Annandale

Type: Distillery

Annandale is a distillery in Annan, Dumfries and Galloway. Founded in 1836, it returned to production in 2014 after a long hiatus. Its story brings together an early peated whisky tradition, a restored historic site and two named whiskies that recognise figures associated with the area.

It is sometimes described as a new distillery, but that misses an important distinction. The present operation is a revival of an older distillery, rather than a business founded on a new site in 2014. Professor David Thomson and Teresa Church became the new owners in 2007, and the project to bring Annandale back took seven years.

The early distillery

According to the producer’s account, George Donald built Annandale between 1830 and 1836. The distillery was founded in 1836 and opened by the Donald family. Its setting offered plentiful water and local peat, while the buildings were made from pink sandstone.

Peat is an important part of the site’s history. Annandale historically made peated whisky, a tradition reflected in one of the two named whiskies produced today. The modern range also includes an unpeated whisky, so the old and revived distillery should not be assumed to have identical production choices.

George Donald died in 1883, after which the distillery passed to John Sykes Gardner. The producer’s account says Gardner modernised Annandale and continued to make peated malt for about a decade. This period sits between the Donald family’s founding of the distillery and its later ownership by John Walker & Sons.

The Walker years

John Walker & Sons bought Annandale and used its peated whisky in its blends. The date of the purchase is disputed in the supplied sources: the producer gives 1893, while a trade account describes the purchase as taking place in the late 1890s. The distinction matters when setting out a precise chronology, even though both accounts place Walker in the distillery’s history.

The Walker period also left a visible mark on the site. According to the producer, Walker added a kiln with a Charles Doig pagoda roof and a tall brick chimney, and expanded the warehouse. The pagoda roof survived and was restored during the later revival.

The producer says the roof is one of only five original Doig pagoda roofs left. It is a feature of the restored distillery and a connection to the changes made under Walker’s ownership. The producer describes Annandale’s history in terms of three eras of ownership and a hiatus of around 90 years.

The exact year in which the earlier operation closed is also disputed in the supplied material. Rather than treating one date as settled, it is safer to distinguish the long pause in production from the better defined events of the recent revival.

Bringing Annandale back

Thomson and Church became the new owners in 2007. The revival was a seven-year project, with production restarting in 2014. Annandale Distillery Company is the owning company.

The restoration used original local sandstone and slate, according to the producer. That choice connects the revived site with its older buildings, including the pink sandstone associated with the early distillery. The surviving pagoda roof was restored as part of the work, preserving a feature added during the Walker period.

The project involved more than restoring buildings. Dr Swan designed the production plant and process, and the first new spirit was made on 9 November 2014, according to the producer’s account. The restart marked the return of whisky production to Annandale after its long hiatus.

The Princess Royal reopened the distillery on 10 September 2015. The first bottling followed in 2018. These dates describe different stages of the revival: the return of production, the formal reopening and the first bottling should not be treated as a single event.

Annandale’s stated capacity is 675,000 litres of pure alcohol a year. That figure describes capacity, not necessarily the amount produced in any particular year. It provides a measure of the revived distillery’s scale without changing the distinction between its historic production and its present operation.

Man O’ Words and Man O’ Sword

Annandale’s two named whiskies recognise Robert Burns and Robert the Bruce. Man O’ Words is unpeated and named for Burns. Man O’ Sword is peated and named for Bruce, who was once lord of Annandale.

The contrast between the two names is also a useful starting point for understanding the range. Man O’ Words identifies the unpeated whisky, while Man O’ Sword identifies the peated one. The names refer to different historical figures; the peat distinction refers to the whiskies themselves.

Man O’ Sword’s peated style also has a connection to Annandale’s past. The historic distillery made peated whisky, including during the period when Gardner continued production and when Walker used Annandale whisky in blends. That history does not mean that every whisky associated with the revived distillery is peated.

Man O’ Words provides the other half of the contrast. Its Burns name links the whisky to a figure also connected with The Globe Inn in Dumfries. Thomson and Church bought the inn in 2018, the same year as Annandale’s first bottling.

Burns and The Globe Inn

The Globe Inn was a favourite of Burns, and he etched an upstairs window there. The owners’ purchase of the inn gives the Burns association another place in the Annandale story, alongside the name Man O’ Words.

The connection should be kept distinct from the distillery’s earlier ownership. The Donald family opened Annandale in 1836, while the purchase of The Globe Inn belongs to the modern owners’ period. The two details help explain different parts of the story: one concerns the distillery’s founding, the other a later link with a place associated with Burns.

Visiting Annandale

Annandale has a visitor centre. The producer says it receives more than 50,000 guests a year and has celebrated its tenth anniversary. For visitors, the restored site brings several periods of the distillery’s history together, from the original sandstone buildings to the pagoda roof and the revived production plant.

The buildings are part of that history, but so are the changes in ownership and production. Donald founded the distillery, Gardner modernised it, Walker used its peated whisky in blends, and Thomson and Church undertook its revival. Those stages explain why Annandale is both a historic distillery and a comparatively recent return to production.

The clearest way to understand Annandale is therefore not as a brand-new distillery, but as an old one brought back. Its founding in 1836, the long interruption, the restart in 2014 and the first bottling in 2018 are separate milestones in a continuing story.

Sources

1. Annandale Distillery. About Us. https://annandaledistillery.com/about-us. Checked November 2026.
2. SLTN. Restored Annandale Distillery pays tribute to Burns and Bruce. https://sltn.co.uk/2026/01/13/restored-annandale-distillery-pays-tribute-to-burns-and-bruce/. Checked November 2026.
3. Wikipedia. Annandale distillery. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annandale_distillery. Checked November 2026.
4. legislation.gov.uk. The Scotch Whisky Regulations 2009, regulation 10. https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2009/2890/regulation/10/2025-02-01?view=plain+extent. Checked November 2026.