Royal Lochnagar

All about Royal Lochnagar distillery

Royal Lochnagar has existed on two sites in the Highland town of the same name, near Balmoral Castle and the River Dee. Strong stone buildings preside over well manicured lawns, safekeeping the royal Whisky within.

The original Lochnagar came to the world in 1823, founded by a man named James Robertson near the modern-day site. Lochnagar burned down twice, once in 1823 under suspsicious circumstances and again in 1841.

In 1848 the third iteration of Lochnagar was granted a royal warrant, and changed the name to Royal Lochnagar. Now owned by Diageo the distillery continues to hum along providing excellent malt and one of the industries oldest visitors centers to an enthusiastic audience.

Royal Lachnagar's production capacity is quite small -- only 450,000 liters -- and runs a single pair of stills. Unpeated malt is used for production, creating the smooth, sweet taste that's it famous. Traditional earthen-floored dunnage warehouses house the maturing makes in a combination of Oak, Sherry and Muscat casks.