North Port (Brechin)
2023 marked the 40th anniversary of a wave of distillery closures across Scotland. Included in this number was North Port, also known as Brechin. Many of these distilleries did not return and their legacy only remains in liquid form. For North Port, each drop is precious, and we're excited to include a bottle of the 1976 vintage in our debut event.
Before opening and tasting a whisky, for many, it is important to reflect on its legacy and the history of the distillery. What historical aspects are worth remembering and considering? After conducting research online and consulting several text books, it became evident that there is very little information available about North Port. However, I reached out to several others in the whisky history community, including Mark Davidson, James Eadie’s Distilleries of Great Britain and Ireland, and the Forgotten Whisky History group on Facebook, their assistance helped produce a more detailed synopsis of the distillery for your enjoyment, with images kindly provided by the Canmore records site.
The story starts in 1809, when the town's first bank was established by David Guthrie, who later became the founder of North Port. Guthrie, also served as Provost (mayor) along with other family members. His son, Dr Thomas Guthrie, was a theologian, philanthropist, and founder of the ragged school. A statue on Princes Street, Edinburgh, commemorates his many noteworthy deeds.
David Guthrie was not the first Provost to turn to distilling, or indeed the last, as there was money to be made in producing alcohol. An infamous example is James Sutherland, who established the Glen Albyn distillery in Muirtown, Inverness. David Guthrie, on the other hand, appears to be more above board individual and less inclined to see how flexible laws were. However, the actual date of North Port's establishment comes during a turbulent time in the Scotch whisky industry.
The North Port distillery is thought to have been founded by the Guthrie family in the east coast town of Brechin in 1820. This establishment predates the 1823 Excise Act, which permitted legal distilling upon payment of a license fee to the Crown and set fees thereafter. This pre-Excise Act establishment date could be due to legislation in 1815 that removed the ability to use stills less than 500 gallons, forcing many illegal distillers to remain outside of the law, or consider the high fees charged for alcohol, which were made more attractive by the 1823 Act. Several distilleries had their roots as breweries before distilling, however this small opening window for North Port remains a bit of a mystery. We do know that a kiln was added at the distillery in 1824, suggesting investment and increased production. Perhaps its initial roots were somewhat illegal until the Guthrie's stepped in, or it had a more modest and civil output between 1820-1823. We'll probably never know.
The distillery was originally known as Townhead, which wasn’t intended to cause confusion, as the company was initially named the Townhead Distillery Co. However, in 1823, it was renamed the Brechin Distillery Co. and just a year later, it was then changed to Guthrie, Martin & Company. Before in 1893, the company became a limited partnership, by then, the name ‘North Port’ seems to have thankfully stuck.
Brechin, the location of the distillery, was a fortified town with a rich history in Scotland and rampant illegal distilling in the region. The distillery site was located near the original northern gate, which served as inspiration for the name 'North Port'.
By the late 19th century, the annual output was approximately 500,000 litres. In 1905, the distillery documented as receiving 'alterations and additions', but further details are unknown. Similar to other distilleries, it was closed during the wartime years (1917-1919) before reopening and undergoing further improvements in 1926, which were commonplace across the industry as demand picked up and new equipment became available. A high-speed Boby Mill was used at the distillery. It is unclear when it was installed, but it may have been during the 1920s improvements. The mill was certainly present during the James Eadie book publication taken from the same decade.
The unidentified author also confirms that all of the barley originated from the Forfarshire district. And the barley loft could accommodate 200-300 quarters of grain, while malting capacity was noted to be 120 quarters per week, meaning the loft would have to be replenished on a regular basis and the floor maltings were very active. A weekly mash totalled around 1150 bushels and electricity on site powered the lighting, modern equipment, appliances, pumps and elevators.
The site
The site was located near the Den Burn, which provided a source of water and cooling pond. This was well utilised, as power was once delivered via an underground waterwheel using overflow from the distillery dam. This water was also used for cooling and travelled to the wheel through a 400m long tunnel cut through solid rock.
In 1922, D.C.L. (a forerunner of Diageo) and Manchester-based W.H. Holt & Company Ltd. bought out the original company, making it one of the original D.C.L. distilleries. Upon the dissolution of the DCL/Holt partnership, the ownership of the entity was transferred to S.M.D. (Scottish Malt Distillers), a subsidiary of D.C.L. Distillers Company who were actively engaged in acquiring distilleries during this period and North Port would remain under their ownership for the rest of its existence.
Following economic events, North Port was closed from 1926 until 1937 due to a fall in consumer demand. Many distilleries were not revived. It is likely a combination of the D.C.L. ownership and the quality of whisky produced in the Northeast region of Scotland, were saving factors, along with the fact that the distillery had recently received some investment. In fact, North Port kept bouncing back, as it was closed during World War 2 (as was common across the industry) in 1940, but sprung back into life sometime in 1947.
Towards the end
Notable whisky writer, Phillip Morrice, visited the site for his The Whisky Distilleries of Scotland and Ireland in 1987 and noted: ‘Surprisingly, North Port had been allowed to lapse into a state of total neglect as if to emphasize the end of its days as a producer of spirit. My task was, therefore, no more than to record its existence at the point of time of my tour before it finally sank from trace after more than 160 years of distilling.’
In 1964, North Port underwent significant internal changes with the replacement of direct firing with internal steam heating in the stills. This change marked a significant shift in the production process. The floor maltings were closed in 1968 and demolished in 1972. The Glenesk drum maltings were utilised from 1968 onwards. There was a 5-tonne cast iron mash tun, 5 wooden washbacks, and two traditional onion-shaped stills with worm tubs. The production capacity has been set at 750,000, with the majority being used for blends. One destination was thanks to a license with DCL subsidiary, Mitchell Brothers, who used the malt for the Italian market in form of ‘Glen Dew’, a vatted malt as well as in their Heather Dew blend.
Following its closure in March 1983, like many other distilleries across Scotland, equipment was stripped and casks removed. The imposing chimney stack was knocked down in the 1980s, the cooling pond filled in and a funeral directors parlour built upon it. Thereafter the site remained intact until 1990 when it was sold to become a supermarket and associated car park with a nearby plaque marking its former host. This fate was also shared by Glen Albyn and Glen Mhor in Inverness.
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Due to a decrease in consumer demand for whisky, cutbacks were necessary at D.C.L., which owned a large portfolio of distilleries, some of which were located on valuable sites that had become surrounded as towns had expanded around them. These sites have become more inaccessible and are unable to support expansion and access plans. For North Port, it was an old 2-still distillery with very little single malt presence. Along with being in poor condition, inefficient by standards of the day and requiring a sizeable amount of money to bring it into the modern era, its fate was sadly sealed.