The western half of Scotland has its roots based in the Gaelic language and given that many whisky distilleries are situated in Gaelic lands, it should be no surprise that their names are often Gaelic as well.  Even some of us who were raised with a Scottish Gaelic parent have difficulty deciphering and pronouncing the names correctly.

I have come up with a list of the distilleries that sport Gaelic names and export their whisky regularly to the Canadian marketplace.  The list is presented in alphabetical order.

AnCnoc Distillery

AnCnoc Distillery, founded in 1894, is situated in Knock, Aberdeenshire. It was originally known as Knocdu (“nock-doo”) from the Gaelic Cnoc Dubh which means ‘black hill’. It later became AnCnoc which simply means ‘the hill’. And is pronounced “ah-nock”.

Auchentoshan Distillery

Auchentoshan Distillery was established in 1823 and is located at the foot of the Kilpatrick hills, close to Clydebank. In Gaelic its name translates to ‘Achadh an Oisein’ which means ‘corner of the field’. It is pronounced as “ock-un-tosh-un”.  The distillery’s motto is “Challenging to say, easy to drink”.

Bruichladdich Distillery

Bruichladdich is located on the wild Rhinns, located on the west side of the Isle of Islay.  It was originally founded in 1881. The name is derived from the Gaelic words ‘brudhach’ and ‘chalddich’ which together translate to ‘brae by the shore’. The name is pronounced as “broo-ick-laddie”.

Bunnahabhain

Bunnahabhain Distillery, founded in 1881, is located near Port Askaig, on the north side of the Island of Islay. Its name is derived from the Scottish Gaelic for ‘mouth of the river’, Bun na h-Abhainn.  It is pronounced “bu-na-ha-venn”.

Caol Ila Distillery

Caol Ila Distillery is located on the northeastern shore of Islay. It was founded in 1846. The name derives from the Gaelic ‘Caol Ìle’ which means ‘sound of Islay’ and is pronounced as “cull – eela”.

Cragganmore Distillery

Cragganmore is in the Speyside region near the village of Ballindalloch.  It has been in existence since 1869. The Gaelic form of its name is creagan mór, which translates as ‘great rock’. Cragganmore is pronounced as “kra-guhn-more”.

Glenfiddich Distillery

Glenfiddich was founded in 1886, in the Highland community of Dufftown, Banffshire.  Glenfiddich is Gaelic for valley of the deer and is pronounced “glen-fidd- ick”.

Glenmorangie Distillery

Established in 1843, Glenmorangie is located in the Highlands, about 60 kilometres north of Inverness. There is debate as to whether the name was derived from Gleann Mòr na Sìth, which means ‘valley of tranquility’ or Gleann Mór-innse, which refers to ‘valley of big meadows’. In either event, Glenmorangie is pronounced “glen-muh-ran-jee”.

Lagavulin Distillery

Lagavulin, founded in 1816, is located at Laguvulin Bay on Islay. Its name is an anglicization of the Gaelic lag a’mhuilin which means ‘hollow by the mill’. Lagavulin is pronounced “lagga-voolin”.

Laphroaig Distillery

The name Laphroaig means ‘beautiful hollow by the broad bay’, which makes sense as the distillery, which was founded in 1815, is situated along the south shoreline on Islay.  Laphroaig is pronounced as “la-froyg”

Tamdhu Distillery

Established in 1897, Tamdhu Distillery is located in the Highlands in the village of Knockando. Its Scottish Gaelic name translates to ‘little dark hill’ and is simply pronounced “tam – doo”.

Tomintoul Distillery

Tomintoul Distillery is located in the Speyside whisky region, inside the Glenlivet estate. The distillery is named after the nearby village of Tomintoul, which is the highest village in the Highlands of Scotland.  Tomintoul is by far the youngest distillery in the group, established in 1964. The Gaelic translation of its name means ‘the hill of the barn’ and is pronounce “tom-in-towel”.

In Closing

I think I now have a better understanding as to why my father always drank Glenlivet; it was very easy to pronounce, even for a Scotsman!

Sláinte mhaith