DONALD PEATED PORTFOLIO

George Donald, an excise man hailing from the Scottish Highlands, began planning Annandale Distillery in 1830. The site he chose was perfect; a wooded hollow, beside a burn (stream), close to the banks of the River Annan. In past times, it may have been an illicit distillery! The late Dr Jim Swan (the ‘Einstein of Whisky’) thought this the ‘most perfect place to mature whisky’.

By 1836, George’s farm distillery was producing peaty/smoky Scotch whisky, using barley grown on the home farm, peat for the malt kiln dug from the nearby Creca Moss and, at the end of the process, the spent grains (malt draff) fed to his pigs and cattle.

The Donald Family operated Annandale from 1836 until 1883. However, George and his wife Margaret Corson didn’t just produce a lot of whisky, they also produced a lot of children (13 in total). Consequently, they have many descendants and we’ve met quite a few of them. Some of George’s proud descendants recently purchased a cask of Annandale, and one descendant actually works at the Distillery!

Although Annandale was closed from 1918 until 2014, it is one of the oldest distilleries in Scotland that’s still operational. It’s a very special place, steeped in Scotland’s tumultuous history. Our award-winning peated whisky is also very special. We thought it right and proper to name our peated portfolio The Donald Peated Portfolio, to honour George Donald and Family, founders of Annandale Distillery.