1977 (Gordon & MacPhail Private Collection)

Speyburn Distillery was founded in 1897 by John Hopkins & Company for the sum of £17,000. The site was chosen by John Hopkins himself for its unpolluted water supply from the Granty Burn, one of the major tributaries to the River Spey. Hopkins appointed the famous distillery architect Charles C Doig to design the distillery and to this day Speyburn has its classic pagoda ventilator, a hallmark of Doig's design.

The proprietors, keen to have production started to ensure that the first fillings could bear the date 1897 - Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee - had scheduled production to begin on 1 November 1897. However, due to delays, the stills did not run until 15 December. When production finally began, the still house was without doors and windows. Under the watchful eye of the distillery's manager, John Smith, the first spirit was run off in a violent snow storm with the distillery men working in overcoats and mufflers to protect them from the elements. However, the proprietors succeeded in achieving their ambition and one butt was produced and bonded bearing the date 1897.

The distillery is owned by Inver House Distillers Limited, a privately owned distiller whose other distilleries include Old Pulteney Distillery, Knockdhu Distillery, Balblair Distillery, and Balmenach Distillery.

Our team take every care to package your bottle carefully and responsibly. Your bottle will arrive in subtly branded Still Spirit cardboard packaging, which is both protective and 100% recyclable.

If your bottle comes with it's own presentation box, this will also be packaged carefully, allowing you to store your bottle at home in style.

Our aim is to ensure that our customers are 100% satisfied with orders purchased from Still Spirit and that these orders arrive with our customers in perfect condition.  You have the legal right to cancel your order within 14 days of purchasing,
The Consumer Rights Act 2015 requires that any product ordered from Still Spirit must be as described, fit for purpose and of satisfactory quality.  If an item is delivered in a faulty or damaged condition, you have a 30-day right (starting from date of order) to return the product(s) to us.

Cancellations and returns are subject to the following:

• Any cancelled or returned products must be returned to us in the same condition as initially sold and in original packaging – we will process the refund within 14 days or receiving the product(s) back in our premises – our returns address is :
  Still Spirit Ltd, Whisky Hammer, Udny, Ellon, AB41 7PR

• You will be responsible and liable for the cost of returning the good(s) to us in all cases, except in the scenario where you have received an item that is faulty or damaged condition.

• Returns must include a printed statement confirming customer name, initial order number, customer address and reason for cancellation or return.

• Returns must be packed with sufficient void fill and in strong packaging to prevent possible damage in transit.

• Our refund will comprise 2 components – 1 part for the cost of the bottle(s) purchased (“Cost Refund”) and 1 part for the associated shipping cost initially paid (“Postage Refund”).

• We will reduce the refund value of the Cost Refund, potentially to zero, to reflect any reduction in value to the product(s) caused by damage and/or deterioration arising from poor customer handling and/or caused by courier damage on the return to us.