Peter Dawson, Founder:
The Architect of Towiemore

Towiemore begins with Peter Dawson – a pioneering distiller, blender and marketeer whose family lineage ran deep through the whisky trade. Dawson’s early ownership of Auchnagie, which started as an illicit still, taught him hard lessons about scale, water reliability and commercial viability. Although Auchnagie produced beautiful malt, its remoteness and erratic water supply meant it could never meet the rising demands of the blending houses as Scotch entered its first golden boom. Dawson sold the distillery to Dewar’s, absorbed every insight from the experience, and set out to build something modern, efficient and globally competitive.

Towiemore was the result: constructed just outside Dufftown, engineered to surpass its peers, and staffed with some of the best talent in Speyside – including key team members enticed away from Macallan. Dawson’s ambition was clear: create a distillery capable of rivaling the emerging elite single malts on quality, innovation and marketing.

Designed With Purpose:
Engineering a House Style

Towiemore was designed with purpose. The tall, elegant stills and gently rising lyne arms encouraged reflux and refinement, producing a bright, delicate, characterful spirit ideal for both blending and single-malt presentation. Under Distillery Manager John Wiseman, formerly of Macallan, Towiemore established a style defined by citrus brightness, soft malt sweetness, nutty undertones and a long, graceful finish.

The shift toward industrial liquid yeast – driven by DCL (now Diageo) at the turn of the century – was embraced early. It brought stability and lifted Towiemore’s natural fruitiness, helping shape the bright zesty signature that remains the spirit’s hallmark.

Wood and Maturation:
A Modern Vision for Its Time

The idea of defining a distillery by its wood profile was still emerging when Towiemore was built. Dawson, ever observant, recognised the growing demand for sherry-accented styles. Surviving bond records reveal Towiemore’s deliberate preference for 2nd and 3rd fill Oloroso casks – enough to bring nutty richness and depth without overpowering the distillery’s elegant spirit. It was this harmony – citrus and malt at the front, Oloroso depth through the mid-palate, spice and gentle sweetness on the finish – that made Towiemore a prized malt for the great blends of the age.

Sweating the Land:
Maltings, Kilns and Innovation

Towiemore malted on site using a two-storey attic malting floor capable of processing around 3,000 bushels a week. The kiln was fired first with a short burst of peat – carefully managed to avoid smokiness – before finishing with clean-burning coke brought in by rail.

Efficiency was central to Dawson’s philosophy, and Towiemore later adopted Charles Doig’s ventilated pagodas, dramatically improving airflow and kilning performance. A wooden worm tub cooled the spirit using fresh water from the Towie Burn, giving Towiemore its gentle texture and structure without compromising the lighter still profile.

A Reputation Built on Character

Towiemore’s resulting style was unmistakable: fruity aromatics, bright zest, nutty depth and a refined sherryspice finish. It consistently ranked among the top malts of its era in consumer and trade competitions, earning accolades across the industry. Dawson amplified its reputation with characteristic flair – sponsoring Scott’s Antarctic expedition, supplying King Alfonso of Spain, supporting “The Titanic Blend,” and even backing the first UK to Australia flight. Towiemore became known both as a dependable blending malt and as a distinctive single malt in its own right.