The BenRiach

During this time, however, Benriach's floor maltings continued to operate, providing malt for sister distillery Longmorn. In the 1960s the distillery was bought and completely refurbished by Glenlivet, re-opening for distillation in 1965. Glenlivet was bought by Chivas Brothers in 1978, with the company's parent Seagram deciding to produce peated malt for their blends at Benriach from 1983 (production today is around 10% peated malt)and expanding capacity with the addition of two new stills in 1985.

In 1994, almost 100 years after opening, the first official bottling of Benriach as a single malt (a fairly nondescript 10 year-old) was released. The floor-maltings were mothballed in 1999 after more than a century of continuous operation, but remain in good condition and are now being prepared for reopening.

Seagram became part of Pernod Ricard in 2001, and the new owners cut production at Benriach to three months a year, before mothballing the distillery in 2002.

Finally, in 2004, Pernod sold the Benriach distillery to an independent consortium led by Billy Walker, a former director of Burn Stewart. Production recommenced almost immediately and the lacklustre 10yo was discontinued and replaced by what has become one of the most exciting and dynamic ranges in the industry. Led by a feisty 12 year-old and a critically acclaimed 16 yo, Benriach's new owners have continued to exploit the superb spirit created by this previously unsung distillery, with a string of aged or limited releases of remarkably vibrant single malts.

Crucially, the new owners have been able to take advantage of the peated spirit made at the distillery in the previous 25 years - at a time when peaty malts have become hugely popular. In just five years, Benriach has gone from a forgotten footnote, one of many neglected distilleries in the portfolios of big companies, to one of the most exciting single malts around. This was capped by the distillery winning the accolade of Distillery of the Year from Malt Advocate magazine in 2007.

Such has been the spectacular trajectory of Benriach that parent company Intra Trading has recently bought another well-respected distillery fallen on hard times - Glendronach. All single malt fans will be wishing them well in their efforts to pull off a similar revival there - and after the remarkable success accomplished with Benriach, few would bet against them.