Annandale Distillery: Single Cask Single Malt, Range and Visitor Guide
Updated: 5 hours ago
Annandale describes itself as Scotland's only single cask single malt whisky distillery. This guide covers what it makes, how it works and the questions people ask most.
In this guide
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Annandale at a glance
Distillery fact | Verified detail |
|---|---|
Region | Lowland, Scotland |
Ownership | David Thomson and Teresa Church |
History | Original 1830s site; reopened 2014 |
Whisky and production | Unpeated Man O'Words and peated Man O'Sword |
Named expressions | Annandale Man O'Words, Annandale Man O'Sword |
Visits | Verify public access, current tours and opening times with the distillery before travelling. |
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Where is Annandale Distillery?
Annandale Distillery is in Dumfries and Galloway in the south-west Lowlands of Scotland. The name comes from Annandale, the area whose Seventh Lord was Robert the Bruce.
What makes Annandale different?
The distillery matures and bottles its whisky one cask at a time. It never vats casks together, so every release is a single cask. It uses malt from Crisp, one of the UK's oldest malt suppliers, and twin stills designed by Dr Jim Swan. Casks are sourced from distilleries, bodegas and wine cellars around the world.
Annandale range
Man O'Words: the unpeated expression, inspired by Robert Burns, Scotland's National Bard.
Man O'Sword: the peated expression, named after the Seventh Lord of Annandale and King of Scots, Robert the Bruce.
Annandale also sells private casks and runs a Single Cask Society for members.
Visiting
Guided tours with tastings run at the distillery, and there is a Maltings Coffee Shop. The distillery also offers venue hire. It holds a VisitScotland five star attraction rating and a Net Zero certification, according to its website.
Ownership and team
The owner and master distiller are not named on the Annandale website, so they are not stated here. Check the distillery's own news pages before publishing.
Official website
Annandale history: from excise officer to porridge oats
George Donald, a former Elgin based excise officer, built the first Annandale in 1830 and named it after the valley it sits in. ScotchWhisky.com's Whiskypedia says he took water from the Middleby Burn for the whisky and the Guillielands Burn for cooling and power. Donald ran the site until 1883, when it passed to John S. Gardner and Son. Gardner kept cows, pigs and horses on site and fed them on the draff and spent grain. The distillery was rebuilt and extended in 1887 and at its height made 28,000 gallons of spirit a year.
John Walker and Sons bought Annandale in 1896 for £2,000. Whiskypedia says Walker's mothballed it in 1919 to focus on Johnnie Walker, and the site was formally closed and stripped of its equipment by 1921. The Robinson family, known for Provost porridge oats, bought it in 1924. The old distillery became an oats line and the bonded warehouses housed cattle.
In 2007 David Thomson and Teresa Church, owners of the market research firm MMR Group, bought the site through the Annandale Distillery Company. A seven year restoration cost around £10.5 million. Production began in November 2014, 95 years after the last distilling. The first cask was filled on 15 November 2014 and the company put a £1 million price tag on it.
How Annandale makes its whisky
Stills: one 12,000 litre onion shaped wash still and two tall, slim necked spirit stills of 4,000 litres each (Whiskypedia).
Washbacks: six Douglas fir washbacks of 15,000 litres, with fermentation of 66 to 96 hours.
Mashing: a copper, semi lauter, domed mash tun with a 2.5 tonne grist.
Malt: peated malt at 45ppm and unpeated, supplied by Bairds and Pencaitland according to Whiskypedia. The official site names Crisp as its barley supplier.
New make: 72.5% strength, filled into cask at 63.5%. New make phenol levels are 13 to 14ppm.
Water: from the distillery's own borehole.
Warehousing: dunnage, in a two level sandstone warehouse.
Capacity: about 250,000 to 260,000 litres of pure alcohol a year.
Single cask only
The official site calls Annandale Scotland's only single cask single malt distillery. Whisky is matured and bottled one cask at a time and never vatted. The home page says the twin stills were designed by Dr Jim Swan and that casks are sourced from distilleries, bodegas and wine cellars around the world.
Core range and the Single Cask Society
Man O'Words: the unpeated expression, inspired by Robert Burns.
Man O'Sword: the peated expression, named after Robert the Bruce, the Seventh Lord of Annandale.
Annandale also runs a private casks programme and a Single Cask Society for new releases, members only bottlings, casks and events. The Single Cask, an independent bottler, reports that Cadenhead's and A.D. Rattray have released single cask Annandale under their own labels.
Visiting Annandale
Whiskypedia lists visitor hours of 9am to 5pm Monday to Saturday and 10am to 5pm on Sunday. The official site offers guided tours with tastings, the Maltings coffee shop and venue hire. The address is Northfield, Annan, DG12 5LL.
Awards and news
The official site shows Annandale has been shortlisted for the 2026 Scottish Whisky Awards and for an Environment Champion award at the 2026 Dumfries and Galloway Life Awards. It also displays World Whiskies Awards logos and a Net Zero certification badge. Check the site for the detail of each award.
Sources
Verified producer details and recent milestones
Annandale's current ownership is publicly identified by the distillery as Professor David Thomson and Teresa Church, who acquired the derelict site in 2007. The distillery's official account dates renewed spirit production to 9 November 2014, following an extensive restoration.
Annandale names its peated single malt Man O'Sword after Robert the Bruce, and its unpeated Man O'Words after Robert Burns. The distillery emphasises single cask maturation, so the strength and cask treatment depend on the individual bottling.
What makes Annandale distinctive?
Unpeated Man O'Words and peated Man O'Sword
Annandale whisky bottle and expression comparison
Bottle / expression | Age | ABV | Documented producer expression |
|---|---|---|---|
Annandale Man O'Words | Check label | Check label | Documented expression; batch and availability vary |
Annandale Man O'Sword | Check label | Check label | Documented expression; batch and availability vary |
Annandale Man O'Words 10 Year Old Cask 131 | Check label | Check label | Documented expression; batch and availability vary |
Annandale Man O'Sword Cask 275 | Check label | Check label | Documented expression; batch and availability vary |
Producer and release sources document these expressions. Historical bottles may be out of production or unavailable. Bottled sourced or blended whiskey is not always entirely distilled at this site.
This compares documented expressions, not live shop stock. Strength, age, casks and availability can vary by release; check the producer's bottle information.
More distilleries to explore
Frequently asked questions about Annandale
Where is Annandale distillery?
In Dumfries and Galloway, south-west Scotland.
What does Annandale make?
Single cask single malt Scotch whisky, bottled one cask at a time.
What are Man O'Words and Man O'Sword?
Annandale's two expressions. Man O'Words is unpeated and Man O'Sword is peated.
Can you visit Annandale?
Yes. It runs guided tours with tastings and has a coffee shop.
Who designed the stills?
Dr Jim Swan designed Annandale's twin stills.
Sources and editorial checks
Original historical research and source notes are preserved in this guide. Producer details, distillery access and releases may change.
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Whisky producer and release source: https://annandaledistillery.com/our-whisky/core-range/
About the author
 | Filip Janczak Storyteller, drinker and explorer of all things whisky. Read more about the person behind Whisky Clan and explore additional reviews and distillery guides. |
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