Craigellachie was built in 1890 by Charles Doig on behalf of Sir Peter Mackie (White Horse) and Alexander Edward, who wanted to make a more delicate and fruity whisky than those usually found at the time. Edward was also responsible for Aultmore, Dallas Dhu and Benromach. He left the business in 1900 and sold his shares to Mackie, who used Craigellachie for his blends White Horse, Old Smuggler and Old Gaelic. Craigellacie became the property of Distillers Company Limited (Diageo’‘s predecessor), who bought White Horse Distillers in 1927 and then sold the distillery to the Bacardi group in 1998, at the same time as Aberfeldy, Aultmore and Royal Brackla. For a long time remaining in the shadow of the blends it was used in for its fruity, waxy and meaty characteristics, Craigellachie was finally released as a single malt in the 1990s, with appearances in the Flora and Fauna and Rare Malt ranges. Today it has its own line of single malts, launched in 2014 as part of Dewar’‘s Last Great Malts.

A Craigellachie 14 year old from the Flora and Fauna range. The Flora and Fauna range was introduced in 1991 and followed in the footsteps of the Classic Malts range, which was introduced in 1988 and featured six single malts deemed to be the company’’s most iconic. Flora and Fauna offers a wider range of distilleries in the United Distillers group, with 22 single malts in total, including some lesser well-known malts that were generally reserved for the group’’s blends. The range owes its name to the famous whisky specialist Michael Jackson and refers to the labels depicting animals and wildlife. These bottlings have become difficult to find and many are simply no longer sold.