Glengoyne Distillery: Astride the Highland Line

Overview

Glengoyne sits right on the Highland Line. Its stills are in the Highlands, but its warehouses across the road are in the Lowlands. Licensed in 1833, it stands at the foot of Dumgoyne hill at the western end of the Campsie Fells, just 15 miles from Glasgow. Glengoyne is known for its unpeated malt, made from barley dried with warm air rather than peat smoke, including Golden Promise. It is also known for one of the best visitor experiences in the country, with more than 35,000 visitors a year. The West Highland Way runs right past the gate.

Where it is

The distillery is on the A81 at Dumgoyne, about 2 miles south of Killearn and 15 miles (about 30 minutes) north of Glasgow city centre. Loch Lomond is about 8 miles west and Stirling about 20 miles east.

The full history

1833: Burnfoot

The distillery was licensed in 1833 as Burnfoot, built by George Connell beside the burn that tumbles off Dumgoyne. The area had long been a haunt of illicit distillers, who used the cover of the hills to hide their stills from the excisemen.

Lang Brothers: Glen Guin to Glengoyne

In 1876 the Glasgow blenders Lang Brothers bought the distillery. They meant to call it Glengoyne, but a clerk wrote it down as “Glen Guin”. The name was corrected to Glengoyne around the turn of the century, sources give 1894 or 1905. Lang’s used the malt in their blends for most of a century.

Edrington and Ian Macleod

In 1965 Glengoyne was bought by Robertson & Baxter, later part of the Edrington Group. In 1984 Lang Brothers began supplying whisky to the household of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, and the royal warrant still appears on the bottles. In 2003 the distillery was sold to the independent family firm Ian Macleod Distillers, which made Glengoyne a leading single malt brand and opened its doors wide to visitors.

How it’s made

Glengoyne has one wash still and two spirit stills, with a capacity of about 1.1 million litres a year. It uses unpeated malt dried by warm air, and water from the Glengoyne Burn flowing off Dumgoyne. The distillery is known for running its stills slowly, giving the spirit long copper contact and a clean, fruity character. The whisky is matured mainly in sherry casks.

Clans & the land

• The Grahams: Mugdock Castle, a few miles south-east, was a seat of the Grahams, the family of the great Marquis of Montrose.
• The Buchanans held the country around Drymen and Loch Lomond, from Buchanan Castle.
• Clan MacGregor: Rob Roy MacGregor, the famous outlaw and cattle-drover, knew these hills well. Local legend says he hid in an oak tree near the distillery.
• Clan Colquhoun held the west shore of Loch Lomond.

Stones, monuments & lochs

• The Buchanan Monument, Killearn: a tall obelisk of 1788 honouring George Buchanan, the humanist scholar who was tutor to Mary, Queen of Scots and to James VI. He was born nearby.
• The Duntreath standing stones, near Blanefield, a few miles south-east. See our standing stones guide.
• Dumgoyne (427 m), the volcanic plug above the distillery, makes a steep, short climb with views over Loch Lomond.
• Loch Lomond, 8 miles west, and Loch Katrine in the Trossachs. See our lochs guide.

Visiting

Glengoyne offers daily tours and tastings, from a short introduction to in-depth masterclasses and blending sessions. Book ahead on the distillery’s website. If you are walking the West Highland Way, the distillery is right beside the path on the first day out of Milngavie.

Nearby distilleries

• Loch Lomond, Alexandria (about 12 miles).
• Auchentoshan, Clydebank (about 12 miles).
• The Glasgow Distillery (about 15 miles).
• Deanston, near Doune (about 20 miles).
• Tullibardine, Blackford (about 35 miles).
• Ian Macleod’s other distillery: Rosebank, Falkirk, revived in 2023

The Glasgow & Clyde Whisky Trail and the whisky hub cover the region.

Sources

• Glengoyne distillery — Wikipedia.
• Glengoyne, official site.