The spirit produced by Glasgow Distillery’s two copper pot stills is light and fruity. After maturing in ex-Bourbon casks, it will resemble a typical Speyside whisky. However, with no established Glaswegian whisky style, the founders are determined to create their own distinct “metropolitan” style. The distillery is already distilling both peated and unpeated malt and experimenting with full maturation in ex-Port and Sauternes casks.
Glasgow once had a thriving distilling industry, but by the 21st century, only one distillery—Strathclyde, producing grain whisky—remained. In 2012, the Glasgow Distillery Company was formed to revive malt whisky production in the city, the first in 37 years after the closure of Kinclaith distillery in 1975.
By 2013, the company leased a site at Hillington Business Park and installed a single still to start production of Makar Gin. The gin brand was launched in late 2014 and has since expanded to several international markets in Europe and the US.
Malt whisky production began in spring 2015, with the distillery’s first single malt released as a limited edition in 2018. The first widely available release came in April 2019 as part of the 1770 range, which also includes a peated malt and a triple-distilled whisky.
In June 2018, the distillery announced plans to double its production capacity to over 1 million bottles per year. This expansion included the installation of two new copper pot stills from Carl in Germany, identical to the existing pair, and the addition of seven more washbacks, bringing the total to 11.
