Imperial Distillery

About the distillery

Imperial was right by Aberlour in Speyside and is a classic example of a distillery where the history is just as distinctive as the few bottlings. It was founded in 1897, worked with its own malt, seasoned brick and water from the Aidach spring, and ended up as a closed facility, where only a few traces of the site remained.

History

Imperial was founded in 1897, the same year as Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee. The distillery was named in honor of the British royal family, and the original kiln featured a large royal crest. Thomas Mackenzie was the founder, while Charles Doig designed the buildings. Production began the same year, but already in 1899 Imperial was forced to close as a result of the Pattison Whisky crash.

After nearly two decades of silence, the site reopened in 1919. Ahead of the restart, DCL had taken over the facility, but in 1916 it was run as a joint arrangement with Dewars and Johnnie Walker, and production resumed under that leadership. In 1925, DCL bought the distillery outright, but stopped production again. It was not until 1955 that new activity came, when SMD reopened Imperial. Another closure followed in 1985, and after a final short production period from 1991 to 1998, the distillery was mothballed in 1998. It has been closed since 2000, and in 2013 most of the buildings were demolished.

Raw materials and production

Imperial worked with barley as its only documented raw material and produced its own malt for much of its lifetime. In the beginning, malting was done as floor malting, but from 1965 a Saladin's box was installed. The barley was seasoned, and the water was drawn from the Aidach spring near the distillery. This gave the production a clear local foundation.

The distillery was equipped with six larch washbacks, and distillation took place in four pear-shaped pot stills: two wash stills and two spirit stills. Wash stills had a capacity of 18,500 liters, while spirit stills held 20,500 liters. The combination of its own malt, a classic pot still setup, and a relatively large production capacity of 1.6 million liters per year made Imperial a workhorse distillery with a clear role in blend production. It was supplied especially to Teacher's and Ballantine's.

Maturation and cask types

Maturation took place in a small group of dunnage warehouses on site. Both American oak and sherry casks were used, and the sherry casks were particularly used for the spirit that was to be sold as single malt. This points to a distillery where cask selection was used to give the soft Speyside spirit extra depth and balance.

Whiskies

The documented range is very limited. The only official release mentioned is a 15-year-old Imperial, while the vast majority of the name lives on through independent bottlings. This fits a distillery that for long periods produced for blending and only rarely stood out as a standalone single malt name. For whisky lovers, Imperial is therefore a name they especially encounter through a few official bottles and many independent interpretations.

The style and flavor profile of the whiskies

The notes focus on fruit, especially apple, pear, peach, banana, pineapple, and other tropical fruit. Added to this is sweetness from honey, malt, caramel, and vanilla, along with spice with pepper, cinnamon, anise, and herbs. The finish also includes oak, chocolate, and a discreet peat smoke, but without the profile becoming distinctly smoky.

Visiting the distillery

Imperial is not a visitor distillery today. There was no visitor centre, and after the demolitions in 2013, the site does not stand as a functioning facility. What you can see are remains of warehouses and the railway station, so the experience is more historical than visitor-based.

Philosophy and craftsmanship

Imperial’s work was shaped by its own malt production, seasoned brick, and a clear grounding in blend production. The distillery was built with Aberdeen red brick and an iron frame to reduce fire risk, and production was organized around six larch washbacks, classic pot stills, and maturation in both American oak and sherry casks.