Royal Brackla

Royal Brackla lies near Cawdor, a few miles south of Nairn in the northern Highlands. It was founded in 1812 and in the 1830s received a royal warrant from King William IV, which is where the 'Royal' in its name comes from. Since 1998 it has belonged to John Dewar & Sons, part of Bacardi.

Most of the spirit has always gone into blends, Dewar's today. The style is unpeated, fruity and fairly rich, which suits sherry casks well. The official single malts, such as the 12 Year Old and older expressions, lean on sherry cask maturation or finishing.

Royal Brackla is also widely bottled by independents, which is where much of our catalogue comes from. Gordon & MacPhail bottles it in Connoisseurs Choice, Douglas Laing in Old Malt Cask and The Octave, and Signatory Vintage, Hunter Laing, Duncan Taylor and Alistair Walker have released single casks too. Older bottlings include the 1978 vintage from Diageo's Rare Malts series, from the years before Dewar's took over.