Royal Brakla 2020 Ba

Age (yrs): 4
Year: 2020
Cask Type: Ba
Wood Type: Std
EST RLA: 110.7

Royal Brakla 2020 Ba

The Brackla distillery was built in 1812 by Captain William Fraser of Brackla House on the estate of Cawdor Castle. In 1833 Brackla Distillery became the first whisky distillery to be granted a Royal Warrant by King William IV. Royal Brackla is one of three distilleries to bear the name ‘Royal’, the others being the active distillery Royal Lonchnagar and the demolished distillery Glenury. Queen Victoria renewed Brackla’s royal warrant in 1838.

In 1839 William Fraser & Co took over the distillery and it was passed from William Fraser to his son Robert Fraser in 1852. It was in 1878 that Robert Fraser disposed of the distillery to the firm Robert Fraser & Co and in 1879 the company was reconstructed as the Brackla Distillery Co Ltd.

The 1897 prospectus reveals that the capital of the company was £100,000, divided into 40,000 preference and 60,000 ordinary shares. The Directors of the company were James Anderson, Wine Merchant, Leith, Andrew Usher of Northfield, John Usher of Norton and Walter C. Newbigging, distiller at Brackla. The Prospectus also reported:

“Brackla’s whisky has long been known as one of the best Highland malt whiskies in the market. The demand for it has for years been much in excess of the supply, and in order to cope with this demand considerable additions have recently been made to the distillery.”

The distillery and warehouse, at this time, was on a site of over 13 acres, this was held under lease from the Earl of Cawdor.

In 1919 John Mitchel and James Leith of Aberdeen acquired the company but then sold it in 1926 to John Bisset & Co Ltd of Leith. They were taken over by the Distillers Company Ltd in 1943.

Due to restrictions on the use of barley for distilling during the Second World War a majority of Scotch Whisky distilleries closed, including the Royal Brackla Distillery from 1943 until 1945. An airfield was built beside the distillery in 1940, to provide a landing ground for operational training and air gunnery.

1964 saw the distillery close its doors again until 1966, this was due to major reconstruction and re-planning. The traditional method of coal-firing the stills by hand was changed to internal heating by steam generated from a coal-fired boiler. In 1965 an underground supply of water, created during the Second World War for an airfield, was acquired and used for cooling spirit vapour.

In 1970, the distillery was expanded by adding a second pair of stills and converting the coal-fired boiler to oil-fired. New racked warehouses were built in 1975 to replace the older traditional warehouses that were still in use at the time.

The Royal Brackla Distillery closed again in 1985. The casks of whisky remained on site in the warehouses where they continued to mature and be used for blending, as required by the owners. The distillery reopened in 1991.

In 1998, the distillery started to be operated by John Dewar & Sons, a subsidiary of Bacardi.

In 2019, Bacardi relaunch Royal Brackla single malts, consisting of Royal Brackla 12 Years Old finished in Oloroso sherry casks, Royal Brackla 18 Years Old finished in Palo Cortado Sherry casks and Royal Brackla 21 Years Old finished in Oloroso, Palo Cortado and Pedro Ximénez sherry casks

Please ensure all research has been carried out before bidding. Once a bid has been placed it has been deemed that you are happy with the terms and conditions and no bids can be removed.

The highest bidder is at the end of the auction is due to pay full purchase price plus buyer’s premium and postage within 1 hour of the auction closing.

A buyer’s premium is applicable to all lots and will be set at 15% of purchase price. 

Speak to us

sales@braveheartauctions.co.uk

0131 278 3565

Speak to us about buying now

All of our whisky is sourced from private collections and is sold by private sellers. As a result, the right to reject (section 20 of the Consumer Rights Act) does not apply.

Goods from private sellers do not have to be fault-free and photographs are taken of all lots in order to accurately represent each item sold at auction and show any faults or damage to the bottles and boxes. If you have any concerns or questions then please contact us using to contact form above.

Postage and packaging will be charged at £5.95 on each individual lot. Should you wish to insure your purchase then please contact us within 3 hours of the end of the auction. Insurance will be charged at 4% of the final sale price.

 

Due to the various ages of bottles and their seals no claim can be lodged against leakage in transit.

Our satisfied customers want to share with you

5/5
“I have bought numerous bottles of whisky from Braveheart and I have never been disappointed. The first bottle I bought was £40 and the latest was £1,300. I will be back for more.
peter henderson, york
5/5
“I have bought and sold rare whisky through Braveheart Auctions. Daniel has always been brilliant and he really knows his stuff. I love the free collection and low seller's commission.
nathalie crawford, edinburgh