Annandale Distillery shop sampling - 08.06.24

Ben Callow from Annandale Distillery, will be joining us on Saturday 8th June to conduct a whisky sampling in our shop.

Annandale Distillery only produces premium Single Cask, Single Malt and Cask Strength Scotch whisky. These come under two brands, the first is Man O’ Words Unpeated which is light and fruity and dedicated to Robert Burns and Man O’ Sword Peated, which is smoulderingly smoky,  and dedicated to King Robert the Bruce.

Annandale Distillery was established in 1836 by George Donald, a former excise officer from Sanquhar. Run by the Donald family for nearly 50 years, producing peated single malt Scotch whisky, in 1883 the distillery was passed to John Sykes Gardner, who ran the distillery for a further 10 years. In those 10 years, he upgraded the distillery by introducing steam engine power, and as a result Annandale was able to produce more whisky and expand its reputation and consumption.

Johnnie Walker and Sons subsequently bought the distillery in 1893, operating it until 1918 when the distillery closed.

After 80 years of extinction, David Thomson and his wife Theresa Church bought the distillery in 2007 and have completely restored the building to its former glory, as well as making it fully functional. Annandale released its first Single Cask, Single Malt and Cask Strength Scotch whisky for the first time in June 2018.

We look forward to welcoming Ben!