INCHGOWER DISTILLERY Curated by Ewan McIlwraith 2012

Built in 1871 by Alexander Wilson, this is one of the few distilleries to have been owned by the local town council which stepped in to save the plant in 1936 when the Wilson family went bankrupt. Two years later, Arthur Bell bought it for the princely sum of £3,000. With the absorption of Bell’s into Guinness and the subsequent purchase by that firm of DCL, Inchgower became part of what is now Diageo.

It has always been a significant player in blends, in this case Bell’s, whose own distilleries all shared variations on the ‘nutty-spicy' theme. It also plays a role within the Walker range.

One of Diageo’s ‘Flora & Fauna’ range, it is occasionally found (with varying degrees of salinity) from independent bottlers.