Malt Whisky Pot Stills

Updated 04/05/2010

One of the biggest frustrations found when visiting distilleries is centered on the subject of photography within the distillery buildings. There is no consistency of approach within distillery groups let alone across different groups. In some distilleries photography is permitted whether the distillery is working or silent, in others photography is allowed when the distillery is silent while in other units photography is completely banned. I have been given various reasons for the banning of photography, particularly in the still house, and most of these reasons are apparently based on safety concerns however this is hard to accept when other distillers say no problem. When I have asked distillery managers if photography is allowed they often say that company policy does or does not permit photography but they never seem to mention safety concerns. I suspect that sometimes it may be down to an individual manager whether pictures can be taken or not. The biggest inconsistency is within the Diageo distilleries. Some are very relaxed about photography while in others such as Oban, Cragganmore and Glenord photography is not allowed under any circumstances.

 Below you will find some of the stills that I have been allowed to photograph over the years and I thank the owners and managers of those destilleries for their relaxed apprroach.