Tamnavulin Distillery, Glen Livet: The Mill on the Hill
Tamnavulin at a glance
| Region | Speyside (Glen Livet, Moray) |
| Founded | 1966 |
| Owner | Whyte & Mackay (Emperador) |
| Visitor centre | No — festival access only |
| Tours | Special events only (Spirit of Speyside festival) |
| Opening | Not generally open to the public |
| Website | tamnavulinwhisky.com |
Overview
Tamnavulin — Gaelic for “the mill on the hill” — sits high in Glen Livet and makes a smooth, mellow, good-value Speyside malt, popular for its wine-cask-finished expressions. It is one of the more affordable ways into the classic Glenlivet-valley style.
The history
Tamnavulin was built in 1966 by Invergordon Distillers as a modern, efficient malt distillery. It was mothballed in the mid-1990s downturn and lay silent for over a decade before reopening in 2007; it is now owned by Whyte & Mackay.
The water & the land
Tamnavulin is made with water from the Easterton Spring in the hills above — spring-fed rather than drawn from the nearby River Livet.
Tamnavulin had no founding clan — it was a 1960s commercial build in Glen Livet, historic Gordon (Dukes of Gordon) estate country.
How it’s made
Tamnavulin runs three wash stills and three spirit stills with nine washbacks, to a capacity of around four million litres a year, using natural springs at Easterton. It was mothballed in May 1995 and sat silent until 2007, when United Spirits’ purchase of Whyte & Mackay brought it back to life; it is now part of Whyte & Mackay under Philippines-based Alliance Global, which bought the group in 2014 for £430 million. Recent bottlings have leaned on wine-cask finishes — sherry, Cabernet Sauvignon, Grenache, Pinot Noir and Tempranillo among them.
Visiting
Tamnavulin is not generally open to the public, with access mainly during the Spirit of Speyside festival; check the website. The nearby Glenlivet is the distillery to tour in this glen.
Nearby & more whisky
- The glen’s famous name, a few miles up the road: The Glenlivet — the one to tour in this glen.
- Also in the uplands, about ten miles on: Tomintoul — tours on set weekdays.
- Over the hill: Braeval — production only.
- Planning a day of it? Our Speyside Whisky Trail covers this as one of its spurs — the high glens, the smuggling country and the Moray coast.
- The whole picture: Scotch whisky — regions, distilleries & the oldest of all
Sources
- Tamnavulin distillery — Wikipedia.
- Whyte & Mackay; Scotchwhisky.com.