Rosebank Distillery

The Rosebank site has distilling associations dating to 1798 when the Stark brothers operated in nearby Laurieston, and a separate "Rosebank" distillery run by James Robertson operated briefly from 1817 to 1819. The current distillery was established in 1840 by James Rankine — a local wine merchant — who acquired the Camelon distillery maltings on the east bank of the Forth and Clyde Canal and developed them into a full distillery.

Rosebank expanded in 1845 and was reconstructed in 1864. After the rival Camelon Distillery failed in 1861, Rankine purchased and demolished it, retaining only its maltings. By 1886 — when writer Alfred Barnard documented it — the distillery operated across two canal-linked sites with warehouse capacity for 500,000 gallons. Within 40 years of founding the Rankines were shipping Rosebank whisky worldwide. Rosebank Distillery Ltd formed in 1894.

The company joined a 1914 amalgamation that created Scottish Malt Distillers, which became part of The Distillers Company (DCL) in 1925. The distillery operated until 1993 when DCL's successor decided that the £2 million cost of effluent treatment upgrades required by European environmental standards was commercially unviable; Rosebank was mothballed that year.

After closure, Diageo sold the main buildings to British Waterways in 2002, and the maltings were demolished for housing development. A planned revival using original equipment collapsed when original Rosebank stills were stolen by metal thieves over Christmas 2008/2009 and never recovered. Ian Macleod Distillers announced the acquisition of the Rosebank trademark from Diageo and the site from Scottish Canals in October 2017. After extensive restoration, production restarted on 5 July 2023 and the distillery opened to visitors on 7 June 2024, winning the 2024 Herald Property Award for Best Regeneration Project.

The revived Rosebank operates three pot stills — two wash stills and one spirit still — to achieve the triple distillation that defined the historic distillery's character. Annual capacity is approximately 559,169 litres. Water is sourced from the Carron Valley Reservoir. The spirit is unpeated Lowland single malt, produced by triple distillation in the historical tradition that gave Rosebank its distinctive elegance and earned it the "King of the Lowlands" designation.

Rosebank is non-peated, triple-distilled Lowland single malt known for a fruity, floral style with notes of pineapple, marzipan, candied ginger, lemon, white pepper, and café latte. Whisky writer Jim Murray ranked Rosebank among Scotland's "top five of all Scottish malts"; Michael Jackson called it "The finest example of a Lowland malt" and lamented its 1993 closure as "a grievous loss." Pre-closure expressions remain highly sought after. The 31 Year Old Legacy Series release won Best in Show at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition 2025.

Tours are available year-round at the fully restored Falkirk site, with guided distillery tours and tasting rooms. The distillery opened to visitors on 7 June 2024 and earned five-star VisitScotland status within its first week of operation. Online store and physical shop on site. Address: Rosebank Distillery, Camelon, Falkirk.