Brora

Built: 1819 Current Owner: Distiller Company Limited. Production Capacity: 4,200,000 litres. House style: Richly textured with an elegant smokiness. Brora is the original distillery in the town of the same name and used to be called Clynelish, until 1968 when a new distillery was built next door. Initially, they operated as Clynelish 'A' and Clynelish 'B', until the owners Scottish Malt Distillers saw sense and renamed this distillery 'Brora'. Sadly, this classic distillery was lost in the spate of closures in 1983. The stills remain, so in theory they could distill again, but that is unlikely to be part of Diageo's plans. A pity as the malt distilled at Brora was the peatiest on the mainland at 40 parts per million - more than most Islay malts. There is little similarity between either the distilleries of Brora and Clynelish, or their whiskies. Brora is a classic example of Scotland's fine pagoda-topped distilleries, whereas Clynelish is widely regarded as a modern monstrosity. A much-loved malt, which will probably perform well at future auctions once unbottled supplies are exhausted.