Bladnoch Distillery stands beside the River Bladnoch near Wigtown, in the south-western Scottish Lowlands. It was founded in 1817 by brothers John and Thomas McClelland, who received a licence to distil whisky on their farm. For almost a century, the business remained in the hands of successive McClelland generations, who expanded production and earned Bladnoch the nickname ‘Queen of the Lowlands’. This family era ended in 1905, followed by a turbulent century of changing owners and repeated production stops. The distillery reopened in 1956 and expanded to four stills in 1966. Arthur Bell & Sons owned Bladnoch between 1983 and 1993, after which Raymond and Colin Armstrong took control.

Australian entrepreneur David Prior purchased Bladnoch in 2015 and began an extensive restoration. Two new pairs of copper stills and six wooden washbacks were installed, allowing spirit production to resume in 2017. Bladnoch is Scotland’s southernmost distillery and the oldest independently owned Scotch whisky distillery. Its real distinction lies in this remarkable survival story: a historic Lowland distillery repeatedly silenced and ultimately rebuilt, while remaining independently owned.