Quality Malt from drill to still
OUR distilling STORY
Our Story
Over the Years
From our beginnings as a family business that was committed to bringing quality malt to Glasgow’s brewers, we’ve grown and developed into a trusted partner to many of the world’s leading distillers and brewers.
1823
Brothers Frank and Hugh Baird brewer/maltsters establish the Great Canal Brewery in Glasgow.
1837
Brothers receive the Royal Warrant.
1878
Hugh retires and hands over the mantle to sons Hugh (Jnr) and Montague. They follow their father’s vision via the two malting sites at Port Dundas and Springbank in Glasgow.
1900's
A pneumatic maltings is added to cater for mainly the distilling trade.
1964
The business consolidates to two pneumatic malting sites at Pencaitland in Scotland and Witham in Essex, England.
2010
New state-of-the-art malting plant added to the existing maltings in Arbroath. Offering 57.000mt additional capacity for the distilling market.
2020
Project Angel commenced.
2021
Completed the refurbishment of our Clova malting plant increasing production capacity by 22,000 tonnes per annum (tpa).
2023
Project Angel completed and celebrating our bicentenary.
investment for the next chapter
Our Arbroath build that was commissioned in 2010 was the first new malthouse in Scotland for over a quarter of a century providing a quality malting product to meet increasing demand from Scotland’s distillers.
In 2020, we started building our 2nd state of the art malthouse in Inverness which will be commissioned at the end of 2021 thanks to the support and investment from our parent company – United Malt.
These investments not only underpin the future of malting barley growing across Scotland for the next generation but also support the growth of Scotch whisky industry in providing high quality Scottish malt to the master distillers of the future.
Project angel
“Bairds have been supplying our malt requirements for the Ardnamurchan Distillery since we began production in 2014. The ability to toll malt from our own barley in Fife, along with additional supply of wholly-grown Scottish malted barley is fundamental to our ongoing commitment to full traceability and transparency. We remain delighted with the quality of malt provided each year and look forward to continued supply for the years to come.”
Alex Bruce
Managing Director
Adelphi Distillery Limited
the heart of your spirit
There are three key ingredients to make a traditional Scotch whisky – malt, water and yeast.
A process, of which the fundamentals have remained unchanged for centuries, is a testament to a recipe that produces some of the finest spirit enjoyed in all four corners of the world.
Malt plays a huge part in the distilling process and provides flavour to the new make spirit before it is put into casks to mature.
We pride ourselves on being the preferred supplier to the world’s leading distillers and ensuring we produce consistent quality malt, day in day out.
Masters of our trade
Master distillers and blenders can be safe in the knowledge that we too are masters of our trade.
Having started working for Bairds as a Production Assistant over 20 years ago, Richard Broadbent has an appreciation for the inner workings of the maltings like no other. He’s passionate about whisky and leads the production and commercial teams looking after our customers.
from the heart of the highlands
bairds peated malts
Our Peated Malts are produced using traditional methods to ensure they encapsulate the very essence of the land from which they are born.
malt matters
drill to still
Our Distilling Malts are consistent, quality and fully traceable which is why we partner with the world’s leading distillers on a daily basis to produce world-leading whisky.
