Building record MAB8191 - MORTLACH DISTILLERY, DUFFTOWN

Distillery established in 1823 by George Gordon and James Findlater on land leased from the Earl of MacDuff.

Distillery established in 1823 by George Gordon and James Findlater on land leased from the Earl of MacDuff. It was sold in 1832 to J and J Grant, who removed all distilling equipment. It was restarted in 1852 by John Gordon and greatly developed in 1853 by George Cowie. Its stills were increased from three to six in 1897. It was completely rebuilt in 1963, although some of the earlier buildings appear to survive, and a new production complex was added in 2013-14. Some additional warehouses were demolished in the 1990s. It is a traditional distillery, with a double gabled three-storey, 14-bay former malt barn, now a store, with long elevations South-East and North-West, although it reduces to two storey on the North-West elevation due to the slope. A later 19th century kiln projects at the South-West return gable. The barn and kiln are constructed from harl pointed rubble with tooled ashlar dressings. A second kiln was built in 1963 to the East of the 19th century one. There is regular fenestration to the store, with an additional entrance slapped in the ground floor of the South-East elevation. There is 12-pane glazing in the upper windows, and the ground and first floor windows have boarded lower half and 6-pane upper glazing. The late-19th century kiln has a single window in each face and paired lights just below wallhead. It has an ogee slated roof with traditional apex pagoda cupola, as does the more recent kiln. There is a set of warehouses to the South of the former malt barn. It is a range of six gabled bays, with two-storey gables and single-storey and attic to long elevations. There are metal bars to the window openings of warehouses. The NHRE noted that according to Jervise the distillery originally incorporated a 15th century tower house as a central feature but there seems to be no evidence for this.

Period Notes
Founded in 1823, incorporating a 15th century towerhouse, then sold in 1832 and restarted in 1852. It was developed in 1853, and stills added in 1897. It was rebuilt in 1963 and there were further additions in 2013-14. Listed designation given on 22/02/1972, and it was changed from a B listing to a C listing in 2014.

Img 243-246, 251-252, Img 243-246, 251-252 (Ground Photograph). SAB36061.

Img237-239, Img237-239 (Ground Photograph). SAB36060.

Hume, JR, 1977, Industrial Archaeology of Scotland, 182 (Bibliographic reference). SAB730.

Aug 2 1985 , AAS/85/09/S4/5, AAS/85/09/S4/5 (Air-oblique Photograph). SAB30614.

Jun 3 1997 , AAS/97/06/CT40, 46, AAS/97/06/CT40, 46 (Air-oblique Photograph). SAB32121.

Record last edited

Sep 1 2022 2:35PM