AUSSIE RULES
Australian businessman David Prior has come from down under to spearhead the resurrection of Scotland’s southernmost whisky distillery at Bladnoch
How Bladnoch Distillery near Wigtown found a saviour down under
In late 2017 I was invited to a luncheon to mark the 200th anniversary of Bladnoch Distillery near Wigtown in the far south west of Scotland. Bizarrely, I’d never been to that part of Scotland before but happened to go twice in less than a month as I’d been speaking at the Wigtown Book Festival a few weeks earlier.
It’s roughly a four-hour drive from Edinburgh but feels a lot longer. It was the first time I had visited Bladnoch Distillery, which has a fascinating history and exciting future ahead of it. The previous owners, the Armstrong Brothers, took over the distillery in 1994 but it didn’t go back into production until 2000.
Prior to the Armstrongs, the distillery had been owned by United Distillers (now Diageo) and Inver House Distillers among various other blenders and bottlers. It has certainly had a turbulent history and this has resulted in a whisky of varied quality, which in certain circles has been referred to as ‘Bland-noch’.
Unfortunately, Bladnoch went into administration in 2014 and the distillery was mothballed yet again. Then in 2015, Australian entrepreneur David Prior decided to buy the distillery and brand. David had made his fortune in the sale of an organic yoghurt and lifestyle brand, which he had established with his father.
It takes David, who is based in Melbourne, 24 hours to get to Glasgow and then it’s another three or four hours to get to the distillery, so geographically it was not the most obvious investment. He also took over a distillery that was in a serious state of disrepair. When he got the keys, the washbacks literally had mushrooms growing in them and the mash tun leaked.
David purchased the run-down distillery for around £20 million, however this included a sizeable stock maturing in the extensive warehouses. He has spent around another £5 million gutting the distillery and putting in brand new equipment.
Under the guidance of Ian Macmillan, master distiller and blender for Bladnoch – formerly of Burns Stewart and responsible for whiskies such as Bunnahabhain and Deanston – the distillery has been resurrected. All that was retained were the outer walls but everything inside is brand new.
Bladnoch was very close to vanishing off the face of the whisky map. It has always been of note as it is the most southerly whisky distillery in Scotland, however without David’s intervention it could have been lost forever.
The other impressive thing is that in buying the distillery, David has acquired a 200-year-old brand. I can’t think of another industry where one could acquire a brand with 200 years of heritage, more or less overnight. To mark the anniversary, a limited edition 29 year-old whisky was released.
The distillery is now up and running, producing a grassy and light lowland-style spirit. In the meantime, while the current spirit matures, Pure Scot, a blended whisky brand, as well as aged Bladnoch whiskies have been released in Australia, the US, the UK and a handful of other markets.
Having met David on a few occasions I find his company refreshing. His energy, passion and excitement for Scotch whisky is palpable. David isn’t scared to ruffle feathers either, which I admire given this is something I have been known to do too when it comes to whisky. A quick Youtube search of ‘Pure Scot – Scotch with balls’ will show you what I mean.
I think it certainly is ballsy to buy a run-down distillery and bring it back to life. I know many expressed concern when it was first announced that an Australian yoghurt tycoon had purchased the distillery, but what I can see is a proven businessman bringing a dusty distillery up to date and having fun doing it. Cheers mate!
‘Bladnoch was very close to vanishing off the face of the whisky map’