Brora was built in 1819 as Clynelish by the Marquess of Stafford, later Duke of Sutherland, during the Highland Clearances that had depopulated much of the surrounding country. When a new Clynelish distillery opened next door in 1967, the old stillhouse was retained under the name Brora and run in parallel, chiefly to supply a heavily peated style for the Johnnie Walker blends during a shortage of Islay malt.
It closed in 1983, a victim of the same contraction that silenced Convalmore. What it left behind — a limited body of stock laid down in the 1970s and early 1980s — has become one of the most coveted inventories in Scotland.
This 35 Year Old, released as part of Diageo's annual Special Releases programme, draws on those dwindling casks. The waxy, coastal Brora character remains intact beneath the weight of its years, the peat now a quiet presence rather than a statement.
