Angus Dundee Distillers

Angus Dundee Distillers was established in 1950. Terry Hillman, formerly a Burn Stewart executive, founded the business as a Scotch blending company. Today it is a plc based in London, and Hillman’s children, Tania and Aaron, run it. The company trades in about 70 overseas markets. Despite its name, its base is London, not Dundee. [3]

The company says it has more than 75 years of experience in distilling, bottling and exporting. Its activities now extend beyond blending: it owns three single malt distilleries, two in Scotland and one in China. The Scottish sites are Tomintoul and Glencadam, while the Chinese site is the Chun’an Distillery in Zhejiang. [1]

Angus Dundee also has a bottling plant at Coatbridge, near Glasgow. Both Scottish distilleries have blending facilities, and the company supplies blends to European trade customers either bottled or in bulk. Its business therefore combines distillery ownership with blending, bottling and supply to other businesses. It is not a company that only bottles blends. [3]

The distinction between its two Scottish distilleries is important. Tomintoul is in the Cairngorms National Park, while Glencadam is in Brechin in the Eastern Highlands. Angus Dundee bought them separately, and each has a history of ownership and production before becoming part of the company. [1][3]

Tomintoul

Angus Dundee bought the silent Tomintoul distillery from JBB (Greater Europe) in 2000. The distillery is Tomintoul, not Tomatin: a reference that identifies Tomatin as an Angus Dundee property is mistaken. The company’s own account gives Tomintoul’s founding date as 1965. [2][3]

The founding year is disputed. Angus Dundee gives 1965, while Wikipedia gives 1964. The distillery was built by Hay & Macleod and W. & S. Strong, trading as the Tomintoul-Glenlivet Distillery Company. Tomintoul village is described by the owner as the highest village in the Scottish Highlands. [2][6]

The distillery’s process water comes from the Ballantruan spring. That name also appears on one of its peated whisky releases, Old Ballantruan. The spring is a detail in the distillery’s account, linking its production to a named water source rather than to the nearby village alone. [4]

Scottish and Universal Investment Trust bought Tomintoul in 1973. The following year brought two developments: a second pair of stills was installed, doubling capacity, and the first Tomintoul single malt bottling was released. The expansion of the still house and the appearance of a single malt bottling were separate events, although both took place in 1974. [4][6]

Tomintoul now has two wash stills and two spirit stills, all heated by steam. Its stated capacity is 3,300,000 litres of pure alcohol a year. The two pairs of stills reflect the enlargement recorded in 1974, when the additional pair doubled the distillery’s capacity. [4][6]

Robert Fleming, a fourth-generation Speyside distiller, has looked after Tomintoul for more than 30 years. His long association with the site spans a substantial part of its history and provides continuity alongside the changes in ownership and the development of its single malt range. [4]

In 1990, before the Angus Dundee purchase, a 12 year old Tomintoul was launched in a distinctive bottle. Under Angus Dundee, the core bottling became a 10 year old. A 16 year old followed in 2003, then a 27 year old in 2004. The releases show how the range developed after the distillery changed hands. [4]

Old Ballantruan came out in 2005 as a peated 1991 vintage bottled at 50% ABV. Later Tomintoul releases included a 12 year old with an Oloroso finish and the Peaty Tang vatting. These sit alongside the age stated bottlings in the distillery’s release history, rather than replacing the account of its core 10 year old. [4]

Tomintoul also holds a Guinness World Record for the largest bottle of whisky. That record is a separate distinction from the distillery’s production capacity and its regular bottlings: it concerns the size of a bottle, not the amount of spirit the stills can produce. [4]

Glencadam

Angus Dundee bought Glencadam from Allied Domecq in 2003. Allied had mothballed the distillery in 2000, and Glencadam was back in production within two months of the purchase. The restart is one of the clearer milestones in the company’s ownership of the Brechin site. [3][5]

The owner says Glencadam opened in 1825. Accounts differ over its founder: George Cooper is named in one account, while another identifies David Scott, who took over in 1827. The distinction matters because Scott’s later takeover should not be treated as settled proof that he founded the distillery in 1825. [3][5]

Glencadam passed through several hands before its purchase by Angus Dundee. Gilmour Thomson and Co bought it in 1891, and Hiram Walker bought it in 1954. The spelling of the 1891 owner’s name is also disputed, with another account giving it as Thompson. [5]

The distillery was linked to the Stewart’s Cream of the Barley blend. That connection belongs to Glencadam’s earlier history, while its present place in Angus Dundee combines single malt distilling with blending facilities. The company’s blending lab is at Glencadam, making the site relevant to more than its own single malt production. [5]

The period of mothballing began before Angus Dundee acquired Glencadam. Allied’s decision in 2000 and the return to production after the 2003 purchase are therefore distinct events under different owners. The documented interval of less than two months refers to the time between the purchase and the restart, not the entire mothballing period. [5]

More recent changes include the return of a nineteenth-century water wheel in 2021. Glencadam also opened its first visitor centre in 2025. These are separate developments at the distillery: the water wheel relates to an older feature of the site, while the visitor centre is a new facility. [5]

Unlike Tomintoul, Glencadam does not have a reliably established still count or capacity in the supplied record. Those figures should not be inferred from Tomintoul’s two pairs of stills or its stated capacity. The two Scottish distilleries share an owner and both have blending facilities, but their production figures are not interchangeable.

The third distillery and the wider business

Angus Dundee’s third single malt distillery is in China. The Chun’an Distillery overlooks Thousand Island Lake in Zhejiang and was completed in 2025, according to the company. Its location makes the company’s distillery ownership wider than its two Scottish sites, though the supplied record does not reliably establish its production details. [1]

The three distilleries also illustrate different stages in the company’s development. Tomintoul and Glencadam were existing Scottish distilleries bought in 2000 and 2003 respectively. Chun’an was completed in 2025. Those dates describe different events, so the completion of the Chinese distillery should not be confused with either Scottish acquisition. [1][3]

Blending remains part of the business Terry Hillman founded. With facilities at both Scottish distilleries and a blending lab at Glencadam, Angus Dundee supplies European trade customers in bottled or bulk form. Its Coatbridge bottling plant sits alongside those facilities in the company’s wider operation. [3][5]

Taken together, the distilleries, blending facilities and bottling plant show why Angus Dundee is more than a Scotch blending company in its original sense. It still supplies blends, but it also owns single malt distilleries and trades overseas. Its London base, family management and distinct Scottish distillery histories are all part of the present picture. [1][3]

Sources

1. Angus Dundee Distillers. Home. Checked November 2026.
2. Angus Dundee Distillers. Our Brands. Checked November 2026.
3. ScotchWhisky.com. Angus Dundee Distillers. Checked November 2026.
4. Whisky Clan. Tomintoul Distillery: History, Owner, Range and Visitor Guide. Checked November 2026.
5. Whisky Clan. Glencadam Distillery: History, Owner and Visitor Guide. Checked November 2026.
6. Wikipedia. Tomintoul distillery. Checked November 2026.