Dallas Dhu Historic Distillery

The Dallas Dhu distillery was a producer of single malt Scotch whisky that operated between 1899 and 1983. Dallas Dhu means "Black Water Valley" in Gaelic. Its whisky also appeared as a "Dallas Mhor" single malt. In 1899, Alexander Edward designed the Dallas Dhu distillery at the height of the whisky boom. Later he sold the plans and the distillery was built by the blender Wright and Greg. It was acquired by Benmore Distilleries Ltd, which joined DCL in 1929. The stillhouse was destroyed by a fire in 1939, but rebuilt. Production continued until the distillery closed in 1983; it is now a museum.

History

Originally named "Dallasmore", the Dallas Dhu distillery was built in 1898 by Alexander Edward of the Sanquhar estate outside Forres. It featured a pagoda roof designed by Scottish architect Charles C. Doig. When ownership of the distillery changed to Wright & Greig Ltd. in 1899, it was renamed to "Dallas Dhu". Production began on May 29, 1899, and the first cask was filled on June 3.

Starting in 1909, David Lloyd George introduced restrictions on distilling in the United Kingdom; these included increased taxes and the requirement that all whisky sold had been aged for at least three years.

In 1919, the distillery was sold to J. P. O'Brian & Co., and then again to Benmore Distilleries Ltd. in 1921 (around which time, the Dallas Dhu malt whisky was used in the Benmore blended whisky.) The Benmore owners installed new equipment, including electric lighting and mechanized switchers for the wash backs. After Benmore's acquisition by Distillers Company (DCL) in 1928, the distillery was closed until 1936. It was also transferred to the DCL subsidiary, Scottish Malt Distillers (SMD).