The distillery has had a patchy history – it passed through several hands before Distiller's Company Ltd (DCL) took over complete ownership in 1930. The American Prohibition and World War II both had dramatic impacts on production, leading to two closures between 1931 and 1938, as well as 1941 to 1945. The post-war era saw a large increase in demand for Scotch whisky blends and in 1967, a new distillery was built adjacent to the existing one to cater for this growing interest – both called Clynelish. During the construction of the new facility, production at the old distillery shut down temporarily in 1969.
The exact history of the Brora distillery becomes confused between 1969 and 1983. What is clear is that the distillery changed its name to Brora in 1975 after an amendment in legislation that banned any two distilleries from operating under the same name. Brora also created a heavily peated spirit in the early 1970s, but production stopped for good in 1983 when the distillery was mothballed due to an industry slowdown.
In 1997, Diageo – the global alcoholic beverages giant – purchased Brora and now releases an annual Special Release bottling. Once again, the distillery ceased operation causing stocks to quickly diminish soaring prices came to fruition.
