Glenkinchie Distillery

Originally founded as the Milton Distillery

History

Glenkinchie Distillery, near Edinburgh, is one of only three remaining Lowland malt whisky distilleries in production.

Glenkinchie lies, as the name might suggest, in a glen of the Kinchie Burn near the village of Pencaitland, East Lothian. It is situated about 15 miles from Edinburgh. The distillery is set in farmland. The name 'Kinchie' is a corruption of 'De Quincy', the original owners of the land. Its origins date back to around 1825 when it was founded by brothers John and George Rate. The original name was Milton Distillery. The brothers probably renamed it in about 1837. In 1969 the distillery stopped malting its own grain and the malting floors were turned into a museum of malt whisky.

A visit to Glenkinchie, home of Edinburgh Malt involves a short and pleasant drive from the city centre into the rolling farmland of East Lothian. Here you can see the distillers at work employing the excellent Scottish barley and pure clear water from the nearby Lammermuir Hills in the making of a capital malt in every respect. An exhibition of malt whisky is housed in the listed red brick buildings and the dram in the distillery bar usually satisfies any further thirst for knowledge.

The Glenkinchie label was relatively little known until 1989, when United Distillers started marketing it under their Classic Malts brand.