The Glengyle
distillery was founded in 1872 by William Mitchell. Shortly after completion, in 1873 a storm took off the roof of the distillery. Mitchell had previously been involved with
Springbank distillery but following a quarrel with his brother John, with whom he owned Springbank, he first joined his other brothers at
Rieclachan distillery before venturing out on his own. In 1919, the distillery was sold as a result of the post-war economic downturn which was badly affecting all the distilleries in the
Campbeltown Region. It was up for auction again in 1923 and sold for £350 () in 1924 and by 1925 had ceased production with all remaining stock being sold off. After being used as a rifle range, an attempt to reopen the distillery by Sir Maurice Bloch, who, with his brother, also owned the
Glen Scotia distillery, failed due to Second World War as did a second attempt by Campbell Henderson Ltd. in the 1950s.
Reopening In late 2000, the company of Mitchell's Glengyle Ltd. was formed with the express purpose of renovating and rebuilding the Glengyle distillery. Mitchell's Glengyle is associated with the Springbank Distillery, and both operations come under the guidance of Mr. Hedley Wright, a descendant of the Mitchell Family, the original owners of both businesses. Over the next four years the buildings were repaired to an adequate standard, being restored in line with the local area and the buildings'
listed status (protected by law). Since the original distillery equipment had been disposed of in the 1920s, new
stills,
malt mills, a
mash tun and
washbacks were installed along with all the related equipment. In reality much of this was not new, coming instead from other distilleries which had either ceased production or had surplus equipment. ==Production==