Our Story
The North British Distillery Company was established by Andrew Usher, William Sanderson and John Crabbie who each had their own whisky brands. They joined forces to create a distillery that supplied their own grain spirit, running it as a cooperative for the next 100 years.
The distillery became operational in September 1887 and produced 3.6m litres of alcohol in its first full year. A highly profitable business, the shareholders received a total of 440% on their investments in the first 20 years – a very respectable return.
A legal challenge was raised against grain whisky, stating that to be called whisky, it must be made from malted barley and processed through a pot still. It took three years to successfully defend its right to be called whisky, confirmed by law in 1908.
With the introduction of electricity to the distillery still a year away, mashing and distilling could not to be done concurrently. To solve the problem, mashing was undertaken from Wednesday noon to Saturday, with the stills working Monday to Wednesday morning.
The War Years
During WWI, the distillery was used for munitions purposes with the intention of manufacturing acetone. The war ended before production began, but it was 1920 before grain spirit production started again. Following the start of WWII, the distillery was again closed down in 1939 due to lack of raw materials.
1949
After WWII, it was 10 years before production restarted at the distillery. The North British Lunch was established to mark the end of the war relief effort and continues to this day, bringing together peers from across the Scotch Whisky industry every March.
1993
Retaining the North British trading name, Robertson & Baxter and International Distillers & Vintners formed a joint venture called Lothian Distillers, buying out all other shareholders, the first significant change to our ownership structure. We’re now owned by Diageo plc and The Edrington Group.
2008
While it took just over 100 years for North British to produce 1.5bn litres of alcohol, investment in modernisation enabled us to reach the 2bn litres milestone just ten years later in 2008. We hit our next milestone of 2.5bn litres in 2015.
2026
North British continues to transform, placing environmental sustainability, operational efficiency, and long‑term resilience at the centre of its strategy. Major investments in renewable‑energy systems, advanced hygiene technology, and essential site infrastructure reflect the company’s strong commitment to reducing environmental impact while delivering industry‑leading performance. What was once a site primarily focused on production volume is evolving into a modern, environmentally conscious, and technically sophisticated operation—positioned to support the future of Scotch whisky for generations to come.