If you’re well-versed in the history of single malts, you’re probably well aware that the Scotch whisky industry has had a boom-to-bust cycle over the years. One of the worst busts in recent history was the “whisky loch” of the early to mid-1980s (so-called because there was enough surplus whisky to “fill a loch”). With supply vastly outstripping demand, and single malt a barely-there category in the minds of most consumers, producers began a period of ruthless pruning of their portfolios. DCL (later UDV, now Diageo) was then, as now, the largest single owner of malt distilleries and accordingly had plenty of excess fat to cut.

Many smaller and older distilleries, unable to produce at scale or in need of expensive refurbishment, were closed with little regard to the reputation of their spirit. The most brutal period of closures was 1983-85, but a late victim was Rosebank, one of a handful of distilleries then remaining in the Scottish Lowlands, and it was closed–seemingly for good–in 1993. Although the old stills were stolen somewhere along the way, the buildings mostly remained in good form.

Fast forward to 2017; with the industry booming, blending and bottling firm Ian Macleod managed to acquire rights and remaining stocks from Diageo (which, days earlier, had announced the decision to revive two other victims of the whisky loch), and announced that Rosebank would be refurbished and reopened. And the day has finally arrived! The first new spirit in nearly 3 decades ran at Rosebank earlier this week, per reports from Spirits Business and Rosebank’s Facebook page.