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Longmorn
Longmorn is situated just outside Elgin, on the road to Rothes (an area rich with distilleries). It was built by one of the 19th century’s most interesting Whisky entrepreneurs, John Duff. He was born in Aberchirder, worked at GlenDronach, and designed nearby Glenlossie. He built Longmorn in 1893. In 1898 he built another plant next door – Benriach.
It was not an ideal time to build two new plants and in 1899 he was forced to sell to James Grant. Although Duff’s business was not sound, his Whisky was and by the start of the 20th century Longmorn was a prize malt, used in a variety of blends including VAT 69 and Dewar’s. In 1920, the young Masataka Taketsuru, one of the fathers of Japanese Whisky and founder of Nikka, spent a short period working in the distillery. The stills at Nikka’s two distilleries are said to be modelled on Longmorn’s.
Longmorn is now owned by Pernod Ricard, and the majority of its highly regarded malt is used in blends such as Chivas Regal. A number of single malts are also available, including official and independent bottlings.
