Strathmill Distillery, Keith: The J&B Workhorse

Overview

Strathmill is one of three distilleries in the Speyside town of Keith. It started life as a corn mill and became a distillery in 1891. It was renamed Strathmill, “the mill in the valley”, by the gin and wine merchants W. & A. Gilbey in 1895. Since the 1960s it has been a key malt for J&B, one of the world’s best-selling blends. Today it belongs to Diageo and is not open to visitors.

Where it is

The distillery stands by the River Isla on the southern side of Keith. Strathisla and Glen Keith are a few minutes’ walk away. Elgin is about 18 miles west, Huntly about 11 miles east, and Aberdeen about 1 hour 15 minutes by the A96.

The full history

1823: Strathisla Mills

The site began as Strathisla Mills, a corn mill founded in 1823 by A. G. Johnstone on the River Isla. For almost seventy years it ground the grain of the surrounding farms.

1891: Glenisla-Glenlivet

During the whisky boom of the 1890s, the mill was converted into a distillery called Glenisla-Glenlivet. Many Speyside distilleries of the time added “Glenlivet” to their names to borrow its fame. In 1895 it was bought by W. & A. Gilbey, the London wine and gin merchants, who renamed it Strathmill.

J&B and Diageo

Gilbey’s became part of International Distillers & Vintners (IDV), which used Strathmill from 1962 to supply malt for J&B. In 1998 IDV merged with United Distillers to form United Distillers & Vintners, the spirits arm of Diageo. Strathmill still feeds J&B, and official single malt bottlings have been rare.

How it’s made

Strathmill has two wash stills and two spirit stills, with a capacity of about 1.8 million litres a year. Water comes from local springs. The spirit is light and nutty, ideal for a delicate blend like J&B, and it matures in seven warehouses on site: five traditional dunnage and two racked.

Clans, saints & the town

• St John Ogilvie, born near Keith in 1579, was a Jesuit priest hanged in Glasgow in 1615. He is Scotland’s only post-Reformation saint, canonised in 1976, and Keith’s Catholic church of St Thomas remembers him.
• The Ogilvies held Milton Tower, a ruined tower house by the Isla in Keith.
• The Gordons dominated the wider country. See Clan Gordon and the Battle of Glenlivet (1594).

Bridges, lochs & stones

• The Auld Brig of Keith, built in 1609, and the 18th-century Union Bridge over the Isla.
• Loch Park, near Drummuir, about 5 miles south-west: the wooded loch at the source of the Isla. See our lochs guide.
• Mortlach Kirk, Dufftown, about 10 miles away, with its Pictish Battle Stone. See our standing stones guide.

Keith: a planned whisky town

Keith is two towns in one. Old Keith grew up around the ford and bridge over the Isla. New Keith was laid out in 1750 by the Earl of Findlater as a planned town with a grid of streets and a long central square, and Fife Keith was added across the river by the Earl of Fife in 1817. Keith grew as a market and mill town, with woollen mills, and the Keith Show is still one of the biggest agricultural shows in the north. Today it is a whisky town with three distilleries. It is also the starting point of the Keith & Dufftown Railway, the “Whisky Line”, a heritage railway that runs 11 miles to Dufftown in summer. The Isla Way footpath follows the same route on foot.

Visiting

Strathmill is production only, with no visitor centre or tours. In Keith, Strathisla, home of Chivas Regal, has an excellent visitor centre.

Nearby distilleries

• Strathisla and Glen Keith, both in Keith.
• Glentauchers, Mulben (about 4 miles).
• Aultmore (about 3 miles).
• Knockdhu (anCnoc), Knock (about 9 miles).
• Inchgower, Buckie (about 12 miles).

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

Sources

• Strathmill distillery — Wikipedia.
• Diageo / Malts.com.