An Overview of Inver House Distiller’s Five Distilleries

An Overview of Inver House Distiller’s Five Distilleries

Courtesy of Whiskybase.com

This is a rather unusual article for this blog as it isn't an actual whisky review but an overview of the five distilleries belonging to spirit's company Inver House Distillers.

I am hoping to publish a review of the Balblair 12 very soon and as I started writing an introduction for it, I realised that Balblair was an InterBev (Inver House Distillers) product, just like Knockdhu (anCnoc), the subject of my last two previous reviews. So, I decided to write a short overview article about my opinion on InterBev owned distilleries.

Wikipedia informs us that Inver House Distillers Ltd. is a Scotch whisky spirits company, based in Airdrie, Scotland. The company is a subsidiary of ThaiBev, one of the largest alcoholic-beverage companies in Southeast Asia.

Favouritism?

Inver House Distillers owns five malt whisky distilleries in Scotland, namely Balblair, Balmenach, Knockdhu, Pulteney and Speyburn. This is just my opinion, but it seems that InterBev to some extent favours some over others.

Looking at their Speyside distilleries: Knockdhu, Speyburn and Balmenach, as well as Pulteney, up in the far Northern-Highlands, it seems to me that all of them have huge potential which is not being exploited. Moreover, the marketing department consistently dumbs down their own products, for reasons that don’t make much sense, at least to me.

Knockdhu Distillery

Take Knockdhu for example. Despite it being in one of the most beautiful parts of the Speyside region and near some of the most popular distilleries, all with visitors’ centres, guaranteeing a steady flow of tourists passing through the area, Knockdhu has no visitors’ centre itself. Moreover, as mentioned in my last review, why is the anCnoc 12 chill-filtered, coloured and bottled at legal minimum 40% abv, yet in many markets around the world, often price matched against Single Malts which are? It’s a whisky loved by enthusiasts and virtually unknown to casual drinkers, so why not target the right audience?

Pulteney Distillery

Google Maps

Pulteney distillery in the little coastal town of Wick on the A99 heading up to John O’Groat, does have a visitors’ centre but it has been clearly neglected for some time. When we were last there in June 2024, the shop had almost no distillery only bottlings and particularly disappointing to me, no Single Cask Ex-Bourbon bottlings whatsoever. The staff, although friendly, seemed to be mainly there to push the standard Old Pulteney and sister distilleries’ core-ranges which you can obviously find anywhere, defeating the whole point of taking the trouble to actually visit the distillery.

Moreover, they have a special tasting room where pride of place sits three casks containing various Old Pulteney single malt types from which to choose from, where you can take samples and are then given the opportunity to hand bottle your own whisky from these casks. When each cask empties, it is replaced with something else. At least, that's what is supposed to happen. When we last visited however, all three casks along with the tasting room, were empty. When I enquired as to why this was, I was given some excuse that the Inver House manager in charge of replacing the casks, had not arrived yet and they were expecting new casks within a few days. Really, it just isn’t good enough and leaves a bad impression on visitors. I got chatting with one the guides there and after expressing my impression that the place was run down, she regrettably had to agree with my assessment.

Speyburn Distillery

Google Maps

I have as yet not visited Speyburn distillery, another of their Speyside distilleries, despite having passed by it numerous times. It lies in the town of Rothes, near Glen Grant and Glen Rothes distilleries and does in fact have a visitor’s centre, although until I checked for this article, I hadn’t been aware of this, which is not surprising, as it only opened in 2023.

To say that the branding and artwork of Speyburn is bland and genetic would be an understatement. It’s as if a TV props department was asked to designed a non-descript bottle of Single Malt to go on the table on the latest episode of some detective series. With its cheap budget / Supermarket level image it has up until now pretty much gone under my RADAR. That is, until they brought out the 15 and 18-Year-Old releases, (neither suitable for the Orthodox Jewish drinker I'm afraid), which are presented at natural colour, are non-chill-filtered and bottled at the magical 46% abv. At least the 15-Year-Old expression has garnered some very positive reviews.

There is at least one member of their core expressions which has no kashrus issues, namely the “Bradan Orach” NAS, but unfortunately, it’s coloured, chill-filtered and bottled at legal minimum 40% abv. Nevertheless, I’ll try and pick up a bottle soon and give it a try and will try to visit the distillery the next time I’m in the area, bli neder.

Balmenach distillery

Google Maps

One would think that InterBev only has four distilleries, but there is in fact a fifth one no one talks about - their “Cinderella” distillery if you like. The one they keep out of site, the one that's never invited to the ball. Balmenach distillery was established in 1824 and is situated in the heart of the Speyside region in Grantown-On-Spey. The distillery has always been relegated to exclusively producing malt whisky for Blended Scotch and, would you believe it, they also make Gin now! Occasionally you might see their whisky bottled as Single Malt from independent bottlers, but it’s rare.

Single Cask bottled by Douglas Laing

There is currently a Douglas Laing Single Cask bottling available, a 12-Year-Old Ex-Bourbon Hogshead, bottled at the usual 48.4% abv for their “Old Particular” range. (I am currently enjoying two other bottles from Douglas Laing's "Old Particular" range and will Be'ezrat Hashem, review them in the near future).

Ironically, the distillery actually features quite prominently in one of the first books ever dedicated exclusively to the subject of Scotch Whisky, with a whole chapter dedicated to Balmenach. With the rather long title “Scotch – The Whisky of Scotland in fact and story”, it’s written by Sir Robert Bruce Lockhart, gentleman and former diplomat and British Secret Agent in Russia. Sir Robert Bruce Lockhart gives us a beautifully written nostalgic description of the distillery, having grown up in the vicinity as a child.

If you come across this 1951 classic, it is well worth picking up and reading.

Based on the author’s recommendation that Balmenach is at its best after 15-18 years old, I searched out and found an 18-Year-Old Balmenach by independent bottlers, Murray McDavid.

This is another bottle which I planned to write a review on and talk about the distillery and Lockhart’s book, but haven’t got round to it as yet. Lockhart describes the spirit as really characterful and meaty (I suppose similar to nearby Speysiders - Benrinnes and Mortlach). 

Having gone through a few owners, Balmenach has never been officially bottled as a single malt, and all's the pity. Perhaps InterBev might reconsider and decide to invest in this distillery soon.

Balblair Distillery

In complete contrast, Balblair distillery is the jewel in InterBev’s crown. Its visitor’s centre is impressively spacious, offering excellent tours and always has some wonderful distillery only single cask bottlings available.

Google Maps

Balblair distillery is 70 miles south of Old Pulteney, just off of the A836, near the A9 main road just past the town of Tain. You pass the Glenmorangie distillery, clearly visible from the main road on your right and well sign-posted, then turn left at the next roundabout marked A836.

Whereas much of the core-range of Speyburn, Knockdhu and Old Pulteney are bottled at minimum legal 40% abv, are chill filtered and have added caramel spirit colouring, incredibly, the entire Balblair range is bottled at the very respectable 46% abv, are all Natural Colour and Non-Chill-Filtered, including the bottom of the range 12-Year-Old.

I do not understand how, when it comes to Balblair, InterBev seem to understand perfectly the importance of integrity bottlings, yet don’t apply those same high standards to the other distilleries which they own? It’s as if they are being managed by completely separate entities or, there has been a corporate decision to separate Balblair distillery from the others and present it as their premium brand distillery.

Anyway, I hope this has been informative and will Be’ezras Hashem publish my review of the Balblair 12 soon.