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This
is an example of one of the page spreads from The Malt Whisky Guide. Below
is the text from the pages, illustrating the detail of information on
each distillery. Valueable for any enthusiast, bar or retail outlet.
Strathisla was originally known as The Milton Distillery taking its water from the Fons Bulliens Well (fed by the Broomhill Spring). Built originally in 1786 by George Taylor, Strathisla is one of the oldest distilleries in Scotland (only Glenturret, Littlemill and Bowmore can claim to be older). After George Taylor's reign The Milton Distillery went into the ownership of William Longmore who became the town's philanthropist building a town hall, a bowling green and fixing the church bell of Newhill.
William Longmore will be remembered more for his work on the distillery than his generosity. The work was pre-empted twice by two fires, the first of which was on 22 January 1876. 30 cows died in the fire (at a loss of £700 along with 500 quarters of barley) - the fire did not interfere with the operations and although the damage was a staggering £3,800 it appears that none of the whisky was caught - so no explosions.
William Longmore left the distillery to be run by his son-in-law John Geddes-Brown who in-turn set up William Longmore & Company offering 7000 shares at £5 each. In 1850 Milton was renamed Strathisla, meaning the Valley of Isla but then reverted to Milton-Keith in 1870. It was not until 1880 that the distillery reverted back to the name Strathisla although you may still hear some of the older locals still referring to it as the Milton Distillery.
