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A tall stone chimney rises beside a red sandstone distillery building, whisky barrels stacked near the entrance gate.
Dumfries and Galloway

Annandale Distillery

A distillery of 1830, silent for most of a century and working again since 2014.

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Welcome

Annandale was founded in 1830 at Northfield by Annan, ran for the best part of a century and then fell quiet after the First World War, its buildings given over to a farm.

It was bought and rebuilt as a distillery in the 2010s and has been making whisky again since 2014, under two names that nod to the two men the area claims: one for Robert the Bruce, one for Robert Burns, who worked as an exciseman a few miles away. The tour goes through the mash house and the still house and finishes with a tasting, and there is a cafe in the old buildings. It sits just off the A75 a few miles from the border, which makes it the first or the last distillery in Scotland depending which way you are driving.

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Arrives at 5am every day.

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The Daily for 31 October, from Scotland with love. A ring of standing stones set among mist and autumn birch
Before you go
How long
An hour to two
Cost
By ticket
Getting there
Signed off the A75 at Annan; parking at the distillery.

Opening hours

Their website
Monday
10am–5pm
Tuesday
10am–5pm
Wednesday
10am–5pm
Thursday
10am–5pm
Friday
10am–5pm
Saturday
10am–5pm
Sunday
10am–5pm

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Did you know

A tall stone chimney rises beside a red sandstone distillery building, whisky barrels stacked near its entrance.
Did you know

Founded in 1830.

Annandale was built at Northfield by Annan in 1830 and fell silent after the First World War, its buildings given over to a farm.

Branded whisky barrels stacked outside Annandale Distillery's visitor centre carry names including Robert Burns and Robert the Bruce, a directional sign pointing towards the entrance.
Did you know

Named for Burns.

Robert Burns was an exciseman in this part of Dumfriesshire, and one of the two single malts made here is named for him.

Whisky casks branded Annandale Distillery and numbered with the year 2014 stand stacked in a dim warehouse, some marked with Chinese characters.
Did you know

The first in Scotland.

It stands a few miles from the border, which makes it the first or the last distillery in Scotland depending which way you are driving.

Emily Rose Mawson

From our guide to Dumfries and Galloway

When Annandale Distillery opened in 1836, Annan was an embarkation port for emigrant Scots. It closed in 1918 and didn’t open its doors again for some 100 years. In 2014, following a £10.5 million renovation, it once more started producing single malt Scotch whisky. It runs guided tours and on its former malting floor there’s a café serving Scottish food and local craft beers.

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01 / 05
Where it is

At Northfield, just outside Annan, a short way off the A75.

Close byThe rest of Dumfries and Galloway, near at hand.
  1. Grassy shoreline overlooking mudflats and distant hills across the firthThe Annan Shore WalkA shore walk at Annan on the Solway, past Waterfoot, the old port where emigrant ships once sailed for North America.1 mile 4 min by road
  2. The Devil's Porridge MuseumThe Devil's Porridge Museum5 miles 10 min by road
  3. Cottage room with black cast-iron range, tartan mantel and spinning wheel beside the windowThomas Carlyle's BirthplaceThe small house in Ecclefechan where the writer Thomas Carlyle was born in 1795, built by his father and uncle and open since 1881.5 miles 8 min by road
  4. The First Taste of Scotland, Gretna GreenThe First Taste of Scotland, Gretna Green8 miles as the crow flies
  5. The Forge Experience at Gretna GreenThe Forge Experience at Gretna GreenHalf an hour with Gretna Green's resident blacksmith, pressing your own commemorative coin from hot metal to take home.8 miles as the crow flies
  6. The Smithy Experience at the Gretna Green ForgeThe Smithy Experience at the Gretna Green ForgeAn hour at your own anvil in Gretna Green's forge, learning the basics of blacksmithing and making a fireside poker to take home.8 miles as the crow flies
Directions
A visitor photographs a couple making a heart with their hands in the courtyard.ToursGretna Green Guided Tour7.9 miles
A couple hold the hammer together over the marriage anvil in the old smithy at the Famous Blacksmiths Shop.ActivityHandfasting at Gretna Green7.9 miles
Friends raise their tasting glasses round a barrel table at the First Sip of Scotland.ActivityThe First Sip of Scotland, Gretna Green7.9 miles
A woman beams as she holds up the pair of entwined iron hearts she and her partner have forged.ActivityThe Couples Experience at the Gretna Green Forge7.9 miles
The whitewashed Famous Blacksmiths Shop at Gretna Green under a clear blue sky, with flowers in a planter by the road.AttractionsGretna Green Famous Blacksmiths Shop8.9 miles
The Big Dance, the giant steel clasped hands, in the Gretna Green square at sunset, with the black-and-white shops on the left and a crow on the cobbles.AttractionsThe Big Dance (the Clasping Hands), Gretna Green8.9 miles
The whitewashed Famous Blacksmiths Shop with its arched window and black signboards, an old plough at left and clipped hedges in front.AttractionsGretna Green8.9 miles
Bottle of Nith Inshore Rescue rum on a stone bridge above the riverAttractionsNinefold Distillery9.1 miles
Rounded hills rise behind a conifer plantation and grazing fields with sheepAttractionsBurnswark Hill9.1 miles

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What we have written about it, the collections it is in and more in Dumfries and Galloway.

From the magazineWhisky DistilleriesCollectionDistilleries to visit in ScotlandCollectionDistilleries Worth the Tour
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For further reading, before you go. The details on this page were checked on .