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Summary

Description

Early 19th century; rebuilt late 19th century; altered and reconditioned 1946-49. Range of buildings, single, 2- and 3-storey, forming distillery and incorporating former farmhouse and steading. Rubble with squared rubble quoins. Voussoired round- and segmental-arched openings.

SW RANGE: running NW-SE.

SW (PERTH ROAD) ELEVATION: outer left range, symmetrical 3-bay former farmhouse (Aldour House, now meeting rooms) with slated porch, dormerheaded windows breaking eaves; single storey bay to right. Recessed link bays with farmhouse to left and projecting M-gable (with 2 round-headed windows) to right; further advanced 4-bay range beyond to right with broad carriage arch and horizontally-aligned fenestration in stepped penultimate bay to right; broad buttressed gabled bay to outer right (offices and shop).

NE (COURTYARD) ELEVATIONS: sympathetically altered to office and shop premises with variety of elements including piended bay to left adjoining set-back bay over carriage arch.

N (MASH HOUSE) RANGE: running NW-SE.

SW ELEVATION: long 9-bay, 2-storey range to left with symmetrical fenestration and altered hayloft openings breaking eaves at centre and outer right. Set-back 3-storey range to right with further 2-storey bays beyond. Range extends to E with variety of elements including stepped roofline and broad gabled bay with lettering "BLAIR ATHOL DISTILLERY" fronting courtyard.

INTERIOR: cast-iron columns support timber roof to visitor centre with traditional timber mash-tun. Processing plant with Tun (fermentation) rooms containing 4 pine (and possibly larch) and 4 fibreglass 'washbacks'. 4 copper stills (2 spirit and 2 wash condensers) with makers plate 'R G Abercrombie & Co Ltd/Engineers/Copper Smith/19 ALLOA 66'. Spirit-safe labelled 'Banffshire Copper Works/Alexr Grant/Dufftown'.

SE (RECEPTION) RANGE: small single storey range running NE-SW, again sympathetically altered with variety of elements including main door to E and 2 2-leaf doors to W (courtyard) elevation.

NE RANGE: single storey, 2-bay, stepped range fronting Kinnaird Burn with sluice gates.

BONDED WAREHOUSES: filling store, bonded warehouse No 7, long, low, early M-gabled rubble range with small square windows and 2-leaf timber doors. 3 broad gabled warehouses (20th century) each with centre door, circular-effect opening in gablehead and flanking buttresses to NE and further similar pair to SW.

INTERIOR: early warehouse with timber rafters supported on cast-iron columns.

Largely multi-pane glazing patterns in timber framed windows, some plate glass glazing to altered elevations. Grey slates. Coped ashlar stacks. Ashlar-coped skews. Cast-iron downpipes and decorative rainwater hoppers.

BOUNDARY WALLS: low rubble boundary walls, some coped.

Statement of Special Interest

Whisky production on this site can be traced back to 1798, with the 'Aldour' distillery licensed in 1825 by Alexander Connacher. Taken over by P Mackenzie & Co Distillers in 1882, Bell's in 1955 and subsequently United Distillers in the 1980s. The former farmhouse (see above) was originally known as Allt Dour. The whisky is produced using water from the Allt Dour burn and matured in oak casks. Walls of buildings and surrounding trees are blackened by the alcoholic vapours.

References

Bibliography

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