The distillery was founded in 1824 and in 1830 became one of the first distilleries to produce
grain whisky using the
column still method invented by Robert Stein. In 1877 John Haig & Co merged with five other whisky companies to form the
Distillers Company, with John Haig & Co coming under DCL's full ownership in 1919. Cameron Bridge produced both grain and malt whisky using a combination of
pot stills and
column stills until 1929, when it shifted exclusively to grain whisky production. For a period between 1941 and 1947, the distillery closed due to
World War II. The current Column still house was constructed during the 1960s, and two of its three stills are more than 30 years old. The third was transferred from Carsebridge distillery in
Alloa when it was closed by
United Distillers in 1983. Major renovations at Cameron Bridge occurred in 1989–92 as well as up to 2000 when the distillery produced up to of spirit annually. In 1998 Cameronbridge also changed from being solely a large-scale grain whisky distillery into a 'dual-purpose' site, when
United Distillers'
grain neutral spirit (GNS) operation was transferred to Fife from Wandsworth in London. GNS for white spirits and 'sweetened products' such as
Archers,
Pimm's,
Smirnoff,
Tanqueray and
Gordon's Gin were also produced alongside grain spirit used in the
Johnnie Walker,
J&B,
Bell's,
Black & White,
Vat 69,
Haig and
White Horse blended whisky brands owned by Diageo but the GNS column was later converted to a whisky still but remains capable of producing GNS. It is currently the largest of the remaining grain distilleries in Scotland and is owned by
Diageo. == References ==