Balmenach Distillery, Cromdale: A Genuine Clan Gregor Distillery

Balmenach Distillery, Cromdale: A Genuine Clan Gregor Distillery

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

Balmenach at a glance

RegionSpeyside (Cromdale, near Grantown)
Founded1824
OwnerInver House (ThaiBev)
Visitor centreNo (whisky) — by appointment; co-located Caorunn Gin does visits
ToursWhisky by arrangement only
OpeningWhisky side not generally open — check the website
Websiteinverhouse.com
CLANMACGREGOR“’S Rioghal Mo Dhream”

Overview

Balmenach, at Cromdale near Grantown-on-Spey, is a traditional, little-seen Speyside distillery making a rich, meaty, old-fashioned malt — and, these days, also the home of the popular Caorunn gin. It carries one of the more genuine clan stories in Speyside.

The history

Balmenach was founded in 1824 by James McGregor, who had run an illicit still on the farm at Cromdale before taking a legal licence under the 1823 Excise Act. It stayed in the family for generations and is now owned by Inver House.

The water & the land

Balmenach is made with water from springs in the Cromdale Hills.

Balmenach has a real clan link: it was founded by James McGregor of Clan Gregor — the famous outlawed clan of Rob Roy — whose family worked the illicit still at Cromdale before the distillery went legal.

How it’s made

Balmenach runs three wash stills and three spirit stills for about two million litres a year, with water from a spring in the Cromdale Hills. Founded in 1824 by James McGregor, it was bought by Glenlivet in 1897, joined the Distillers Company in 1925 and has belonged to Inver House since 1997. It is better known to many drinkers for Caorunn gin, launched in 2009, made with rowan berries, Coul Blush apples and bog myrtle in a 1920s copper berry chamber originally built for perfume.

Visiting

The whisky side of Balmenach is not generally open to the public (visits by arrangement), though the co-located Caorunn gin operation does offer visitor experiences; check the website.

Nearby & more whisky

Sources