The History Of Dalwhinnie
1897
Purpose-built by a consortium of whisky businessmen where the Great North Road and the Highland Railway meet, the distillery was first called Strathspey.
1898
Production begins but the owners go into liquidation instead of liquid. A man by the name of A. P. Blyth buys it for his son and renames it Dalwhinnie – which means plain of meetings. A reference to the location at a junction of old drove roads, between two mountain ranges.
1905
The largest US distillers, Cook & Bernbeimer buy the distillery at auction. The pair begin blending Dalwhinnie with other whiskies “...to suit the American palate.”
1919
Prohibition is about to hit and the US firm sells Dalwhinnie to Macdonald, Greenlees & Williams Ltd.
1934
A fire wrecks the distillery, causing a four year closure, with rebuilding hampered by bitterly cold winters and twenty foot snow drifts.
1968
The Malting floors are decommissioned.
1986
A complete refurb closes the distillery again.
1994
Dalwhinnie is confirmed by the Met Office as having the coldest average recorded temperature - 6 °C - of any inhabited Scottish region.
