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Benrinnes

Ben Rinnes (840m/2759ft) is not the highest point in Moray but it is the dominant peak among the mountains overlooking the heart of Speyside. As you climb Ben Rinnes you gain height slowly and can see the summit almost half way up.

From the summit on a clear day you can see much of the lower Spey Valley, the mass of the Cairngorm Mountains and to the north, the sweep of the Moray Firth, with distant Easter Ross and Sutherland hills beyond. You can also see from here, what a huge sprawl of a hill Ben Rinnes actually is, covering nearly 50 square kilometres.

Ben Rinnes gives its name, albeit rendered as one word, to a distillery at 213m/700ft on its northern shoulder. Alfred Barnard puts the height of the distillery at 1030ft but Michael Jackson and Benrinnes' own label give the lower height of 700ft.

The Benrinnes Distillery is one of six distilleries immediately below the Ben that make use of that precious clear water from the Scurran and Rowantree burns close to "the summit of the mountain".

The early history of the distillery indicates that it was very much run as part of a farm, with various outhouses being converted. It was rebuilt as a distillery when the buildings were destroyed during floods in 1829. The distillery has enjoyed almost continual production with only short breaks for the war years. As a malt it is highly prized by blenders and it is one of the handful of whiskies rated as first class.