Royal Brackla was the first of only three distilleries (the others being Lochnagar and Glenury) to earn the ‘Royal’ epithet, receiving the industry’s first Royal Warrant in 1835 from King William IV.

The whisky was also reported to be a favourite of Queen Victoria when she ascended to the throne shortly afterwards, and was one of the malts from which Andrew Usher created the first blended whisky in the 1860s.

The distillery was founded in 1812, and changed hands a few times before being acquired by Scottish Malt Distillers (later to become part of Diageo) in 1943. During WWII, the distillery was taken over by the RAF and used as a school for new pilots.

Royal Brackla has since been sold to Bacardi, who incorporated it into its Dewar’s portfolio and the vast majority of Brackla’s spirit new goes into Dewar’s White Label and Bacardi’s other blends.