Dallas Dhu Distillery
Whisky has been brewed here at Dallas Dhu for almost 100 years. It is now a museum to the history and making of 'uisge beatha', Gaelic for 'water or life'.
The Speyside region is famous for is whisky production, ideally situated using locally grown barley, the ready supply of fast flowing cold waters of the River Spey for its stills and the natural cover of the Grampians to hide the Whisky from the excise men wanting to tax it in the 17th Century. Indeed the origins of many of the most historic distilleries have more incommon with moonshiners than the big businesses they are today.
The Dallas Dhu Distillery's turbulent financial history mirrors the rise and fall in popularity of whisky throughout the years as wars, prohibitionary sentiments and changing tastes saw the ownership of the distillery change hands many times since it was opened in 1899, until production finally stopped in 1986. In its time the distillery was famous for producing the Roderick Dhu brand named after Walter Scot's fictional highland character.
Today the distillery is one of the most authentic working history museums you could come across. It's fascinating explanation of the distilling process from the barley malting, to the brewing, the distillation and the maturing is a must for anyone with an interest in whisky or who experimented with chemistry sets. There's also a video production explaining the history of whisky and of course your chance to sample a wee dram of the uisge beatha.
