The surviving kiln, former malt barn and gabled warehouses show how Dufftown’s first legal distillery expanded during the late Victorian whisky boom.
Quick facts
- Date
- Circa 1897; distillery founded 1823
- Architect / designer
- Unknown industrial designers
- Type
- Malt barn, kiln, store and warehouse group beside the Dullan Water
- Designation
- Listed building, Category C (LB24725)
- OS grid reference
- NJ 32680 39782
Architecture, archaeology and continuing use
A two-storey fourteen-bay former malt barn incorporates a taller kiln with a slated ogee roof and pagoda cupola. Nearby warehouse ranges retain shuttered openings, cast-iron columns, timber floors and roof trusses.
Its story
Mortlach was founded in 1823, the year of the Excise Act that encouraged licensed distilling. Expansion around 1897 produced the surviving No. 2 Kiln, No. 5 Store and Warehouses 3 and 4.
Why it is included
Category C listing recognises intact traditional production and storage buildings that illustrate the specialised architecture and national importance of Speyside whisky.
What to notice
- The pagoda cupola above No. 2 Kiln.
- Rows of shuttered malt-barn openings.
- Repeated gables along the warehouse range.
Reading the surroundings
This is an operational distillery. Enter only through current authorised arrangements, obey all safety instructions and never cross production or bonded-storage areas independently.
Timeline
- 1823 Mortlach became Dufftown’s first licensed distillery.
- Circa 1897 Expansion added a large malt barn, kiln and bonded warehouses.
- 2013 Listing review recorded surviving timber floors, iron columns and roof structures.
What we know — and what remains uncertain
Current visitor access, exact internal uses and condition of each listed range were not independently checked.
Sources & further reading
- Historic Environment Scotland: Mortlach Distillery No. 2 Kiln and Warehouses, LB24725 — Designation status, mapped location, date, fabric and architectural or archaeological interest.
- Trove designation: LB24725 — Parallel national record identity and archival context.
- Moray Council: Dufftown settlement statement — Identifies Mortlach Distillery as existing business land reserved for distillery-related and tourism use.
Location
OS grid reference NJ 32680 39782 · Location confidence: High: the national designation supplies an official mapped National Grid Reference; an additional source confirms record identity and archival context. · Select the marker to open its satellite view in Google Maps. On desktop, drag Pegman (the yellow figure) onto a blue road. On mobile, turn on the Street View layer and tap a blue road. Other photo markers may be user-contributed.
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