700 ML
About the Distiller (courtesy whiskipedia.com)
Active 1938-2002
At the time of its creation the Dumbarton complex was at the time the largest grain distillery in Europe. Alongside the ‘Dumbarton’ grain stills were two malt still houses, ‘Inverleven’ also founded in 1938 and the ‘Lomond’ using stills designed by Alistair Cunningham and Hiram Walker’s draftsman Arthur Warren, founded in 1959
The Lomond still was mothballed in 1985 but eventually found new life producing the Botanist gin for Bruichladdich, Inverleven continued for a few years falling silent in 1991 the stills eventually finding their way to Ireland’s Waterford distillery. Alas Dumbarton was closed in 2002 as production shifted to Strathclyde as the column stills ran through a concrete floor, making structural alterations extremely difficult.
Dumbarton was also notable for the ‘Scotch Watch’ a flock of Chinese white geese used to guardian the Dumbuck sites warehouses, who featured prominently in Ballentine’s advertising. The thinking being that anyone who did brave the geese would result in the Watch causing enough noise to alert the neighbours.
