The North British Distillery, founded in 1885 by Andrew Usher, William Sanderson, and John Crabbie, is located in Edinburgh, Scotland. This distillery is one of the largest and oldest grain whisky distilleries in Scotland. Production began in 1887 with a single Coffey still, but within three years, the capacity was doubled to three million gallons per year.
North British is known for producing grain whisky, primarily used in blended whiskies. Notable brands containing North British grain whisky include Johnnie Walker Black Label, J&B Rare, The Famous Grouse, and Cutty Sark. Despite its significant role in the whisky industry, the distillery has not released its own official bottlings, but there are some independent bottlings, including those from Douglas Laing and Duncan Taylor.
The North British Distillery values traditional practices and modern techniques. It uses a combination of malted barley and maize, with the maize imported from southwestern France. The whisky is produced through continuous distillation in Coffey stills and is aged for at least three years in oak barrels to qualify as "Scotch whisky."
The distillery places great emphasis on sustainability, utilizing by-products of whisky production for animal feed and energy generation. The solid and liquid residues are processed into high-quality feed for livestock, while some liquid residues are converted into biogas in an anaerobic digestion plant, which is used to generate electricity.
North British has an annual production capacity of over 70 million liters of alcohol and is known for its significant role in supplying many well-known blended whiskies.
