Rosebank

Rosebank is a dormant whisky distillery in the Lowlands of Scotland. It differed from many Scottish distilleries by favouring a triple distillation regime more commonly associated with Irish whiskey. Such was the extraordinary quality of the whisky, Rosebank was often declared the best of all lowland single malts. Now, under new ownership, the former ‘King of the Lowlands’ returns 2022 to Scotland’s whisky landscape once more.

Rosebank is a typical example of a Lowland single malt. It is light-bodied with lots of floral, fruity flavours and most commonly aged in American Oak, giving it additional notes of vanilla and cinnamon.

Rosebank is a single malt, which means it's made from 100% malted barley. The distillery once occupied both banks of the Forth & Clyde canal, near Falkirk. Barley would be malted and kiln-dried on one side then carted over a bridge to the main building on the opposite bank, where it would be milled, mashed, fermented and distilled.

Rosebank was triple distilled using three copper pot stills. The first distillation turned the wash (a beer of around 8% abv) into low wines of around 20%. The second turned low wines into a spirit of 65 or 70%, while the third pushed the strength closer to 80%. The stronger the spirit, the lighter its character.

When the third distillation was complete, spirit was collected in vats ready to be filled into casks where it would rest until deemed ready for bottling by a master blender. As Rosebank is not currently in operation, new releases comprise of old stock, meaning they will often be aged for 30 years or more.

The new ownership – Ian Macleod Distillers – is committed to continuing Rosebank’s rich heritage of triple distillation and delicate style. Hence, the rare worm tub condensers of the old Rosebank distillery will be reinstalled as well. Annual capacity is expected to be between 800,000 and one million litres.

Rosebank was founded in 1840 by James Rankin. At that time blended scotch was the preferred choice of consumers and distillers had to survive by doing business with blending houses. Rankin chose his location well, as the canal that ran alongside gave him a direct link to both Glasgow and Edinburgh, where the majority of blenders were based.

Rosebank flourished but by the turn of the century the whisky market had changed dramatically. An industry-wide downturn forced dozens of distilleries to close and some sought greater security by partnering with others. Rosebank joined with Glenkinchie, St. Magdalene, Grange and Clydesdale Distilleries to form Scottish Malt Distillers under the umbrella of the Distillers Company Ltd (DCL). Further industry decline in the 1980s created uncertainty and when inspection found that £2million worth of investment was required to bring Rosebank into line with new European standards on effluent treatment, DCL made the decision to close it down for good. Production ceased in 1993 and many thought it would be the last time the ‘King of the Lowlands’ was seen. Much of the site has since been demolished or developed into housing. 

Rosebank’s final insult seemed to come when the stills and other vital distilling equipment were stolen from the site over Christmas in 2008. However, as whisky sales and interest boomed in the mid-2010s the future looked brighter for Rosebank with the acquisition of the buildings by Ian Macleod Distillers in 2017 – the owners of the Glengoyne and Tamdhu distilleries in the Highlands and Speyside respectively.

A planning application was granted and construction work began, only to be halted when part of the original building collapsed. It was a massive setback and forced the architects back to the drawing board but they returned with a second application, complete with modern extension, that was eventually given the green light in March of 2021.

For the first time in three decades, the future looks good for Rosebank. It may yet be a number of years before the new whisky is available but occasional releases of surviving stocks stand as testimony to the exceptional quality of this once beloved Lowland single malt.