Glebe Street, Campbeltown
1873 The distillery was opened by William Mitchell, a member of a local distilling family who set up on his own account, trading as William Mitchell and Company. At that time the town was near to its peak as the whisky distilling capital of Scotland. Alfred Barnard recorded Glengyle's annual output at 90,000 gallons.
1919 West Highland Malt Distilleries Limited was incorporated and Glengyle was one of six Campbeltown distilleries acquired in an attempt to rationalise the industry locally.
1923 West Highland Malt Distilleries Limited went into voluntary liquidation. Glengyle was put up for auction, along with Ardlussa and Glen Nevis distilleries, in 1924 and sold for £350. Closure came the following year and its whisky stocks went for auction.
1940 Bloch Brothers bought Glengyle adding it to another Campbeltown distillery (Scotia, later re-named Glen Scotia) and Scapa Distillery in Orkney. Unlike the other two, Glengyle was not brought back into production. Another unsuccessful attempt to re-start the distillery was made in the 1950s.
2000 A new company, Mitchell's Glengyle Limited was formed to renovate the distillery buildings and commence production. The Glengyle name, having long since passed to Bloch Brothers, was not available to the company, who instead chose the name Kilkerran for its single malt whisky.
See Also
Sources of Information
- National Records of Scotland BT2/10745 (West Highland Malt Distilleries Limited)
- Edinburgh Gazette 20 November 1923
- Alfred Barnard "The Whisky Distilleries of the United Kingdom" (1887)
- https://kilkerran.scot/about/
- https://scotchwhisky.com/whiskypedia/2598/mitchell-s-glengyle/
- Brian Townsend "Scotch Missed: The Original Guide to the Lost Distilleries of Scotland" (Fourth Edition 2015)
- David Stirk, The Distilleries of Campbeltown: The Rise and Fall of the Whisky Capital of the World (2019)
- Angus Martin "Campbeltown Whisky: An Encyclopaedia" (2020)