Glengyle Distillery History
A historic Campbeltown distillery reimagined in the 21st century, Glengyle Distillery was originally founded by William Mitchell, who had previously run Springbank Distillery with his brother John, under the direction of their father and founder of Springbank, Archibald Mitchell. A dispute between the two brothers, William and John, led the former to leave and start his own venture, Glengyle Distillery, in 1872.
In 1919, Glengyle was sold to West Highland Malt Distilleries Ltd after suffering, as many distilleries did, from the economic downturn of the early 20th century. Production then completely ceased in 1925.
Over the decades-long closure of the distillery, the buildings continued to be used by local clubs and companies and so the Glengyle buildings remained reasonably well-maintained compared to many other closed distilleries in Campbeltown.
In the year 2000, the distillery was purchased by Mitchell’s Glengyle Ltd, headed by Hedley G Wright, then chairman of J&A Mitchell and great, great nephew of the original founder of Glengyle, William Mitchell. After his passing in 2023, Mr Wright’s shares in the company were transferred to three local trust funds to ensure that the community would continue to benefit from the company after his passing.
After a four year re-build to restore the buildings and install the production equipment, the first spirit was distilled in 2004 to go on to produce Kilkerran Single Malt. Over the years since then, we have built up the Kilkerran whisky range.
The Kilkerran Name
‘Glengyle’, despite being the name of the distillery, was not used as the name of our whisky as this name had already been trademarked for use for a Blended Highland Malt for some time.
The name ‘Kilkerran’ was taken from the town’s original place name of ‘Ceann Loch Chille Chiarain’. Mitchell’s Glengyle Ltd were delighted to continue and revive a part of Campbeltown’s whisky heritage and felt that this name was a fitting alternative honouring the distilling history of the town.
The Campbeltown Region
With three distilleries, the Campbeltown region may be small but its impact on the whisky world cannot be overstated, and plans for new distilleries suggest that the future looks bright for the once-named whisky capital.
Home to over 30 distilleries during its peak, Campbeltown has a rich whisky history which was significantly influenced by the resurgence of Glengyle Distillery in the early 2000s. Hedley Wright’s decision to purchase and re-open Glengyle, giving the town three distilleries at the time, was a key factor in solidifying Campbeltown’s status as a whisky region at a time when this was in jeopardy.
Campbeltown was identified as a protected locality in the Scotch Whisky Regulations of 2009.
