Glen Keith distillery is known for its experimental approach to whisky production and its role as a pilot plant for Seagram and Chivas Brothers’ distilling trials. Located in Keith, behind the Strathisla plant, the distillery started producing triple-distilled malt from the beginning and experimented with a variety of distilling methods. These included alternating between triple and double distillation, trials with a wheat mash, and using gas-fired direct heating, which was a first for a distillery. The distillery has also produced peated variants under the name Glenisla, using two different methods of passing peat smoke through water and concentrating it.
The distillery’s character is light and fruity, aided by its slender stills with long, upward-angled lyne arms, which are indicative of a lighter whisky style. Its experimental nature also meant that the stills varied in shape and size, which helped facilitate these trials, including those with different types of yeast.
Glen Keith was mothballed in 1999 but was reopened in 2013 under the ownership of Pernod Ricard after a complete refit, which included the installation of a new mash tun and washbacks. While Glen Keith never became a front-line malt, it had a limited release with a 10-year-old bottling, and independent bottlers occasionally release Glen Keith and Glen Isla expressions. Despite its small-scale production, it remains notable for its innovative history in whisky distillation.
