Benriach

A steam locomotive called the Puggy once carried coal, barley, peat and barrels between Benriach and neighbouring Longmorn. The private railway linked two distilleries owned by John Duff, who founded Benriach in 1898. It is a fitting introduction to a distillery whose survival owed much to the work it did for its neighbour. [1][3]

Benriach is a Speyside single malt distillery in north Speyside, south of Elgin, drawing water from a mineral-rich aquifer deep beneath the site. Its name belongs to the landscape too: according to the producer, it comes from a small hill, or “Ben”, on the site of the old Riach farm. [1][2]

Its history reaches from the late Victorian whisky boom to the present, taking in a long pause in distilling, working floor maltings and several changes of ownership. Today, three styles of spirit define its breadth: classic, peated and triple distilled. Peat is part of Benriach’s identity, but it is not the whole story. [1][3]

John Duff and the early years

Benriach opened amid a rush to build Scotch whisky distilleries. The producer reports that 33 new distilleries opened across Scotland during the 1890s; John Duff’s venture, founded in 1898, belonged to that remarkable decade of expansion. It was one new distillery among many, rather than an isolated enterprise. [1]

Duff brought experience from beyond Scotland. Before founding Benriach, he had worked in the whisky industry in South Africa and Kentucky. He also owned neighbouring Longmorn, a connection that would become particularly important when distilling stopped at the newer site. The two distilleries’ histories remained closely entwined. [3][6]

Benriach’s first spell of distilling was brief. The producer says it lasted two years before the distillery closed in the Pattison Crash, dating the closure to 1900. Maltspedia gives 1899. The closure belongs to this early chapter, but its precise year differs between the two accounts. [1][4]

The long pause and the working maltings

Distilling stopped, but the maltings kept working. According to the producer, Benriach’s floor maltings supplied malted barley to Longmorn from 1900 to 1965. For those decades, the connection to its neighbour gave the site a continuing role in whisky production, even while Benriach itself made no spirit. [1][3]

The producer credits that work with keeping the buildings intact through 65 silent years. In its account, the maltings were central to Benriach’s survival, not merely a sideline during its closure. Their continued use kept the site active through the long interruption in distilling. [1]

Spirit finally flowed again in 1965, when Glenlivet Distillers Ltd restarted production. That brought the long pause to an end, while leaving the maltings firmly woven into the distillery’s history. Much later, in 2013, the floor maltings were briefly brought back into periodic use, returning an old part of the site to work. [1][4]

Three approaches to spirit

Peat has been part of Benriach’s production since 1972, according to the producer. It is a longstanding strand of the distillery’s character, rather than a recent addition. Peated batches are made during a period Benriach calls the “Smoke Season”. [1]

The producer dates Seagram’s purchase of Benriach to 1985 and says the stills immediately doubled from two to four. It also says those four stills remain in use today. The acquisition date is disputed: other accounts place Seagram’s arrival in 1978, rather than 1985. [1][3][5]

Benriach’s first single malt release arrived in 1994: a 10 year old. In the producer’s chronology, that debut sits between the expansion of the stills and another step in production, the introduction of small batches of triple distilled spirit in 1998. Bottling and distilling were both entering new chapters. [1]

Triple distilled spirit is now made once a year, the producer says. It completes the trio of classic, peated and triple distilled styles produced at Benriach. That variety is worth keeping in mind when reading about the distillery: its name covers several production approaches, rather than a single style maintained throughout its history. [1]

Closure and an independent revival

Seagram became part of Pernod Ricard in 2001. The producer says Benriach was mothballed in 2002, while another account describes the distillery running for only three months a year around that period. These are differing accounts of activity at the site, not an agreed picture of the closure. [1][3]

A new chapter began in 2004, when an independent consortium led by Billy Walker acquired Benriach. His partners were Geoff Bell and Wayne Keiswetter. The producer records both unpeated and peated releases in August 2004, followed by the new company’s first cask filling on 20 September that year. [1][3]

The releases and the cask filling are separate milestones. Those dates alone do not establish further details about the stock or people involved in the change of ownership. [1]

The company went on to acquire GlenDronach in 2008 and Glenglassaugh in March 2013, bringing two more distilleries into its portfolio. In 2015, Benriach was named Global Whisky Distiller of the Year at the Icons of Whisky Awards, according to the producer’s history. [1][3]

Brown-Forman and the modern range

Brown-Forman bought Benriach on 1 June 2016. Brown-Forman Corporation remains the current owner, following the independent consortium’s period in charge. The sale placed Benriach, GlenDronach and Glenglassaugh together under the new owner, continuing the association established through the earlier acquisitions. [1][3][4]

Dr Rachel Barrie joined in March 2017 as Master Blender for all three distilleries: Benriach, GlenDronach and Glenglassaugh. The producer also records her standing as a Keeper of the Quaich and her honorary degree from the University of Edinburgh. Her appointment connected the three distilleries through their blending work. [1]

September 2020 brought a new core range and packaging, with ages reaching up to 30 years. According to the producer, the design took inspiration from the packaging of Benriach’s first single malt release in 1994: a new range with a deliberate look back. [1]

Two common misconceptions

Speyside whisky can be peated, and Benriach provides a clear example. The distillery has made peated spirit since 1972 and still produces peated batches during Smoke Season. That history answers the claim that Speyside whiskies are never peated, without making peat the defining feature of everything Benriach produces. Classic and triple distilled styles also belong to its production. [1]

Benriach is not a recently founded distillery, either. Its origins lie in 1898, firmly in the nineteenth century, despite the long interruptions and subsequent changes in production and ownership. The restart in 1965 restored distilling to an existing site; the range launch in 2020 reshaped its presentation. Both are important milestones in a much longer story, not the beginning of Benriach. [1]

Sources

1. Benriach Distillery. Our Heritage. https://www.benriachdistillery.com/en-us/our-history/. Checked November 2026.
2. Benriach Distillery. About Us. https://www.benriachdistillery.com/about-us/. Checked November 2026.
3. Wikipedia. BenRiach distillery. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BenRiach_distillery. Checked November 2026.
4. Maltspedia. Benriach Distillery. https://maltspedia.com/distilleries/benriach-distillery/. Checked November 2026.
5. Whiskipedia. BenRiach Whisky Distillery. https://whiskipedia.com/distilleries/benriach/. Checked November 2026.
6. The Spirits Educator. BenRiach. https://www.thespiritseducator.com/benriach. Checked November 2026.