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North British
Founded
1887
Region
Lowland
Status
Operational
Company
Production type
Single grain
Production capacity
72,000,000 litres per year
North British is a grain whiskey distillery located in the heart of Edinburgh. It was originally founded in 1885 by a consortium of blenders looking to break the monopoly held by Distillers Company on grain production at the time. The group included Andrew Usher, William Sanderson, John Crabbie and James Watson, and production commenced in 1887.
Today this distillery is co-owned by Diageo and the Edrington Group through a partnership called Lothian Distillers - first created in 1993 by United Distillers and Robertson & Baxter. While most of its spirit is destined for blends, many independent bottlings and a handful of official single grain releases have been produced.
With its ownership chiefly concerned with their own respective portfolios of brands, there is no permanent range available for North British single grain. However, there have been some official bottlings released over the years.
These include a a centenary commemorative release in 1985, a 40-year-old release from 2000 and several more commemorative bottlings for its 125h anniversary in 2010.
Current owner
1999-present (co-owner)
1997-present (co-owner)
1993-1997 (co-owner)
1993-1999 (co-owner)
North British Distillery
9 Wheatfield Road
Edinburgh
EH11 2PX
Scotland
Active brands
Single grain