The Highland Resurrection

Legendary ghost distillery Brora reawakens after 38 years of inactivity. Here's what you can expect.

- Weets Goh

Few things in the whisky world command one’s imagination quite like a ghost distillery, a term commonly given to those shut down by whisky producers during the spirit’s slump in the 1980s and 1990s. Although closed, barrels of the good stuff remained and slowly dwindled from being used in special bottlings or blends.

As their production never restarted, many of these whiskies became highly coveted, fetching record prices from collectors. The distilleries themselves are legendary and beckon the question: can they and their flavours be replicated?

That’s a positive “yes” for two of them. Spirits giant Diageo has finally done the unthinkable and reopened Scottish Highlands ghost distillery Brora. Built in 1819 with the name Clynelish, it changed its name to its current moniker in 1967. And while it may have closed, Brora was anything but forgotten. A bottle of its 1972 Limited Edition 40 Year Old hammered for £54,450 (S$102,181) in 2019.

In 2017, Diageo announced a £35 million investment to restore both Brora and Port Ellen, another Islay ghost distillery.