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Holding the impressive distinction of being Glasgow’s only grain distillery, Strathclyde was initially built by London distiller Seager Evans in 1927 on the site of an old cotton mill. Established predominately to supply neutral grain spirit for gin, it wasn’t until 1936 that Seager Evans entered the whisky-making market, when he purchased the Long John brand.
Strathclyde hasn’t always solely made grain-based whiskies, however. In 1956 a set of stills were installed within the distillery to produce a single malt Scotch whisky named Kinclaith. This was the doing of Schenley Industries of New York, who acquired the company in the same year and invested heavily in the site.
The days of malted whisky at Strathclyde came to an end in 1975 however, when Whitbread purchased the distillery and removed Kinclaith, as well as the blending and warehousing site next door, to make more room for grain whisky production. Today, Strathclyde predominately makes grain whisky for use in blends for brands such as Ballantine’s and finds itself a part of Chivas Brothers’ impressive roster. While there are no Strathclyde or Kinclaith official bottlings, the result of a fresh water supply from Loch Katrine and a distillation process in a two-column system does produce a single grain whisky of such quality that independent bottlers such as Berry Bros. & Rudd and Douglas Laing have attained a number of casks for numerous ranges.
