GUESTS and staff gathered at Annandale Distillery to toast a decade since the return of whisky production to the site.
Last Friday’s milestone event saw owners Professor David Thompson and Teresa Church fill the first bottle of ten-year-old whisky from the first cask.
And the event, which featured talks, toasts and tastings, kicks off a year of celebrations at Northfield to mark the rebirth anniversary.
Prof Thompson said: “It’s the tenth anniversary but you can tell it’s a great deal older than that here.
“We believe it was the home of an illicit distillery in the 1780s/90s when Burns was an excise officer in Annan. I’m certain his footsteps are out there somewhere.”
He shared more history of the Northfield site, describing how another excise officer, George Donald, came up with the idea of creating Annandale Distillery in the late 1820s, believing it to be an “ideal place for making whisky.”
A syndicate of six local people founded the project in 1836 and production continued until 1918/19, latterly under the ownership of the Johnnie Walker firm.
Prof Thompson added: “In 1919 they were in serious financial trouble and that was a great pity. In fact, the whole Scots whisky industry at that time was on the skids.
“A lot of distilleries went to the wall and Annandale closed and it seemed forever. It was very sad.
“Everyone thought that was the end of it – but it was not.”
It was a book on Scotland’s ‘lost distilleries’ that led the couple to Annan in 2006, where they immediately recognised the potential.
They bought it a year later but it took three years to get planning permission.
However, finally their dreams were realised in November 2014 when the mill started up again for the first time.
“It was a great experience for those of us that were there,” said the professor.
“We went on to produce spirit that first week and on November 15 filled very first cask.
“Ten years goes past in a flash.”
