Deanston (Teithmill) Distillery

There are many distilleries in Scotland which started as mills, Deanston transformed into a distillery in the 1960s and developed in a scale which no other distilleries can beat. This huge plant was constructed on the banks of the fast-flowing River Teith in 1785 and had what was claimed to be the largest water wheel in Europe.

Production started in 1969 and ended after 3 years when it was sold to private label specialist Invergordon. The distillery was bought for £2.1m by Burn Stewart in 1990. Burn Stewart Distillers owns Bunnahabhain distillery and Tobermory distillery that also produces peated Ledaig whisky.

Deanston distillery can claim to be one of the greenest distilleries in Scotland. All its power is generated by a turbine house which processes 20 million litres of water an hour. It has been distilling whisky, which is sweet, fruity with a hint of malty honeyed spiciness on the palate, using only traditional methods.

Although its first single malt was released in 1974, Deanston has only recently been elevated to a front-line single malt brand, where only 15% of the liquid produced is used for single malt, with the rest going into blended whisky.