Whisky Guide > Distillery Profiles > Imperial Distillery

Imperial Distillery

Passing through the small village of Aberlour, home of Walkers Shortbread, a steep road leads up to Carron where, in a hollow on the banks of the River Spey and next to the former Carron station, Imperial Distillery lies.

Built in 1897, by Thomas MacKenzie, it coincided with Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee, which was no doubt an influencing factor when naming the distillery.

With a shaky start and history Imperial distillery started production in the summer of 1898 only to close a year later for over 20 years. Production did recommence in 1919 but, again, for only six years.

Pine forests surround every viewpoint of the distillery, and there are many well kept distillery houses, a quaint traditional red telephone box and neatly cut lawns surround the distillery buildings.  It makes for an impressive sight.

The construction of Imperial differs from other Speyside distilleries as it was built of red Aberdeen brick with an iron beam and pillar framework to make it fire resistant. A nearby water supply of quality is a key factor in the location of any suitable distillery site. Imperial, however is 60 feet above the River Spey and next to a railway line.

The water supply originates from the Mannoch hills to form the Ballintom Burn from where the water is drawn. Although, the location of the railway line was considered originally to be important than proximity to the Spey it did not stop the line from closing in the late 1960s.

Cooling water

A distillery requires a large quantity of cold water to supply the condensers in the still house. This water cools the hot alcohol vapours from the stills and leaves the condensers at a considerably higher temperature.

At Imperial Distillery the cooling water travels for two and a half miles and comes from the Ballintom Burn. As it travels by gravity there is no power required to feed the water into the condensers, which makes for a very efficient system.

A problem arose with reintroducing the hot water from the condensers back into the burn, as, by law, it was too hot. Allied's Chief Engineer Manager, Tom Dunn, managed to overcome this problem by designing a series of walls within the dam. This created a long canal by which the hot water has to travel before it reaches the outlet and is reintroduced into the burn safely.