| Region |
Highlands |
| District |
Speyside |
| Water source |
uit de Cromdale Hills |
| Neighbours |
Braeval, The Speyside, Royal Lochnagar |
| Owner |
Inver House Distillers |
| Manager |
|
| Visitor centre |
By appointment only. |
| Address |
Cromdale, Grantown-on-Spey
Morayshire, PH26 3PF |
| Phone |
+44 (0)1479 872 569 |
| Website |
http://www.balblairdistillery.com/distilleries-balmenach.php |
| History |
1824 : established by James McGregor
1922 : sold to DCL
1993 : closed by UDV
1998 : bought by Inver House Distillers (first distillation of the Balmenach 5 year old in March) |
| House Style |
Often sherried, with a spicy, honey character. |
| Pronunciation |
bal-mey-nach |
| Meaning |
|
| Capacity per year |
2.000.000 litres |
| Independent Bottler |
Aberfoyle & Knight
Cadenhead
Gordon & MacPhail
Hart Brothers
Inverarity |
| Information |
Currently they don't bottle any single malt. (source: InverHouse January 2007).
Balmenach distillery is nestled at the bottom of the Haughs of Cromdale in the Spey valley. It was in these hills on the last day of April 1690 that an army of Jacobite soldiers were ambushed by dragoon guards, as the Jacobite forces were ambushed during their sleep many were slain the remaining fled nearly naked, this defeat effectively ended the Jacobite rising in the Highlands.
In the early 1800 three brothers crossed these hills from Tomintoul and set up a farm. One of these brothers was
a James McGregor who also set up an illicit still on the site. Shortly after the licensing act was introduced James McGregor obtained a license for his distillery formally establishing
it in 1824.
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