Kilkerran

Glengyle: rebirth in Campbeltown

It all began in 1872 when William Mitchell built Glengyle.

The Campbeltown distillery had a short existence. In the midst of an economic recession (1919), it was first sold (to West Highland Malt Distilleries Ltd), then again in 1924, a year before its final closure.

Barrels remained available for a long time. A certain Campbell Henderson tried to bring Glengyle back to life in 1957, but without success, despite investment in modernization.

In 2000, J&A Mitchell, owner of the famous neighboring Springbank distillery, bought the buildings in order to relaunch production, more than 75 years after the last distillations.

Finally, in 2004, Kilkerran opened its doors and became the third distillery in the Campbeltown region, alongside Springbank and Glen Scotia.

From Glengyle to Kilkerran

There are two reasons why the whiskies produced by the distillery are not called Glengyle.

First of all, there's the problem of the rights to use the name "Glengyle". In fact, it belongs to an assembler (Bloch Bros) and, beyond the purely legal problem, J&A Mitchell does not wish to create confusion for the consumer.

But above all, it's a tribute to local tradition: Kilkerran comes from the Gaelic "Ceann Loch Cille Chiarain", the original name of Campbeltown.

Kilkerran: a range under construction

Kilkerran has a very small production run, and keeps us waiting with limited editions, the annual "Work in Progress" editions, which offer maturation in bourbon or sherry casks.

Since 2016, a permanent range has seen the light of day with the famous Kilkerran 12-year-old. There are also 8-year old raw cask editions. Read less