North Port (Brechin)

David, John and Alexander Guthrie established North Port Distillery as Towhead Distillery close by the north gate or north port of the Burgh of Brechin in 1820. By 1825 coal was being delivered by cart from Montrose then by steam train once the railway arrived in 1848. Just two stills and originally their copper worms resided in the Den Burn and so North Port spirit was cooled by the burn’s cold water as it flowed through the grounds of the distillery. This Highland distillery closed in 1983 and was demolished in 1994. Now the site supports a supermarket where a small section of a rescued red sandstone stone window frame forms a memorial to a lost malt whisky distillery. Nowadays its whisky is very occasionally released by independent bottlers.