Banff distillery was a producer of single malt Scotch whisky that operated between 1863 and 1983.

History

The first distillery to use the name "Banff" was built by James McKilligan & Co. in 1824 on

Banff Bay Banff Bay ( gd, Bàgh Bhanbh) is a coastal embayment in Scotland situated between the towns of Banff, Aberdeenshire and Macduff, Aberdeenshire. The Burn of Myrehouse is one of the streams draining to Banff Bay. Banff Bay is a prominent geographi ...

in Inverboyndie. In 1837, ownership was transferred to Alex Mackay, and then, in 1852, to James Simpson Sr. and James Simpson Jr. In 1863, James Simpson Jr. built a new distillery, also in Inverboyndie. This distillery had better access to rail transport (via the Great North of Scotland Railway) and a better water source in the springs on Fiskaidly farm. Although the Banff distillery had dealt with fires and explosions in the past, a particularly bad fire damaged or destroyed much of the distillery apart from the warehouse on 9 May 1877. By October of the same year, Simpson had rebuilt the distillery and restored operation. He also then kept a

fire engine A fire engine (also known in some places as a fire truck or fire lorry) is a road vehicle (usually a truck) that functions as a firefighting apparatus. The primary purposes of a fire engine include transporting firefighters and water to ...

on the premises. In 1921, Simpson's family sold a portion of the distillery to the

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

-based Mile End Distillery Company. In 1932, a subsidiary of Distillers Company Ltd. bought the entire distillery for £50,000, and stopped production immediately. On 16 August 1941, a

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hit ...

Junkers Ju 88 The Junkers Ju 88 is a Nazi Germany, German World War II ''Luftwaffe'' twin-engined multirole combat aircraft. Junkers, Junkers Aircraft and Motor Works (JFM) designed the plane in the mid-1930s as a so-called ''Schnellbomber'' ("fast bomber") th ...

attacked the Banff distillery and destroyed warehouse No. 12. Many whisky casks burned and a great deal of stock was lost. Farmers reported that the whisky had run into nearby water supplies and intoxicated the local animal population. Repair on the distillery started in the winter of 1941. In 1943, No. 248 Squadron RAF was moved to the site of the distillery and remained there until the end of the war. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

ended, renovation on the Banff distillery began with the intent of restoring it to operation. While one of the stills was being repaired by a coppersmith on 3 October 1959, vapors inside were ignited and caused an explosion that destroyed the still and damaged part of the distillery. The distillery's parent company was fined £15 for having violated safety regulations. When renovation was finally complete, the distillery returned to operating status and continued to produce whisky until it was finally mothballed in 1983. By the late 1980s, most of the distillery's buildings had been dismantled or demolished. The last warehouse was destroyed in a fire on 11 April 1991.

Operation

The stills at Banff were fed by hand with coal until 1963, when a system was put in place to deliver the coal mechanically. In 1970, the stills were converted to be heated by oil burners. Cooling water was drawn from Burn of Boydine. Banff used a triple-distillation process until 1924.

External links

Scotch WhiskyWhisky DistilleriesWhisky Merchants

References

{{Scottish Distilleries 1863 establishments in Scotland 1983 disestablishments in Scotland Companies based in Aberdeenshire Scottish malt whisky Distilleries in Scotland Privately held companies of Scotland British companies established in 1863 Defunct companies of Scotland

Distillery Distillation, or classical distillation, is the process of separating the components or substances from a liquid mixture by using selective boiling and condensation, usually inside an apparatus known as a still. Dry distillation is the heat ...

British companies disestablished in 1983