Storage shed at Dallas Dhu Distillery

Dallas Dhu Distillery is a remarkably complete whisky distillery complex built in 1898–1901 to designs by the architect Charles Chree Doig (1855–1918). It sits on the southern edge of Forres in Moray, in a hollow close to the river Dullan, surrounded by farmland and with a forest to the west. The site is approached from the south across open farm fields, where it reads as a distinctive industrial building in the rural landscape; from the north, it is largely screened by trees and neighbouring farm buildings, though the brick chimney stack and pagoda kiln roof remain visible above them.

The storage shed described here is a single-storey, wooden structure with a corrugated metal roof, positioned between the malting and distillery factory to the east and the range of bonded warehouses to the west. It forms part of a wider complex that also includes a single- and two-storey east-plan malting and distilling factory (comprising malt barn, kiln, mash house, tun room, still house and filling store with offices), a single- and two-storey range of bonded warehouses, and, further to the west, two pairs of single-storey and attic former distillery workers' houses.

The majority of the distillery buildings are constructed in harl-pointed rubble with tooled ashlar dressings and most exterior walls are painted. Roofs are pitched and slated with straight stone skews. The kiln has an ogee-shaped slated roof topped by a pagoda-louvered apex vent — the so-called Doig Ventilator, invented by Charles Doig in 1889 to improve kiln efficiency at Dailuaine Distillery Maltings, and subsequently the most characteristic single feature of Scottish distilleries. It was designed in the golden ratio and is both highly practical and visually pleasing. Adjoining the north of the still house is a tall, tapered, square-plan chimney built of red brick with contrasting yellow brick quoins. A photograph from 1974 showed that the chimney originally had three polychrome brick diamonds; it now has one, having been reduced in height by 7 metres since closure.

The south elevation of the malt barn is symmetrical and twelve bays long. Attic windows are smaller and square. The north gable of the malt barn has a double-door opening above ground level and one at attic floor level. There are five bonded warehouses arranged in a range, with continuous gable ends to the east and west walls. Each gable has three openings, except the east block which is two storeys and has six openings. This two-storey warehouse to the east was likely added around 1925 when Benmore Distilleries Ltd, who owned the site between 1921 and 1928, invested heavily in the distillery. Immediately in front of the north side of the warehouses, running most of their length, is a pair of iron barrel rails; there are further short sections of rails leading to an opening in the west elevation of the warehouses, in front of which is a barrel hoist.

The interior, as seen in 2019, retains many of its traditional whisky distilling fixtures and fittings. The barley loft — the attic floor of the malt barn — contains two large metal tanks known as steeps. Part of the malting floor at ground level is in use as a shop and offices, with some later but reversible subdivision. The ground floor of the malt kiln retains the kiln fire. The distillery equipment, including two large copper stills in the still house, the metal mash tun in the mash house, and six large wooden washbacks in the tun room, were replaced in stages between 1937 and 1969. Charles Doig's original drawings show the distillery was designed with four washbacks; there are now six, indicating that the tun room has been extended at some point.

The malting and distilling factory is laid out on an east-plan, comprising rectangular elements such as the malt barn and a square kiln, with the whisky production process proceeding logically and efficiently from south to north — a hallmark of Doig's rationally planned, labour-saving distillery layouts.

The distillery was originally called Dallasmore and was funded by the entrepreneur and distillery owner Alexander Edward, one of two distilleries he built on his Sanquhar estate. The sites were chosen largely for their proximity to the railway rather than a guaranteed water supply; Dallas Dhu drew water from the Altyre Burn approximately a quarter of a mile to the south, with additional cooling water from the Blair Burn. The site also benefited from its proximity to the good barley-growing land of the Laich of Moray. The ground was boggy and required stabilisation; the walls of the malt barn began to sink after construction and had to be strengthened with ties, which are still visible on the exterior.

Before production began, the distillery was sold in 1899 to Wright and Greig Ltd, a Glasgow blending company, who bought it to secure a supply of malt whisky for their popular blend Roderick Dhu, named after a character in Sir Walter Scott's novel The Lady of the Lake. Production began on 29 May 1899 and the first barrel was filled on 3 June of that year. The bonded warehouses, also designed by Doig, were added in 1901 according to the Dictionary of Scottish Architects, and are shown in the 2nd Edition Ordnance Survey map.

The distillery changed hands several times and temporarily ceased production during the First and Second World Wars and the economic depression of the early 1930s. During the Benmore Distilleries period (1921–1928), new equipment was introduced including electric lighting, conveyor belts and hoists, and a railway siding was built off the adjacent Inverness–Perth junction railway, operated by the Highland Railway Company. In 1939 a fire in the still house caused damage estimated at between £7,000 and £10,000, described in newspaper accounts as a four-hour blaze. The fire was contained to the still house and did not spread to the mash house or spirit store. The extent of damage to the built fabric is not fully known, but the roof was likely replaced; it maintains the appearance shown in Doig's drawings, including the ridge windows and row of lights in the west pitch. The openings in the north wall of the still house have been altered: single window openings at ground and first floor level to the left of the arched opening have been blocked and a tall, flat-arched opening has been added. In 1963 the adjacent railway line closed, and an elevator was installed in the malt barn to take delivery of loose bulk barley delivered by lorry. The tun room roof has also been replaced with corrugated sheeting supported on braced metal rafters; a drawing held by Moray Archives indicates this reroofing took place in 1980.

Scottish Malt Distillers, a subsidiary of the Distillers' Company Limited, took ownership in 1930 and managed the site until closure. From 1936 onwards, equipment was continually repaired or upgraded, including new washbacks and worm tubs in 1937, electric-powered pumps and conveyors replacing steam engines and waterwheels in 1950, and additional washbacks, a new mash tun and boiler added in 1964 to increase capacity. The stills were replaced in 1968–69. Dallas Dhu was ultimately unable to compete economically with Scottish Malt Distillers' other sites; the malt barn became redundant when a larger maltings opened at Burghead, and an unreliable water supply further hampered production. The last barrel of whisky was filled on 16 March 1983 and the distillery closed. On closure in 1987 it was transferred to Scottish Ministers, sold to a private owner in 1997 but retained in the guardianship of Scottish Ministers, and it currently operates as a visitor attraction.

Since commercial closure in 1987 the buildings have been repaired and maintained but not significantly altered. The external stair to the barley loft has been rebuilt for safer visitor access.

The toilet block is excluded from the listing in accordance with Section 1(4A) of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) (Scotland) Act 1997.