Campbeltown single malts are single malt Scotch whiskies distilled in the burgh of Campbeltown, on the Kintyre peninsula in Scotland. Once a major producer of whisky with as many as 30 distilleries, and claiming the title "whisky capital of the world", its production has markedly declined. Most of the distilleries have gone out of business and little trace of them remains. The reason for this decline was that the town was "churning out whisky in volume ... with little concern for quality", according to a 2018 book that covers the entire industry and its history.[1]
By 2010 only three distilleries continued to produce whisky in Campbeltown: Springbank, Glengyle, and Glen Scotia.[2] The Springbank distillery produces three distinct whiskies; Springbank, Hazelburn, and Longrow. Glengyle distillery has only recently been revived by J & A Mitchell and Co Ltd., who own and operate the Springbank distillery, and its whisky is sold under the name Kilkerran to avoid confusion with the Highland blended malt named Glengyle. By 2016, Kilkerran had started bottling and selling a 12-year-old spirit, to go along with their previously released No-Age-Statement offerings.
In recent years, there is a growing interest in reviving Campbeltown's historic single malt whisky industry, with two new distilleries currently under construction,[3][4] and another new distillery announced [5]