Dallas Dhu

Official bottlings of Dallas Dhu are hard to come by, as the distillery closed in 1983. The distillery did have a few licensed bottlings, which were carried out by Gordon & MacPhail. Dallas Dhu was also bottled by UDV in their “Rare Malts” range. Dallas Dhu Single Malt was also used in the “Roderick Dhu” Blended Whisky produced by Wright & Greig Ltd, which has since been discontinued but was one of the most popular Blended Whiskies during the early 20th century.

Dallas Dhu has a long and complicated history, with the distillery changing hands a number of times during the 20th century. “Dallas Dhu” means “Black Water Valley” in Gaelic, an appropriate nod to the densely wooded Speyside valley in which the distillery sits. The distillery was originally founded in 1899, and was the last Scottish distillery to be built in the 19th century. The distillery was originally named “Dallasmore” by its founder, Alexander Edward, a prominent Speyside distiller. Ownership switched to Wright & Grieg Ltd, a blending company from Glasgow, which was in part owned by Alexander Edwards. The Single Malt enjoyed a high level of praise, due in part to the quality of the water at the site. During the first half of the 20th century, the distillery changed hands another three times. Distilller’s Company Limited, having newly obtained Dallas Dhu, closed the distillery in 1929 to work on the expansion of the site. However, an enormous fire destroyed the still house and much of the equipment in 1936, and the subsequent outbreak of the Second World War in 1939 meant that it took until 1947 before the distillery recommenced operations. Additionally, due to the isolated location of the distillery, Dallas Dhu operated without electricity until the 1950s. Until the introduction of electricity, the distillery got its power from an on-site water wheel.

DCL decided to close Dallas Dhu distillery in 1983. This came as a response to the loss of profits of the “Whisky loch” situation, where distillers found that the amount of Whisky being produced far exceeded the demands of the market in the big British recession. Dallas Dhu was not the only distillery to suffer as a result of the deadlock – DCL alone closed another seven distilleries during the first half of the 1980s.

There is not a visitor centre as such, as the distillery is now closed, but Historic Scotland have superbly preserved the distillery, and the old warehouse is now used as a museum, chronicling the history of Speyside Whisky in Scotland. As part of the museum, there is a complete self-guided tour through the complete distillation and maturation process. The site is open year-round.