New Scotch Distillery Gets Royal Family Treatment In Debut

It’s not often in this modern day and age one gets to have a royal visit to kick off the official opening of a distillery. The new Ballindalloch Distillery in Scotland, though, recently had the honor of one such royal kick off, courtesy of Prince Charles and his wife Camilla.

The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall, known in Scotland as the Duke and Duchess of Rothesay, were on site to not only help debut the distillery to the public, but also to fit bungs into two special whisky casks given to them by Ballindalloch. The single malt they sealed up will age at least eight to ten years, after which time, according to the Daily Mail, it will “then be bottled to the benefit of the royal visitors’ charities.”

Ballindalloch, which describes itself as Scotland’s first “single estate distillery,” is set on the grounds of Ballindalloch Estate, home to the Macpherson-Grant family since 1546. It is the first return of this family to distilling since the 19th century, when it was involved in a number of Scotch making operations.

The distillery began production late last year, making use of barley from an onsite farm and water from springs behind its location. The operation is described as a “fully manual process” that employs five staff and is owned by Guy Macpherson-Grant, the 23rd generation of his family to live at the estate.

“Speyside has such a great tradition of distilleries and I was very much hoping to taste a tiny bit of Ballindalloch,” said the Duke of Rothesay in a statement, “but I’ll have to wait another 10 years for it, by which time I will be 76 and probably on a zimmer frame.”