Aberfeldy

Built on the site of the old Pitlie brewery by John and Whisky Tom Dewar, sons of Thomas Dewar, first scottish blender, the Aberfeldy distillery is settled in the heart of the Grampian mountains and is one of the rare distilleries from the South of the Highlands. It is situated East from the Aberfeldy village. The oldest buildings date back to 1896 and the distillery opened in 1898. Tom Dewar was a businessman with character. He was the third owner of a motor car in UK. John was a wine and spirits merchant in Perth and was one of the pioneers in the blend whisky production. He acquired the land from the Marquis of Breadalbane. In 1925, the Dewar brothers joined together with other blenders, Walker and Buchanan. Except during the war years, Aberfeldy has never stopped its production. The distillery was completely refurbished in 1972. The whisky production is essentially dedicated to production of blends. The distillery was originally built by John Dewar to produce the malt needed for the production of his blends. The single malt from Aberfeldy enters in the composition of the famous blend Dewars White Label, Scottish Leader and Johnnie Walker. Since the 1960s the distillery has a direct rail link with the warehouses of Dewar, situated in Perth. The original architecture of the distillery shows the evolution in the distillation of malt, from the small scale farm production to the industrial stage. The buildings were designed in the shape of a great line, where barley enters at the one end, and whisky comes out at the other. The distillery buys currently its malt from the Glenesk Maltings in Montrose. The wash backs are made in wood.