The Glasgow Distillery

Type: Distillery and brand

On 5 March 2015, The Glasgow Distillery filled its first single malt cask, according to the producer. The company had been incorporated in December 2012. At Hillington, on the outskirts of Glasgow, it has produced Glasgow 1770 single malt in unpeated, peated and triple distilled expressions: three approaches from one Lowland site. [1]

What The Glasgow Distillery is known for

The producer documents three approaches to Glasgow 1770: double distilled and unpeated, peated, and triple distilled. The first unpeated release arrived in June 2018, followed by Peated in September 2019. Triple Distilled completed the Glasgow 1770 Signature Range in May 2020. [1]

Together, these documented releases make a clear case for looking beyond regional shorthand. Lowland is a protected geographical description, not a requirement to make only triple distilled whisky. The regional name tells the reader where the whisky comes from, while leaving room for different production choices. [1][3]

The names also deserve separating. The Glasgow Distillery is the production site and company identity; Glasgow 1770 is its single malt brand. Malt Riot, introduced in June 2020, is a separate blended malt. The producer describes it as combining Speyside malts with unpeated Glasgow 1770. [1]

A modern company with an older name

The year 1770 belongs to the business honoured by the name, not to an unbroken history of distilling at Hillington. The producer says the original Glasgow Distillery Company was founded in 1770 and made unpeated, peated and triple distilled single malt before closing in 1902. That account explains the name’s origin; the underlying historical records have not been established in the research for this article. [1]

The modern project has its own, much later chronology. The company dates its incorporation to December 2012, the discovery of the Hillington site to August 2013, and the fitting out of a repurposed warehouse to September that year. Those are the starting points for the present distillery’s working history. [1]

Liam Hughes and Mike Hayward are named in the producer’s founding account. The complete founder list remains unresolved in the research, so those two names should not be treated as an exhaustive list. [1]

Story box: a warehouse becomes a distillery

Founding story: The producer names Liam Hughes and Mike Hayward as founders and dates the incorporation of The Glasgow Distillery Company Ltd to December 2012. It found its Hillington premises in August 2013 and began installing equipment in the repurposed warehouse the following month. Source: the producer’s own account.

Turning point: In March 2024, the producer says the site more than doubled in size, adding an on-site maturation warehouse with its own cooper. The expansion brought maturation facilities into its account of the Hillington operation. Source: the producer’s own account.

Documented record: The first single malt cask was filled on 5 March 2015, according to the producer: a distinct milestone between incorporation and the later first release. Source and claim mapping: company timeline, first-cask entry.

Last checked: 7 November 2026.

Building the production site

The first still recorded at Hillington was Annie, separate from the whisky pair. She arrived in August 2014, described by the producer as a 500-litre copper pot with a six-plate column. Makar Original Dry Gin followed in October 2014, becoming the company’s first product. [1]

The whisky installation took shape in stages. In December 2014, the producer records installing two 17-ton grain silos, 5,000-litre fermenters and a 1-ton mash tun. January 2015 brought Tara, a 2,500-litre wash still, and Mhairi, a 1,500-litre spirit still. Both were named after family members of the founding partners. [1]

A wash still performs the first whisky distillation; a spirit still performs the subsequent distillation. That distinction puts the equipment chronology in focus. Annie’s earlier arrival should not be confused with the installation of Tara and Mhairi, the whisky pair.

The producer records two further stills arriving in August 2019. After that expansion, it reported output rising to around 200,000 litres of alcohol a year. The figure describes reported output at that point, rather than installed capacity or a verified production total for November 2026. [1]

A name with a documented dedication

Claim: The stills Frances and Margaret honour the artists known as the MacDonald sisters.

Verdict: Documented

What the record shows: The producer explicitly identifies the dedication in its August 2019 timeline entry recording the stills’ arrival. The connection between the names and the artists is stated directly.

Evidence against or gap: No contrary account is recorded in the research for this article.

Earliest known source: The producer’s Our Story page, August 2019 timeline entry; its original publication date is not established.

Sources and claim mapping: The names, dedication and installation month are supported by the producer’s own account.

Last checked: 7 November 2026.

Production and release timeline

The producer’s chronology traces the path from equipment installation to whisky releases, checked in November 2026. [1]

Cask No.1’s tenth anniversary belongs to that individual cask. It supplies neither an age statement for the whole range nor confirmation of a particular anniversary bottling. The research for this article does not establish age statements for any such releases.

From the first release to a wider range

Glasgow 1770 made its debut in June 2018 with 5,000 bottles. According to the producer, that first release was double distilled and unpeated, matured in first-fill ex-bourbon casks, then finished in virgin American white oak. The finish was the subsequent period in the second cask type. Those maturation details describe this release, rather than every later bottle. [1]

The Small Batch Series broadened the finishing-cask story when it arrived in August 2022. The producer’s history lists beer, Tokaji, red wine, cognac, tequila and ruby port casks among the finishes. These document a variety of cask treatments, not a flavour shared by every release. [1]

Glasgow 1770 Cask Strength followed in October 2023, beginning with Batch 01 The Original and Peated. Those names identify the releases in the launch record; current batch availability is not established by that history. [1]

Glasgow Distillery and Clydeside are separate projects

The Glasgow Distillery at Hillington and The Clydeside Distillery are distinct developments. Scotchwhisky.com’s account of Clydeside describes construction delays that allowed the Glasgow Distillery Company to open its Hillington distillery first. Their opening stories intersect, but the names do not refer to the same site. [4]

Keeping the histories separate also keeps each project’s location and opening sequence clear. For the neighbouring project, continue to The Clydeside Distillery. This page follows the Hillington producer and its Glasgow 1770 single malt.

Where to go next

• Auchentoshan: explore another Lowland distillery.
• Glenkinchie: read another profile within the same regional grouping.
• Holyrood: continue through the Lowland hub.

Sources

[1] The Glasgow Distillery Company. Our Story. Undated company timeline, including entries through March 2025; checked November 2026. https://www.glasgowdistillery.com/the-distillery/our-story

[3] legislation.gov.uk. The Scotch Whisky Regulations 2009, regulation 10. SI 2009/2890, original 2009 text; supplied geographical-definition excerpt checked November 2026. https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2009/2890/regulation/10/made/data.xht?view=snippet&wrap=true

[4] Scotchwhisky.com. Clydeside. Undated trade reference entry; checked November 2026. https://scotchwhisky.com/whiskypedia/10529/clydeside/

This article is desk research based on the supplied verified sheet, distinguishing the producer’s history from the trade account and statutory geographical definition.

Last checked: November 2026