The original Wolfburn Distillery was founded just to the west of Thurso by William Smith in 1821.  In its day it was one of the largest distilleries in Scotland, producing, according to HMRC records, 28,056 “gallons of proof spirit” in a single year.  Taking its name from the stream that provided the water – the Wolf Burn – the distillery operated until the 1860s.  The reasons for its closure are lost in time, but by the 1870s the newly produced Ordnance Survey maps showed it being in ruins.

In 2011, plans were laid to resurrect the old distillery. Construction began in mid-2012 and in January 2013 the new Wolfburn Distillery commenced production. It is now the most northerly distillery on the Scottish mainland.  Situated 350m from the site of the original distillery, the reinvented Wolfburn site consists of three buildings: the distillery itself and two warehouses for the laying down of casks.

Though aged for just three years, Wolfburn Single Malt is a 46% abv, non-chill-filtered NAS expression matured in ex-Islay quarter casks made from Spanish and American oak. A long ferment of 75 hours and slow distillation give the whisky a sweet fruit and malt character with a hint of smoke imparted from the casks.