Glenkinchie lies, as the name might suggest, in a
glen of the Kinchie Burn near the village of
Pencaitland,
East Lothian. It is situated about 15 miles from
Edinburgh. The distillery is set in farmland. The name 'Kinchie' is a corruption of 'De Quincy', the original owners of the land. Its origins date back to around 1825 when it was founded by brothers John and George Rate. While there are no direct records it seems likely that Glenkinchie is the Milton Distillery previous recorded in the area. The brothers probably renamed it in about 1837. In 1853, the Rate Brothers were bankrupted and the site converted to a sawmill. In 1881, the plant was rebuilt and whisky-making restarted under Maj. James Grey. In 1914, Glenkinchie joined
Rosebank,
St Magdalene, Grange and Clydesdale to form Scottish Malt Distillers (SMD) and in 1925 SMD merged with
The Distillers Company (DCL). In 1969 the distillery stopped
malting its own grain and the malting floors were turned into a museum of malt whisky.
Guinness acquired
The Distillers Company in 1986.
Guinness merged with
Grand Metropolitan in 1997 to form
Diageo. The Glenkinchie 12 Year Old was named Best Lowland Single Malt at the 2013
World Whiskies Awards. In 2020, Diageo revealed a new visitor centre at Glenkinchie. ==See also==