The BenRiach Distillery was established by John Duff in 1898, in North Speyside, south of Elgin, close to the Longmorn Distillery which was also owned by Duff. The distilleries were joined by a private railway, with a private steam locomotive, the Puggy, to transport coal, barley, peat and barrels between the distilleries. Soon after the railway was established in 1900 the distillery stopped production in the wake of the bankruptcy of Pattisons Ltd, a major Scotch whisky purchaser. Only BenRiachs maltings remained in active use, producing malt for Longmorn. It didn’t produce spirit again until 1965 when it was reopened by Glenlivet Distillers Ltd. In 1978 the distillery changed hands, this time to Seagrams. Seagrams became part of Pernod Ricard in 2001 and the BenRiach distillery began operating for just three months of every year. In 2004 the distillery was acquired by an independent consortium, the BenRiach Distillery Company Limited, formed by two South African funding partners, Geoff Bell and Wayne Keiswetter, and Scotch whisky expert Billy Walker.