once approved, will help them meet the target of commissioning the distillery by 2027.

The path to revival has not been without complications. In 2014, a long-term warehousing lease was signed with Aceo Ltd, a cask broker company best known as the owners of independent bottler Murray McDavid. Aceo operates at the site under the name Coleburn Distillery Ltd., which has led to legal disputes between the two companies over brand names and trademarks. As a result, D&M Winchester’s project is formally called The Distillery at Coleburn, to distinguish it from Aceo’s operations. Adding a further twist, in 2024, Aceo announced its plans to revive the silent Speyside distillery—Dallas Dhu, which closed in 1983. With both companies moving forward on separate fronts, the revival of Coleburn takes place within a broader renaissance of lost scotch whisky distilleries such as Brora, Port Ellen, and Rosebank during the 2020s.

While Coleburn was never released as a proprietary single malt brand, one exception stands out: the Rare Malts Selection Coleburn 1979 21 year old, released in 2000, noted by the producers to have a light, leafy character, with hints of pepper and mint toffee, and a spicy, medicinal finish. A small number of Coleburn whiskies were released under independent labels and are still regularly traded on the secondary market. The oldest release on record is the 93-point Gordon & MacPhail Coleburn 1972 47 year old, which was bottled in 2020 for Gordon & MacPhail’s 125^th anniversary.

As the countdown to 2027 begins, whisky enthusiasts and industry insiders will be watching Coleburn closely. With experienced leadership behind the whisky and a unique vision for the site, The Distillery at Coleburn could eventually become one of Speyside’s most exciting whisky destinations.