Here at Luxury & Rare Whisky HQ, we often receive requests for more, unusual, unheard of, and the more peculiar and intriguing bottles of whisky. One with a story behind them. We believe this Dumbarton 20 Year Old, lives up to this request, and one lucky Whiskatorian will be winning this tonight!

From the demolished distillery Dumbarton, this single cask, single grain whisky has been matured for 20 years with an outturn of only 246 bottles.

Established in 1936, Dumbarton whisky is difficult to come by, as they never actually released any themselves. Its whisky was mostly reserved for the Ballantine’s blend. The distillery complex was built in Dunbartonshire in the 1930s and was the biggest of its time. The distillery was closed in 2002 and in 2008 demolition began, and soon only the still tower was left, as something of a local landmark. It took until 2017 for the still tower to be totally demolished.

The now ghost distillery, Dumbarton, featured American-style stainless steel columns which meant its spirit was rather heavy in character.

Did you know?

No record of Dumbarton’s history would be complete without mention of the ‘Scotch Watch’, a 100-strong gaggle of Chinese white geese introduced by Hiram Walker in 1959 to protect Dumbarton’s whisky stocks from intruders. The birds became something of a tourist attraction and were even used to advertise the Ballantine’s blend. When Dumbarton finally closed in 2002, the geese stayed put, though 10 years later the remaining seven birds were finally retired and sent to live with an existing flock at Glasgow Green.

Competition History

Competition has finished

Competition winner is: Simmy & Rowan