Records of Isle of Jura Distillery Company Ltd, Jura

• Production records, late 20th century;
• Promotional and marketing records, 1970s-2000s;
• Photographs, c1960-c1991.

The site of the Jura distillery was first used for making whisky around 1810, on land at Craighouse, owned by the island’s laird, Archibald Campbell. However, it was not until 1831 that there was legal evidence of its existence when the distillery was officially licensed to William Abercrombie. It went through various owners until in 1876, at which time it was known as the Small Isles Distillery, it was taken over by James Ferguson & Sons of Glasgow, who spent £25,000 on rebuilding and upgrading. By the mid 1880s it was producing 60,000 gallons of spirit per year.

However, by the beginning of the 20th century, during a slump in the Scotch whisky industry, the distillery was stripped of its plant although stocks remained in the warehouses until 1913, with the Fergusons still paying rent until the expiry of their lease in 1918. In 1920 the roof of the now silent distillery was removed by the laird Colin Campbell, to avoid paying rates.

In 1956 plans to renovate the derelict distillery as part of a scheme to regenerate and repopulate the island were being made by three of the island’s estate owners, Robin Fletcher, Tony Riley-Smith and Lord Astor. They employed the services of the distillery designer William Delmé-Evans to build a large and modern distillery. The Isle of Jura Distillery Company Ltd (company number: SC033738) was formed in 1959 to undertake the project with financial backing from Scottish & Newcastle Breweries Ltd. Leith-based blenders Charles Mackinlay & Co Ltd brought distilling expertise to the project, having been acquired by Scottish & Newcastle in 1961 and the distillery was opened on 26 April 1963 by Lord Polwarth. Alan Rutherford succeeded Delmé-Evans as managing director in 1976 and soon the Jura distillery was expanded from two to four stills in 1979, with a dam constructed at Market Loch which supplied the process water, in order to cope with demand.

The 1980s saw cutbacks across the industry as a whole, with Jura being on a three day week early in the decade then closed for a year. However, in 1985, Invergordon Distillers acquired the distillery along with Charles Mackinlay & Co Ltd. In turn, the Invergordon Distillers Group was acquired by Whyte & Mackay Group in 1993, along with its subsidiaries. At present day the Jura distillery continues to produce single malts under owners Whyte & Mackay.

Arranged chronologically within record series

Access to certain records within this collection may be restricted or closed for reasons of customer, commercial or third-party confidentiality.  Please email Archives and Special Collections for advice: library-asc@glasgow.ac.uk

Access is with the permission of the collection owners

• Transfer : Whyte & Mackay Ltd : 27 Mar 2020 : GB 248 UGD 224
• Deposit : Whyte & Mackay Ltd : 14 Dec 2015 : ACCN 4004
• Deposit : Whyte & Mackay Ltd : Sept 2019 : ACCN 4304

See also University of Glasgow Collections

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Reproduction subject to usual conditions: educational use and condition of documents. Applications for permission to quote should be sent to Archives and Special Collections, please email: library-asc@glasgow.ac.uk

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Accruals are possible

• GB 248 UGC 234: Records of Whyte & Mackay Ltd;
• GB 248 UGC 239: Records of Invergordon Distillers Group Ltd.
• GB 248 244: Records of Charles Mackinlay & Co Ltd;
• GB 248 MAC: Records of Mackinlay-McPherson Ltd;

This material is original