Strathclyde Distillery

In 1927, Strathclyde Distillery was built in the notorious Gorbals district of Glasgow, on the banks of the River Clyde, by Seager Evans & Co. Reversing the history of some notable Scotch distilleries, Strathclyde was originally designed to make gin and only later turned to whisky. To be specific, it produced neutral grain spirit that would be transported to the Millbank Distillery in London to be redistilled with botanicals for Seagers Gin.

It began producing grain whisky as well in 1936, the year Seager Evans acquired the Long John blended whisky brand. In the late 1950s, Seager Evans was itself acquired by New York-based Schenley Industries. The US firm’s boss Lewis Rosentiel wanted to control the production of Long John, so he had Strathclyde built malt whisky pot stills behind Strathclyde’s industrial shell – calling it Kinclaith – while simultaneously embarking on the ambitious construction of the century’s first entirely new single malt distillery, at Tormore in Speyside.

Long John Distilleries went through various hands towards the end of the 20th century and, eventually, was acquired by Pernod-Ricard (Long John is still a highly popular blend in France). Strathclyde grain whisky has also found its way into Chivas Regal and Ballantine’s.

Strathclyde’s wheat-led grain spirit emerges from a two-column distillation very creamy and fairly light. That lends itself to a relatively short maturation to reach the heights – by short, we mean, short for a grain whisky... only about 18 years, up to about 30. This bracket tends to allow the original character to develop more character without taking on too much wood influence.

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