Rosebank is a distillery whose reputation precedes it. Alongside Port Ellen and Brora, it is one of Scotland’s most sought-after and popular distilleries among collectors.
Nonetheless, it achieved legendary status a little later than its Islay and Highland counterparts, most likely due to its closure date - ten years after Whisky Loch - and also due its location in the Lowlands, a region unfairly overlooked by many malt enthusiasts for some time.
Although perhaps less expressive than Port Ellen and Brora, it is still known for being the best distillery in the Lowlands. While a large part of its production was used for blends, some of its most iconic bottlings show just how elegant and sophisticated a malt it can be.
These include the Rosebank OB 20 Year Old Zenith Import bottled at 57% ABV for the Italian market in 1987. And of course the many independent bottlings from Signatory Vintage, Douglas Laing and the Scotch Malt Whisky Society, all of whom helped Rosebank forge a name for itself through many outstanding expressions.
A little background...
Rosebank was founded in 1840 by James Rankine, who turned the Camelon maltings into a whisky distillery. Rosebank prospered and in 1845 was expanded at the Rankine family’s behest. The Rankine family then bought Camelon’s main buildings to create a new maltings and increase production.
In 1919, the distillery became part of the Distillers Company Limited (DCL, a predecessor of Diageo), where it remained until it was mothballed in 1993. This decision came when DCL, now United Distillers, found itself faced with the choice of closing the distillery or undertaking around two million pounds’ worth of work to process its effluents. Sadly it opted for the former. Diageo sold the buildings to British Waterways, but kept hold of the stocks and the rights to the brand name.
Rumours the distillery would reopen continued to run until the late 2000s, but when the stills were stolen for their copper at the end of 2008, all hopes were dashed. Finally, in 2017, it was Ian Macleod Distillers (who already owned Glengoyne and Tamdhu) who decided to buy the buildings from Scottish Canals, as well as the stocks and brand from Diageo.
Development and outlook
Several factors explain Rosebank’s popularity among enthusiasts and collectors. Of course its closure plays a role, but the Rosebank phenomenon is built on more than this.
Indeed, in the auction market, the quality of a whisky is often the common denominator for bottlings with strong potential. And Rosebank’s malt is the ideal ambassador for triple-distilled whiskies with its superb flora and fruity notes. But it is also a malt with a strong character that breaks the mould of other Lowland whiskies, which are often considered too conventional. The Rare Malts series is the perfect example.
Interest in Rosebank began to grow in the early 2010s, with a gradual increase in prices up until 2019. The same phenomenon then continued but with a clear acceleration between 2019 and 2022, driven by the buzz around the last casks held by an independent bottler - Elixir Distillers and the Roses series - whose final opus was just released in France. The Rosebank 21 Year Old Roses Edition 1, for example, sold for around €400 when it was first launched in 2016. At recent auctions, it has fetched as much as €8,000.
The first distillation took place at the end of July 2023
After it was bought in 2017, work on the distillery’s revival was due to begin in late 2019. The Covid crisis threw a spanner in the works, however, and the work was delayed.
The distillery announced recently that it filled cask #001 on 18 July 2023. The good news is that Ian Macleod Distillers have taken great care to follow in the footsteps of the old Rosebank. The washbacks are made from Oregon pine, like the originals, and the stills have been recreated at Forsyths with the identical design, and, of course, triple distillation will be the mainstay.
So what about existing bottles of Rosebank? There’s no need to worry. The news that a distillery is reopening rarely has much impact on auction prices, as has been proven with Port Ellen and Brora. On the contrary, it is more likely that it will bring the distillery’s existence to the attention of more buyers, further increasing interest in old expressions.
In any case, we hope Rosebank’s second life will be at least as long as its first!
