Royal Brackla Distillery, Cawdor: “The King’s Own Whisky”

Overview

Royal Brackla was the first distillery ever granted a royal warrant. King William IV gave it in 1833, and his successor Queen Victoria renewed it in 1838, which earned the whisky its old nickname, “The King’s Own Whisky”. It stands on the Cawdor estate near Nairn, the land of Shakespeare’s Thane of Cawdor. Founded in 1812, it is one of the older distilleries in the Highlands. Today it belongs to John Dewar & Sons (Bacardi) and makes a fruity, sherried malt used in Dewar’s blends and sold as a single malt.

Where it is

The distillery is in farmland between Cawdor and Nairn, about 3 miles south of Nairn and about 15 miles east of Inverness. Inverness Airport is about 8 miles away, so it’s one of the first distilleries you pass on arrival in the north. Cawdor Castle is about 2 miles south.

The full history

1812: Captain Fraser of Brackla

Royal Brackla was founded in 1812 by Captain William Fraser of Brackla House, more than ten years before the Excise Act made legal distilling profitable. Fraser complained bitterly that the local people preferred cheap smuggled whisky to his legal spirit. Selling it was hard going at first.

The King’s Own Whisky

The breakthrough came in 1833. King William IV granted Brackla a royal warrant, the first ever given to a whisky distillery. It became “Royal Brackla”. In 1838 Queen Victoria renewed the warrant, and a company prospectus boasted that Brackla was one of the best Highland malts on the market.

Owners and rebuilds

The distillery passed to William Fraser & Co in 1839, the Brackla Distillery Co in 1879, John Bisset & Co in 1926 and the Distillers Company (DCL) in 1943. It closed during the war (1943–45), was rebuilt in 1964–66, shut again in the 1985 whisky slump and reopened in 1991. In 1998, when Diageo had to sell some brands, Bacardi bought it with John Dewar & Sons. In 2019 Dewar’s relaunched Royal Brackla as a single malt with 12, 18 and 21 Year Olds, all finished in sherry casks.

How it’s made

Royal Brackla has two wash stills and two spirit stills, a 12.5-tonne mash tun and eight washbacks, with a capacity of about 3.5 million litres a year. Water comes from the Cawdor Burn and the Cursack Springs. Long fermentation gives a fruity spirit, and sherry casks add richness.

Clans, thanes & battles

• The Thanes of Cawdor and Clan Campbell. Cawdor Castle, 2 miles away, was built by the Calder Thanes of Cawdor around 1454. Shakespeare made Macbeth “Thane of Cawdor”, though the real Macbeth lived centuries before the castle. In 1499 the child heiress Muriella Calder was carried off by the Campbells, and in 1510 she was married to a son of the Earl of Argyll. The Campbells of Cawdor have held the castle ever since. See Clan Campbell. The castle and its gardens are open in summer.
• Clan Fraser. The distillery’s founder came from the Fraser families who held much of the land around Inverness. See Clan Fraser.
• Auldearn, 1645. Four miles east, Montrose won one of his greatest victories over the Covenanters at the Battle of Auldearn.
• Culloden, 1746. About 9 miles west, the last pitched battle on British soil ended the Jacobite rising. See Battle of Culloden.

Stones, lochs & churches

• Clava Cairns, about 8 miles west by Culloden: a group of Bronze Age passage graves and ring cairns among the trees. It is one of the most atmospheric prehistoric sites in Scotland. See our standing stones guide.
• Cawdor Old Parish Church, in the pretty estate village, is linked with the Campbells of Cawdor.
• Loch Flemington, a small loch a few miles west, and Loch Ness, about 20 miles south-west. See our lochs guide.

Visiting

Royal Brackla is not open to the public. There is no visitor centre and there are no tours. Cawdor Castle nearby makes a fine visit, and for a distillery tour Tomatin and Benromach are the nearest.

Nearby distilleries

• Benromach, Forres (about 12 miles): small, traditional, with tours.
• Tomatin (about 16 miles), with tours.
• Glen Moray, Elgin (about 25 miles).
• Glen Ord, Muir of Ord (about 30 miles).

The A9 Whisky Trail and the whisky hub cover the region.

Sources

• Royal Brackla distillery — Wikipedia.
• Royal Brackla, official site.
• Cawdor Castle.