Drumguish Profile

Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whisky

Drumguish was the first single malt expression from Speyside distillery near Kingussie, built over the course of 25 years by Glasgow-based whisky blender and broker George Christie.

Speyside distillery began distilling in 1990, and while its single malt spirit was also eventually bottled as Glentromie and Spey whisky in later years, its first release was named Drumguish after the surrounding area and a lost distillery that sat across the way in the late 19th century.

Drumguish was first listed in Wallace Milroy’s Malt Whisky Almanac in 1995, which noted the whisky as a ‘floral, fruity, light malt with a sweet, lingering finish’. This relatively positive description was not shared by many other aficionados, and Drumguish never gained any serious traction in the retail trade. 

Map
  • Region
    Speyside
  • Production type
    Single malt
  • Produced at
    Speyside

Drumguish History

George Christie was a flamboyant whisky broker and blender based in Rutherglen, a southside suburb of Glasgow. He had established the North of Scotland grain distillery in Clackmannanshire in 1957, but his vision was to build his own malt distillery.

Speyside distillery was built near Kingussie in 1987, and began producing malt whisky in 1990. The first expression released was bottled in 1993 under the Drumguish Distillery Company as a no-age-statement, 40% abv Drumguish single malt, although it was quite obviously a barely legal three years old.

Drumguish was soon withdrawn from the market around 1999 as older Speyside distillery expressions were released. 

Speyside distillery, its holding company Speyside Distillery Company, and the Drumguish Distillery Company, were all acquired by a private investment group in 2000, followed by Harvey’s of Edinburgh in 2013.

Timeline

  • 1962 Work begins on constructing Speyside distillery near Kingussie
  • 1990 Speyside distillery begins producing single malt spirit
  • 1993 Drumguish single malt is released on to the UK market with no age statement
  • 1999 Drumguish is withdrawn from the UK market
  • 2000 The distillery is sold to a group of private investors
  • 2013 Speyside distillery, along with the Dramguish Distillery Company, is acquired by Harvey’s of Edinburgh

Owner

Drumguish Distillery Company logo

Current owner

  • Drumguish Distillery Company

See also

  • Aberlour Aberlour Aberlour Distillery & brand

    Aberlour

    Part of Chivas Brothers' portfolio, Aberlour is best known for its cult expression, A'Bunadh.

  • Allt-a-Bhainne Allt-a-Bhainne Allt-a-Bhainne Distillery & brand

    Allt-a-Bhainne

    Allt-a-Bhainne was built in 1975.

  • Auchroisk Auchroisk Auchroisk Distillery & brand

    Auchroisk

    One of Diageo’s ‘nutty-spicy’ sites.

  • Aultmore Aultmore Aultmore Distillery & brand

    Aultmore

    One of Dewars' malt distilleries.

Scroll To Top