The Black Isle Peninsula, home to The Singleton’s Glen Ord Distillery, gets its name from its rich, fertile soil. The land has been in the possession of the MacKenzie family for nearly 700 years and Thomas MacKenzie chose the site for his whisky distillery in 1838.

Today, Glen Ord hosts a state-of-the-art distillery visitor experience, just moments from the breath-taking north Coast 500. Here, visitors from all over the world can discover the art of The Singleton, and meet the people behind the craft.

Peter MacKenzie founded the Dufftown Distillery in 1896 at the height of the Scottish whisky boom. Unfortunately, his beginner’s luck quickly ran out. Three years later, the Scottish whisky market collapsed, and MacKenzie and his sons were forced to turn their efforts to supplying the now dry American market.

Luckily, their renown for distilling great quality Scotch whisky allowed them to thrive throughout America’s Prohibition era. This helped the Dufftown Distillery join an exclusive club of only 15 out of 159 Scottish distilleries still in operation when the Prohibition Act was repealed in 1933.

The distillery is of course named after the famous town of Dufftown, which sits at the heart of the Speyside region – the most famous Scotch region in the world – characterised by its rich soil and rivers.

In the late 19th century, several distilleries were competing for scarce water sources. Legend has it that the stream from an artesian spring called Jock’s Well, situated high in the Conval Hills, was on multiple occasions diverted by rival distillery managers in the middle of the night to service their productions. Today, Dufftown Distillery still draws water from that same source.

Dufftown Distillery continues to produce one of the smoothest, more approachable whiskies in Scotland. This is achieved with a slow distillation process and by maturing the whiskies in a secret blend of European oak ex Sherry casks and American oak ex Bourbon casks. Malts Master, Craig Wilson, with a PhD in brewing and years of blending experience, curates the perfect combination of casks for a smooth, nutty and sweet liquid that has won awards across the world.