Chimney 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 stands on the southern edge of Forres, Moray, on lower ground close to the river Dullan, surrounded by farmland and with a forest to the west. The complex was originally called Dallasmore, funded by the entrepreneur and distillery owner Alexander Edward, and was one of two distilleries built on his Sanquhar estate. The site was chosen primarily for its proximity to the Inverness–Perth junction railway rather than for its water supply; water was drawn from the Altyre Burn approximately a quarter of a mile to the south, with additional cooling water from the Blair Burn. The ground proved 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 1899. The warehouses, also designed by Doig, were added in 1901.

The distillery changed hands several times and temporarily ceased activity during the First and Second World Wars and during the depression of the early 1930s. Benmore Distilleries Ltd, who owned the site between 1921 and 1928, invested heavily, introducing electric light, conveyor belts and hoists, and building a railway siding off the adjacent Highland Railway Company line. A new bonded warehouse was also built around 1925, likely the two-storey warehouse to the east. Scottish Malt Distillers, a subsidiary of the Distillers' Company Ltd, took ownership in 1930. From 1936 until closure, equipment was regularly repaired or upgraded: new wash-backs and worm tubs were installed in 1937; electric-powered pumps and conveyors replaced the steam engines and waterwheels in 1950; two new wash-backs, a new mash tun and a new boiler were added in 1964 to increase capacity; and the stills were replaced in 1968–69.

In 1939 a fire broke out in the still house, burning for four hours and causing between £7,000 and £10,000 worth of damage to plant and buildings. The fire was contained to the still house and did not spread to the mash house or spirit store. Much of the equipment was destroyed, and while the full extent of damage to the fabric is not known, the roof is likely to have been replaced, though it maintains the appearance shown in Doig's original 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 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 receive loose bulk barley delivered by lorry. Dallas Dhu could not compete economically with other Scottish Malt Distillers sites and was not rebuilt or significantly expanded during the 20th century. The malt barn became redundant when a larger maltings was opened at Burghead. The distillery also suffered from an unreliable water supply. The last barrel of whisky was filled on 16 March 1983 and the distillery closed. It was transferred to Scottish Ministers on closure in 1987, sold to a private owner in 1997 while remaining in the guardianship of Scottish Ministers, and now operates as a visitor attraction.

Since closure, the buildings have been repaired and maintained but not significantly changed. The external stair to the barley loft floor has been rebuilt for safer visitor access, and the chimney has been reduced in height by 7 metres. A photograph from 1974 shows that the chimney originally had three polychrome brick diamond motifs; it now has one. The roof of the tun room 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.

The complex consists of a single- and two-storey, E-plan malting and distilling factory to the east, a single- and two-storey range of bonded warehouses to the west, two pairs of single-storey-and-attic former distillery workers' houses further to the west, and a single-storey wooden storage shed with a corrugated metal roof between the factory and the warehouses. To the north, two detached houses were built for the distillery manager and excise officer.

Most of the distillery buildings are constructed in harl-pointed rubble with tooled ashlar dressings, and most exterior walls are painted. The roofs are pitched and slated with straight stone skews. The kiln has an ogee-shaped slated roof with a pagoda louvered apex vent — the so-called Doig Ventilator, invented by Charles Doig in 1889 to improve kiln efficiency at Dailuaine Distillery Maltings, designed in the golden ratio and widely regarded as the most characteristic single feature of Scottish distilleries. Adjoining the north of the still house is a tall, tapered, square-plan chimney built of red brick with contrasting yellow brick quoins.

The south elevation of the malt barn is symmetrical and twelve bays long. The attic windows are smaller and square. In the north gable of the malt barn there is a double door opening above ground level and one at attic floor level. The malting and distilling factory is laid out on an E-plan comprising the malt barn, kiln, mash house, tun room, still house and filling store with offices, arranged so that the whisky production process proceeds logically and efficiently from south to north — a characteristic of Doig's rationally planned, labour-saving distillery layouts.

There is a range of five bonded warehouses whose east and west walls have continuous gable ends. The warehouses are mainly single storey and each gable has three openings, except the east block, which is two storeys and has six openings. Immediately in front of the north side of the warehouses, running for 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 warehouse, in front of which is a barrel hoist.

The interior, as inspected 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, which is the ground floor of the malt barn, is in use as a shop and offices, with some later and reversible subdivision. The ground floor of the malt kiln retains the kiln fire. The distillery equipment, including the two large copper stills in the still house, the metal mash tun in the mash house, and the six large wooden wash-backs in the tun room, were replaced between 1937 and 1969. Doig's drawings show the distillery was designed with four wash-backs; there are now six, indicating that the tun room has been extended.

Immediately to the east of the distillery buildings is an embankment lined by trees, which carried the Inverness–Perth junction railway (opened 1863). The distillery had its own halt and sidings; some of the siding tracks immediately to the east of the mash house still survive. The railway line between Aviemore and Forres closed in 1965, the track has been removed, and the route now forms part of the Dava Way walk and cycle path, but the embankment and fragments of the sidings remain as physical reminders of the distillery's former rail connection.

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.