Landscape photograph of Aberlour distillery.

Distillery · Rank 46

Aberlour

Aberlour is a fruit-rich Speyside malt often matured in a combination of bourbon and sherry casks, giving weight, spice, and dried-fruit depth.

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Common information

At a glance.

Region: Speyside
Location: Aberlour, Moray (opens in a new tab)
Date opened: 1879
Volume: 3.8m LPA
Distillery Master: Not publicly identified
Collection records: 2 records
Production rank: 46 of 141 by listed capacity

Production

Distinct house style

Aberlour is a fruit-rich Speyside malt often matured in a combination of bourbon and sherry casks, giving weight, spice, and dried-fruit depth.

Aberlour's rounded, fruit-led spirit is commonly paired with both ex-bourbon and oloroso-sherry casks, a double-cask approach that defines much of the core range.

Process

The useful details are physical.

Still shape, fermentation, condensation, peat policy and cask selection are treated here as production choices—not as guarantees that every release will taste identical.

House style

Character before marketing.

The distillery character describes the underlying make. Age, batch and cask history can move an individual bottling well beyond that starting point.

History

From its beginnings

James Fleming founded the present distillery in 1879 beside the Lour Burn. Fire and reconstruction followed, after which the site became an established part of Speyside production.

Aberlour remains an operating Scotch whisky distillery at Aberlour, Moray. Its present identity joins the accumulated fabric of the site to an active production tradition, while discontinued bottlings belong to the range history rather than defining the distillery today.

1879

Foundation

The working chronology begins in 1879; later closures, rebuilding or ownership changes are part of the individual history rather than a reason to reset that founding date.

Present day

Continuity is not stasis.

Equipment, capacity and ranges evolve. The identity of the distillery is carried by its site, production knowledge and maturing stock rather than by one frozen historic specification.

Identity

The character

Aberlour belongs to Speyside, but region is only a map reference. Its more informative identity comes from the production decisions above and from the way its spirit responds to maturation.

This distinction matters when reading a bottle: the distillery name identifies the origin of the spirit, while the expression, age, cask recipe and bottling strength describe the particular release.

Place

Aberlour, Moray

Aberlour, Moray is the operating location recorded for Aberlour; the map link above opens the site independently of any visitor-centre branding.

Region

Speyside

The regional label is retained for navigation and comparison, not presented as a complete prediction of flavour.

Distillery details

Important facts

A distillery is best understood through its permanent site story, working methods and maturing stock rather than through an old award list or one discontinued expression. The range plate below records a particular moment in that longer life.

Distinctive record

One detail worth retaining.

James Fleming founded the present distillery in 1879 near the Lour Burn. The name is tied to the mouth of the chattering burn, while St Drostan's Well belongs to local tradition.

Production signature

A repeatable house method.

Aberlour's rounded, fruit-led spirit is commonly paired with both ex-bourbon and oloroso-sherry casks, a double-cask approach that defines much of the core range.

Range context

A changing family of expressions.

The final image may include past expressions. It is a visual archive of the whisky family, not a promise that every bottle remains in the current range.

Whisky range

A group of Aberlour whisky expressions from the editorial archive.

Scotch Whisky Collection

2 records.

Collection photograph filed under the owner-supplied working label “Aberlour 12”; bottle facts await review.

Speyside

Aberlour 12

Aberlour

12 years

Speyside

Aberlour 14

Aberlour

14 years