Learn
distilleries
Royal Brackla Distillery
Standing upon fertile farmland on the banks of the River Nairn on the Cawdor Estate (linked with Shakespeare’s Macbeth) in the Scottish Highlands, the Royal Brackla Distillery was founded by Captain William Fraser in 1812, making it one of the longest standing distilleries in the world.
In 1833 the distillery became the first Scotch whisky to ever be granted a Royal Warrant, by King William IV. Earning it the nickname the King’s Own Whisky, the Scotch produced more than lives up to that name, with a rich and opulent flavour.
In an effort to put an end to the illicit distilling occurring in the local area, Captain William Fraser took out a licence for his Brackla distillery in 1812. Although an unpopular man, his whisky was very well received.
Andrew Usher, director of Royal Brackla in 1887, used the distillery to experiment with the very first blended whiskies. Famed for inventing the blended whisky, his distillery went on to become a key component in both Dewars, Johnnie Walker Gold and Bisset blends.
Becoming a staple distillery within the market, the Royal Brackla was expanded to increase production in 1964. Housing four stills and eight washbacks with a total output of 4,000,000 litres, this huge distillery continued output until 1985 when unfortunately the distillery was forced to close due to low market demand for Scotch.
Reopened six years later in 1991, the Royal Brackla was soon sold to Bacardi, when the newly formed Diago offloaded its Dewards arm to the rum giants.
