The distillery was built in 1878 by James Stuart & Co. The distillery became known as Glenrothes-Glenlivet in 1884, and the later became part of Highland Distillers Company when it formed in 1887. Glenrothes suffered two fires and an explosion that wrecked most of the distillery buildings in the period between 1897 and 1923, but managed to emerge stronger each time, with capacity being doubled
during the first rebuild in 1898.
In 1999, the distilley was bought by the Edrington Group & William Grant, and has enjoyed a high profile since then. Much of its output goes to blended scotch whiskies such as Cutty Sark and The Famous Grouse. The Glenrothes Distillery is owned by Edrington but The Glenrothes Single Malt is owned by Berry Bros. & Rudd. The Glenrothes presents its single malt offerings slightly different from many other single malts in that since 1993 the bottlings are not determined by age but by vintage. The Glenrothes is also sold as "Select Reserve", a recently introduced non-vintage line.
The Glenrothes is mainly matured in Spanish ex-Sherry casks, and some ex-Bourbon casks.
In 2010, The Glenrothes brand was sold by the Edrington Group to Berry Brothers & Rudd in exchange for Cutty Sark – Edrington continue to own the distillery and supply BB&R with spirit for The Glenrothes under a long-term contract agreement.Show more