ABERLOUR built by a farmer
James Fleming, the son of a local tenant farmer built Aberlour Distillery in 1879 after having worked at Dailuaine, for ten years. See our blog
James was producing whisky from 1880, until his death at the age of 65 (farmers never stop working, I know by experience) in 1895. Fleming is buried opposite the distillery in the village cemetery. He choose a location just up the road from his earlier workplace, that provided a supply of pure spring water flowing over the pink granite of Ben Rinnes, in ancient times noted for its’ magical relationship with water, the village of Aberlour lies at the heart of Speyside, where the Lour burn joins the River Spey. Robert Thorne & Sons bought the distillery and ran it until 1921 when they sold the distillery to W. H. Holt & Sons, a brewery near Manchester. In 1945 S.Campbell & Sons Ltd. bought the distillery. In 1975 Pernod Ricard acquired Campbell Distilleries and they joined with Chivas Brothers in 2001.
Take a look here at a tour I made with friend Ingvar Ronde to Chivas distilleries; https://whiskytours.scot/chivas-regal-distillery-day Our tour was great, a Chivas Regal day exploring distilleries with Ann Miller (International Brand Ambassador) was a highlight of my tour. With 30 years’ experience in the world of scotch Whisky, Ann is based in Speyside. She speaks fluent French and Spanish with a splattering of German. Her background is in marketing and public relations. Ann was one of the founders of the Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival nearly 20 years ago and serves as one of its’ volunteer Directors. She is an acknowledged expert on all of Chivas Brothers’ whisky brands – Chivas Regal, Royal Salute, Ballantine’s, The Glenlivet, Aberlour, Longmorn, Tormore, Scapa and more, as I found out. Ann is a mine of information and she did Ingvar proud with the drams, including a new make he enjoyed. I do like Aberlour and its drams, especially the A’bunadh. Aberlour is the best selling Scotch whisky in France and is the 8th best selling single malt on earth. My favourite here is a sherried & intense dram. Meaning ‘the original’ in Gaelic, A’bunadh is made in homage to James Fleming, a whisky hand-made from start to finish with each batch being created (slightly different) to ensure a rich and complex flavour of moist raisin, and fruit cake. It is bottled at cask strength resulting in a robust and deeply intense, sherried whisky, can devour this until the coo’s come home (farmers again).
A good time to visit the distillery in my view (and we can help) would be when the Aberlour Strathspey Highland Games is on in August. The venue is Alice Littler Park by the River Spey, where the former railway platform and the surrounding park slopes forming a natural amphitheatre to view the events from. The event features highland dancing, heavy events, pipe bands including many from the local area playing throughout the afternoon. The parade of the massed bands at the end of the afternoon is an amazing sight and sound. The River Spey passes through Aberlour, world famous for salmon fishing. Salmon fishing can be arranged by MCLEANSCOTLAND.com The water provides excellent sport for novice and seasoned angler alike. So in conclusion, why visit Aberlour? Answer, for fishing, shopping (the deli is excellent), whisky of course and a great section in any tour of Speyside. Aye, is it any wonder our tours take us there many, many times a year.