The Convalmore distillery was built in 1894 in Dufftown, Speyside, in the final years of the whisky boom. Ten years later, the distillery came into the hands of W.P. Lowrie, bought by James Buchanan. Convalmore survived the Pattison Crisis by supplying Buchanan’‘s leading blend, Black & White, which was distributed internationally. Buchanan joined the Distillers Company Limited (DCL) in 1925 and Convalmore was incorporated into its malt distilleries subsidiary, Scottish Malt Distillers (SMD). Like many distilleries, Convalmore’‘s production capacity was increased in the 1960s, but the distillery closed in 1985 in the midst of the Whisky Loch crisis. It was sold to William Grant & Sons and dismantled. A few bottlings of Convalmore are found in Diageo’‘s Rare Malts and Special Releases, and from independent bottlers. Fans appreciate its fruity and waxy character.

A Convalmore 24 year old distilled in 1978 and bottled at cask strength in 2003 for the Rare Malts series. Created in the mid-1990s by United Distillers (Diageo), the Rare Malts series features bottlings from many of the group’’s distilleries, including some of the lesser known whose production was generally used for blends, as well as closed distilleries such as Port Ellen and Brora. Bottled at cask strength, the whiskies in the range are also known for their sometimes astounding alcohol content, often exceeding 60% ABV. The Rare Malts range was discontinued in 2005.