Our Story - Benromach

Since 1998, at our family-owned distillery in Forres, we have revived and reimagined a style of whisky almost lost in time - rich, handcrafted, with a delicate hint of smoke. A style once common across Speyside, now all but forgotten.

In years gone by, even the lightest whiskies of Speyside had a touch of smoke. Over the years, as distilleries adopted more modern methods, Speyside single malts have drifted away from this classic character towards the lighter, unpeated profiles.

But not at Benromach. Here we stay true to the roots of the region, recreating the character that once defined Speyside - a rich single malt with a delicate hint of smoke. Crafted using time-honoured methods, this award-winning whisky is made by hand for genuine character.

01 Malting & Milling

We are proud to have revived the lost Speyside style, whereby we malt our barley with just a whisper of peat smoke.

Ground into grist in our four-roller ‘Boby’ Mill, our barley gives our whiskies their distinctive character; robust and delicious.

We bring the mash down by hand, meaning our Distillers hand control the flow of water from the local Chapelton Spring and grist into the Mash tun until full, before constantly monitoring to control the speed of the rakes and water temperature.

This attention to detail ensures a natural extraction of sugars from the grist to create the malty, cereal flavours that form the base of our silvery new-make spirit.

03 Fermentation

Our long fermentation process lasts between three and five days and takes place in our larch washbacks.

Unusually, we use brewer’s as well as distiller’s yeast to generate a more complete fermentation that enables more complex flavours to develop.

Our expert distillers hand-measure our yeast by sight and sprinkle it into the washbacks by hand.

These traditional techniques make sure each batch of our whisky exhibits the genuine character of those who made it.

04 Distillation

Double distillation through two bespoke copper pot stills creates a medium bodied spirit suitable for variable lengths of maturation. The wash still is ‘settled’ by hand, using the expertise and experience of our distillers and a traditional water test used to gauge purity. The skill of our dedicated distillers is especially critical when it comes to ‘cut’ the spirit; the moment when they consider the spirit from each distillation to be of the highest quality. This ‘sweet heart’ of the run then goes to spend years maturing in our first-fill casks, slowly becoming Benromach single malt.

Good casks are crucial for creating good whisky. And most of the flavour and character comes from using oak casks for the first time after being seasoned with bourbon or Sherry. The quality, specification and provenance of our casks play a vital role in how the flavours develop over time. The maturation process is tightly controlled, with the whiskies regularly monitored to maintain excellent quality standards.

After hand-filling a cask with new-make Benromach spirit, it then takes its place in one of our traditional dunnage-style warehouses which maintain consistent temperatures ideal for maturing single malt whisky.

Benromach distillery was built in 1898 in Forres, Scotland.

In 1993, the distillery was acquired by family-owned distillers Gordon & MacPhail and restoration quickly began to revive the lost Speyside style - a rich, handcrafted single malt with a delicate hint of smoke. Before the 1960s, subtle peat smoke had been at he heart of Speyside whisky, with distilleries gently drying their malted barley over fire and as peat was the main source of fuel, it would leave its unmistakable smoky influence on the whisky.

When the distillery was reopened in 1998 by Prince Charles, it signalled the rediscovery of a lost style of Speyside single malt.

Every bottle in our signature range keeps the spirit of Speyside alive. The subtly smoky character adds depth to our spirit, enhancing the complexity and flavour profile.

And for those looking for something more experimental, our Contrasts range push the boundaries of flavour and innovation. Each release showcases the result of a new process, barley drying method or different cask types to provide whisky enthusiasts with something new to experience.