Ask a visitor to Scotland about the most ‘whisky-famous’ parts of the country and they’re likely to name Speyside, Islay, the Highlands.
They’re unlikely to mention Leith. But Edinburgh’s famous port district played an important role in Scotch whisky’s development, and one John Crabbie was a central figure.
Crabbie, a whisky blender and bottler in the 19th century, was one of the Leith merchants who helped perfect the art of whisky blending, helping the industry to reach new heights as it moved towards the global giant it is today.
In addition to whisky, Crabbie was also famous for his ginger wine.
After his death, the Crabbie brand passed through various hands before being acquired by drinks company Halewood Artisanal Spirits in 2007, which built on the ginger part of Crabbie’s legacy with the launch of Crabbie’s alcoholic ginger beer.
However, it wouldn’t be until 2018 that the Crabbie name returned to whisky, with the release of several independent bottlings under the John Crabbie & Co brand.
Halewood wasn’t done there, though. In 2020 the Crabbie name finally returned to its native Leith when Halewood opened the Bonnington Distillery on Graham Street.
Consisting initially of a two-tonne mash tun, six 10,000 litre washbacks and two stills, the distillery was expanded in 2023 with the installation of an additional nine washbacks, allowing Bonnington to move to a 24-hour production cycle, five days a week.
Every week, the nine-strong production team fills 140 casks with the distillery’s new make spirit.
On a recent visit to the facility, distillery manager Gregor Butchert told SLTN that the Leith location was vitally important to the company.
“One of the reasons the distillery is where it is, is because as we came back and wanted to make whisky ourselves, one of the stipulations was that it had to have the same postcode as the original building. We’re still EH6,” said Gregor.
While the parent company is based in England, Bonnington is a distinctly Scottish affair. The Leith distillery produces its mash using malted barley from Pencaitland and Alloa, with the casks then sent to warehouses in Kirkcaldy before returning to Edinburgh for bottling.
Five years in, there have been several releases from the Bonnington Distillery, including the core John Crabbie single malt and special releases bottled under the Bonnington brand name.
Bonnington bottlings have included whisky matured in Pedro Ximenez and Ruby Port casks
The current Bonnington releases, a 47% ABV non-peated spirit and a 51% ABV peated spirit, both matured in Muscat casks, were still available at time of writing.
While the majority of Bonnington’s output is non-peated, the distillery does switch to peated spirit for a month every year, and although the lion’s share of the spirit is matured in ex-bourbon or virgin oak casks, there are plenty of other varieties in the mix as well, including sherry, stout and tequila, as well as casks that were previously used by Bonnington’s sister distillery, Aber Falls, in Wales.
The nature of the liquid, too, is quite unusual for a lowland distillery, according to Gregor.
“We’ve got quite a nice coastal theme coming into our whisky from being distilled and then matured near the coast,” he said.
“You do get a nice sort of maritime finish. Maybe not as much as things like Old Pulteney, but you definitely get a little bit of a nice saltiness in it. Which, again, makes us stand out, being a bit more unique.”
The Bonnington stills, too, are not what might be expected of a lowland producer.
Gregor explained: “We have pot stills that are a bit more short and fat – or an onion still. Not really what other lowland distilleries have.
“Lowland has always, traditionally, been really tall, really narrow stills, which increases the reflux of the spirit.
“So traditionally lowland has always been viewed as really easy to drink, really accessible. Our stills I would consider maybe a bit more Highland in style. And because they’re a little bit shorter and a little bit fatter and the spirit doesn’t have to go up as high, you get a lot more of the heavy flavours, a lot more heavy esters, heavy oils, things like that. It gives us a more chewable spirit. There’s a lot of bite to it, a lot of flavour comes across.”
With several releases already under their belt, and listings secured with suppliers including Royal Mile Whiskies, Inverarity Morton and Dunns Food & Drinks, the Bonnington team are now looking to build the brand’s reputation among whisky fans.
And the independent on-trade will be key to that goal.
Field sales manager Nicole Leslie said that the John Crabbie and Bonnington brands have had support from whisky bars including The Diggers in Edinburgh and Glasgow stalwarts The Pot Still, The Bon Accord and The Piper.
“These are the proper whisky bars that get excited at new releases,” she said.
“So I would say your independent pubs have been our main focus.”
