Rosebank Distillery — Lowland Single Malt Whisky

Rosebank Distillery is a Scotch whisky distillery located in Camelon, on the outskirts of Falkirk, in the Lowland region of Scotland. It was founded in 1798 and is currently owned by Ian Macleod Distillers, who revived production in 2023 after the site had been mothballed for three decades. Famed historically as the "King of the Lowlands," Rosebank is one of the few Scotch distilleries to have triple-distilled its spirit, and its return to production in the 2020s was one of the most closely watched revivals in the whisky industry.

History

Distilling on the site is recorded from 1798, when it was operated by the Stark brothers on the banks of the Forth and Clyde Canal between Edinburgh and Glasgow. The distillery as it became known was established in 1840 by local wine merchant James Rankine, and was formally incorporated as Rosebank Distillery Ltd in 1894. It became part of Scottish Malt Distillers in 1914, which in turn was absorbed into The Distillers Company (DCL) in 1925, a lineage that later passed to United Distillers and then Diageo. Through the 20th century Rosebank built a reputation as one of the finest Lowland malts, prized for its light, floral, triple-distilled character.

In 1993 the distillery was mothballed by its owners rather than fund a required £2 million effluent-treatment upgrade to meet EU environmental standards, and it never returned to production under Diageo. The site was sold to British Waterways (later part of Scottish Canals) in 2002, and much of the original distillery building was lost to redevelopment and disrepair over the following years, even as the Rosebank name retained a strong following among collectors of the dwindling original stock.

In October 2017, independent bottler and distiller Ian Macleod Distillers acquired the Rosebank trademark, remaining warehouse stock, and rights to the distillery site. The company rebuilt the distillery on part of its historic footprint beside the canal, reinstating triple distillation through three pot stills, and production resumed in July 2023 — thirty years after closure. A visitor centre opened to the public on 7 June 2024, and the redevelopment won the Herald Property Award for Best Regeneration Project in 2024 and a RIAS award nomination in 2025.

Quick Facts

• Region: Lowland
• Founded: 1798 (current distillery buildings date from 1840; rebuilt and reopened in 2023)
• Owner: Ian Macleod Distillers
• Status: Active
• Stills: Three pot stills (one spirit still, two wash stills), triple distillation

Core Range

Because production only resumed in 2023, Rosebank's current range is still built primarily around mature stock laid down before the 1993 closure, released under Ian Macleod's stewardship. The flagship release is Rosebank 30 Year Old – Release One (48.6% ABV), distilled in 1990 and matured in a combination of refill sherry butts and bourbon hogsheads, bottled as a strictly limited run of 4,350 bottles. Older independent and distillery vintage bottlings from the 1990s and 1991 distillation years, typically in the 43%–54% ABV range, also continue to circulate among specialist retailers and auction houses. Further releases, including expressions from the post-2023 new-make spirit, are expected as stocks mature.