History

The Glenugie Distillery was built on the site of an old windmill, remnants of which still survive, and is overlooked by a ruined watchtower on a small eminence.

1833 – 1834: The Glenugie Distillery was established in the early 1830s and production started in 1837. Donald McLeod & Co. were the first owners, yet lasted less than one year. Glenugie was converted into a brewery in 1873, but was then turned back into a distillery by Scottish Highland Distillers & Co. Ltd who completely renovated the distillery. At this time, the annual output was 90,000 gallons. The distillery was very successful from 1884 until 1915 while it was owned by Simon Forbes. From 1925 to 1937, the distillery was silent until it was reopened by Seagar Evans & Co. Ltd.

In 1956, Glenugie once again underwent a major renovation. Included in the renovation was an oil-fired burner which replaced the coal-fired system. As a result, production was significantly increased. The distillery had 2 stills. Since the 1970s, Glenugie's owners were Whitbread & Co. Ltd. Whitbread eventually ceased production due to a major slump in the whisky business and the distillery was permanently shut down and dismantled in 1983.

The mashtun and spirit safe were sold and removed to Fettercairn. The latter now functions as the No 1 Spirit Safe. Forsyth coppersmiths were involved in the removal of equipment.

Score Group plc headquarters now stands on the site of the former distillery.

1831 - 1834	Donald, McLeod & Co founded Invernettie.
1837	Invernettie was renamed Glenugie Distillery Co and converted into a brewery.
1875	Glenugie was rebuilt on a far larger scale as a distillery by Scottish Highland Distillers Co Ltd with an annual output of 90.000 gallons.
1879 - 1882	The distillery was sold to George Whyte & Co.
1884 -1915	Simon Forbes acquired Glenugie and exploited it successfully until 1915 or later. It closed for much of World War I, operated briefly as Glenugie Distillery Ltd in 1923-24, then was silent from 1925-37.
1937	Glenugie Distillery Ltd revived by Seager Evans & Co Ltd ( London ).
1956	Seager Evans was taken over by US-based Schenley Industries Inc, which eventually put all its Scottish distilleries under the umbrella of Long John Distillers Ltd. Prior to the Schenley takeover, Glenugie was briefly acquired by Hugh Fraser, but the company was wound up in 1958 and its assets transferred to Long John. Schenley, on acquiring Glenugie in 1956 invested heavily in the distillery. It was completely refurbished, with new plant equipment installed including an oil-fired boiler to replace the coal-fired system. Process water was piped from several miles away from the Wellington Spring. Two new stills were installed and fitted with big condensers rather than the old-fashioned worm coils. The wash still had a 200-tube condenser, the spirit still a 50-tube one. Production was doubled and this immediately strained the warehousing capacity. That problem was solved in 1963 when on-site malting was discontinued and the maltings converted to bonded storage. Eventually the site had nine bonded warehouses with a total capacity of 1.5 million gallons. Over a century and a half, the site had grown from four to 25 acres.
1960	Distillery manager Edward (Ted) Henderson leaves to Tormore to become its first distillery manager.
1963	On-site malting discontinued.
1975	The Seager Evans company was reconstituted as Long John International in 1975 sold to the British brewing group Whitbread & Co Ltd.
1980	Glenugie was among the many distilleries mothballed in the early 1980s downturn.
1982	Closure was reported in Press and Journal 8 or 18 February 1982.
1983	Glenugie was officially closed by Withbread. The last distillery manager was Sandy Auchinachie. He went to Tormore.
1984	Site was advertised for sale June or July.
Present day	Score Group plc headquarters now stands on the site of the former distillery.

Once the Glenugie Distillery site, now Score Group headquarters