Silent all these years
Gavin D Smithinvestigates the fortunes of Glen Grant No.2 distillery,also known as Caperdonich
Unlike virtually all the distilleries featured in this series so far,Caperdonich is not a truly âlostâ distillery. It remains essentially intact,both externally and internally, but the chances of it making whisky again are remote.
Caperdonich was established in 1897 at the height of the Victorian Scotch whisky boom by J&G Grant of nearby Glen Grant distillery in the Speyside distilling town of Rothes (see p.47). It was designed to supplement the output of Glen Grant and was named âGlen Grant No. 2 Distillery.â It was originally connected to its older sibling by what was known locally as âthe whisky pipe,âwhich carried new make spirit across the main road for filling.This allowed the people of Rothes to boast that their streets flowed with whisky! Legend has it that they were also not above drilling holes into the pipe to divert spirit for their own purposes.
As regular readers of this series will already know, the good times were not to last,however, and the collapse of the firm of Pattisonâs Ltd in 1898 precipitated a crisis in the Scotch whisky industry, brought about by over-production and overly optimistic speculation.
Glen Grant No.2 was one of several distillery casualties, and it closed in 1902.According to Dennis Malcolm, current manager of Glen Grant and formerly manager of Caperdonich:âThe âwhisky pipeâwas still there until the 1980s, although it was never used again after the distillery shut down in 1902.â The next boom period for Scotch wh.....
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By Gavin D. Smith
Section : Lost distilleries
Page number : 32
