Glenlochy Distillery

Glenlochy was one of the distilleries that were founded during the 'Whisky boom' at the end of the nineteenth century. David McAndie, who named it the 'Glenlochy-Fort William Distillery', founded it in 1898. Production started on the 4th of February 1901 and continued to operate until the onset of the First World War.

 

The distillery was then closed due to the restrictions placed on the use of barley. Production resumed in 1925, only to stop cease again a year later.  This time it lay silent until 1938, when production was relaunched by Associated Scottish Distillers. In 1953, Distillers Company Limited (DCL) buys Train & McIntyre from American company National Distillers and transfers Glenlochy to Scottish Malt Distillers (SMD).

 

Thirty years later, in 1983, Glenlochy was taken out of service during the big British recession for the last time. Rather depressingly, the distillery’s premises were sold to the hotel developer West Coast Inns, who obtained permission to destroy all the buildings at the site, apart from the kiln building, with it’s Charles Doig designed pagoda roof, which is declared a historic building.

 

The building was bought by Lochaber Housing Association in the early 2000s and turned into 16 social housing flats.