The North British distillery, established in Edinburgh in 1885, was created in response to the monopoly on grain whisky held by DCL (formerly known as Cameronbridge). Andrew Usher, William Sanderson, John Crabbie, and James Watson united to build a new and significant grain distillery in Gorgie, near the Union Canal, the railway line, and the Caledonian distillery, which had been acquired by DCL the previous year. This was likely a response to DCL’s dominance.
Production began in 1887 with a single Coffey still, and within three years, capacity had doubled to three million gallons annually. Whisky production halted during the First World War but resumed in 1920. The distillery managed through the difficult 1930s and flourished after World War II. By the 1960s, it was producing six million gallons per year, a figure that would double by the 1970s, making North British the largest grain distillery in Scotland at one point.
Throughout the 1960s, the distillery operated like a co-operative, with shareholders including Robertson & Baxter, IDV, William Lawson, Macdonald Martin, Seagram, and William Teacher. In 1993, management passed to Lothian Distillers, a joint venture between Robertson & Baxter (now Edrington Group) and IDV. Following the 1997 merger of IDV and DCL (which by then was called UD), North British was effectively managed by the company it had originally opposed. The irony was certainly not lost on the industry.
