Falkirk Distillery: A Family-Run Newcomer

Overview

Falkirk Distillery is a family business at Polmont, on the edge of Falkirk. It brought malt whisky-making back to an area that had been dry since Rosebank was mothballed in 1993. Founder George Stewart and his daughter Fiona won planning permission in 2010. Then came a long fight over the setting of the Antonine Wall, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, followed by construction delays and the pandemic. The first spirit finally ran in July 2020. Its stills are second-hand from the closed Caperdonich distillery in Speyside. The first single malt went on sale in January 2024.

It has a visitor centre, and it sits between some of Scotland’s best-known sights: the Kelpies, the Falkirk Wheel, the Roman wall and the battlefields of 1298 and 1746.

Where it is

The distillery is on Grandsable Road, Polmont, just off Junction 4 of the M9, halfway between Edinburgh (about 25 miles) and Glasgow (about 25 miles). Falkirk town centre is about 3 miles west, and the Kelpies are about 3 miles north.

Address: Falkirk Distillery, Grandsable Road, Polmont, Falkirk FK2 0WA.

The full history

Falkirk’s whisky past

The Forth Valley was serious whisky country. In the 19th century, distilleries along the Forth and Clyde Canal shipped spirit to Glasgow and Leith. The most famous was Rosebank at Camelon, a triple-distilled Lowland malt much loved by connoisseurs. Rosebank was mothballed in 1993, and the area had no malt distillery for a generation. (Rosebank has since been restored and restarted in 2023.)

A ten-year struggle

The Stewarts, a local family business, planned a modern distillery on farmland near Polmont, with a visitor centre and restaurant. The site lies close to the line of the Antonine Wall and the great Roman fort at Mumrills, the largest fort on the whole Wall. That made planning very sensitive. Falkirk Council concluded that the distillery would “affect the setting of the wall” but not enough to refuse it. Permission came in 2010, but the heritage issues are said to have cost the project around four years. Funding, construction and then Covid added further delays.

Stills from Caperdonich

Rather than order new equipment, the Stewarts bought the copper mash tun and stills of Caperdonich, a Speyside distillery at Rothes that closed in 2002 and was later demolished. The mash tun is said to have arrived with a police escort. The first spirit was filled into cask in 2020.

The first Falkirk single malt

The first whisky was aged three years and one day in a traditional dunnage warehouse. In December 2023 a first edition of 640 bottles was sold at auction, and the single malt went on general sale in January 2024. It is matured in Oloroso sherry hogsheads and first-fill bourbon casks. Cask-strength Kelpies releases followed, named after the giant horse-head sculptures nearby. The distillery works with master blender Norman Mathison.

How it’s made

Falkirk uses a 4.5-tonne copper-topped mash tun and six stainless-steel washbacks. The Caperdonich pot stills include a wash still of around 11,500 litres. The water comes from an artesian well on the site, and the spirit is unpeated, in a classic fruity Lowland style. Capacity is around 1.2 million litres of alcohol a year.

Romans, clans & battles

• The Antonine Wall, built around AD 142, was Rome’s most northerly frontier. It ran from the Forth to the Clyde, and the distillery stands almost on its line. The best surviving stretches are at Rough Castle, near the Falkirk Wheel, and in Callendar Park. A copy of the Bridgeness Slab, the finest Roman inscribed stone found in Scotland, stands at Bo’ness, about 4 miles away.
• Wallace’s defeat, 1298. At the Battle of Falkirk, Edward I’s longbowmen broke William Wallace’s army. Wallace’s companions Sir John de Graham and Sir John Stewart of Bonkyl are buried at Falkirk Trinity Church (the old parish church) in the town centre. See Clan Stewart.
• The Jacobites, 1746. At the Battle of Falkirk Muir, Prince Charles Edward Stuart’s army won one of its last victories, in a storm on the hill above the town.
• The Livingstons. Callendar House, in its park on the edge of Falkirk, was the seat of the Livingston Earls of Linlithgow and Callendar for three centuries. It is now a free museum with a working Georgian kitchen.
• Linlithgow Palace, 8 miles east, was the birthplace of Mary, Queen of Scots, in 1542. See our Linlithgow page.

Canals, lochs & landmarks

This is canal country rather than loch country. The Union Canal and the Forth & Clyde Canal meet at the Falkirk Wheel, the world’s only rotating boat lift. At the canal’s eastern end stand the Kelpies, 30-metre steel horse-heads in the Helix park. For lochs, Loch Lomond is about 45 minutes west. See our lochs guide.

Visiting

Falkirk Distillery has a visitor centre with a shop and tastings. Tours have been added since the whisky came of age. Check the website and book ahead. It’s easy to combine with the Kelpies, the Falkirk Wheel and Callendar House in a day.

Nearby distilleries

• Rosebank, Camelon (about 5 miles): the great Lowland name, restored in 2023.
• Deanston, near Doune (about 25 miles).
• Glengoyne, Killearn (about 25 miles).
• Holyrood, Port of Leith and Bonnington, Edinburgh (about 25 miles).
• Glenkinchie, East Lothian (about 40 miles).

The Edinburgh & Forth Whisky Trail joins them up, and the whisky hub covers every region.

Sources

• Scottish Delight: Falkirk Distillery.
• The Scotsman: Antonine Wall gets in the way of bid to revive Lowland malt.
• Falkirk Distillery, official site.
• Antonine Wall World Heritage Site.