Glenturret Distillery, Crieff: Scotland’s Oldest? A Contested Claim

Glenturret Distillery, Crieff: Scotland’s Oldest? A Contested Claim

✅Open to visitors — this distillery has a visitor centre and/or tours (some by appointment; book ahead — see the box below).

Glenturret at a glance

RegionHighland (Crieff, Perthshire)
Founded1763 (claimed; contested)
OwnerLalique Group
Visitor centreYes — established 1980, one of the earliest
ToursDaily tours & experiences — book
OpeningDaily — verify hours on the website
Websitetheglenturret.com
CLANMURRAY“Tout Prest”

Overview

Glenturret, in a pretty glen above Crieff in Perthshire, styles itself “Scotland’s oldest working distillery” — a claim it bases on records of distilling on the site from 1763. It is a small, hand-crafted distillery, and for many years it was best known as the home of Towser, a distillery cat with a world-record tally of mice to her name.

The history

There was certainly distilling — much of it illicit — in this glen from the mid-18th century, and Glenturret rests its “1763” claim on that. It is worth being straight, though: the “oldest working distillery” title is genuinely contested, with Strathisla (licensed 1786 and continuously working) and others making rival cases, and Glenturret’s own production has not been perfectly continuous. What is not in doubt is that it is old, small and traditional. It opened one of Scotland’s first distillery visitor centres in 1980, was long the home of The Famous Grouse experience, and is now owned by the luxury Lalique group.

The water & the land

Glenturret takes its water from Loch Turret and the Turret Burn, running off Ben Chonzie in the Grampians above Crieff — very soft water, and a tributary of the Tay. It is still made largely by hand, with a hand-turned mash.

Glenturret carries a genuine land link: in 1825 the distillers secured the “Ochtertyre Agreement”, granting water and peat rights from Sir Patrick Murray of Ochtertyre, on whose barony the site lay. So the distillery sat on the land of the Murrays of Ochtertyre, a Perthshire branch of Clan Murray, near Crieff.

Visiting

Glenturret runs daily tours and tastings and a range of premium experiences (it also has a Lalique-branded fine-dining restaurant) — book ahead, and verify current hours on the website. Its glen setting near Crieff makes it an easy and attractive southern-Highland visit.

Nearby & more whisky

Sources