Heritage and future: reviving an iconic family whisky business

Celebrating heritage while looking to the future

One day in 2017, Leonard Russell was driving past the Rosebank Distillery, an imposing, red-bricked Victorian building on the banks of the Forth and Clyde Canal in Scotland. Built in 1840, the distillery – known as the “king of the Lowlands” – once boasted a reputation for producing an impeccable triple-distilled whisky, but had been shuttered since 1993. “It’s an iconic distillery,” says Leonard. “And it just looked a bit sad.” He decided to bring it back to life.

Leonard, the managing director of Ian Macleod Distillers, based in Broxburn, believes deeply in the value of sustaining a legacy business. Ian Macleod was founded by his grandfather in 1933. Leonard’s father began working there in the 1950s and Leonard himself joined in 1989. Leonard’s eldest son, Tom, is now head of international business development at the company, which employs 250 people and has an annual turnover of about £100 million. It is a family of “whisky geeks”, says Leonard, and the decision to renovate Rosebank was consistent with an approach to business that centres on building things that last. Put simply, he says, it was “the right thing to do”.

In 2024, Rosebank was reopened; the building transformed by an award-winning architectural intervention that blended the historic warehouses with contemporary design. As well as bringing a Rosebank whisky back to market, the site has an acclaimed visitor centre that celebrates its history in the region. “It went viciously over budget,” says Leonard. “But if we’re going to do something you have to do it properly.”

Why whisky demands a long-term outlook

Doing things properly means thinking long term. This is one of the reasons why the company, which owns five distilleries in Scotland and 34 brands, including Glengoyne, Rosebank, Sheep Dip, Tamdhu and Edinburgh Gin, has been investing in sustainability. The company is aiming to be net zero operationally by 2040 (for its Scope 1 and 2 emissions) and has adopted an innovative approach. Glengoyne, for example, was the first distillery to use a wetland facility to process its liquid waste, reducing it by 25% while creating a thriving natural habitat.

For Leonard, being in a family business, without the usual pressures of stock prices and shareholders, makes it easier to focus on longevity over short-term results. This is particularly valuable in times of economic uncertainty. Profits, while still strong, have been affected by economic headwinds ranging from Brexit to Donald Trump’s trade tariffs. This mindset comes naturally to those in the whisky industry, says Leonard. “We distil whisky today that we’re not going to sell – in the case of a single malt – until it’s probably at least 12 years old. That, by definition, is a pretty long-term outlook on things.”

It also means getting things right for those in the family expected to take the helm in the future. As his son Tom explains, “We have meetings where we talk about how much stock we should be laying down to sell an 18-year-old whisky in the 2040s. The likelihood is that [the company] will be under a different family member – a new generation – by then.”

Preparing the next generation

Leonard observes that bringing younger generations into the business has been a boon, as he welcomes perspectives that reflect contemporary shifts in the market. “Tom and his brothers have a much better idea about what is driving consumer preferences within the low- and no-alcohol sector,” says Leonard, admitting that this is one point on which they do not entirely see eye-to-eye. “But I’m happy to have the debate – and for the younger generation to take the lead on it because they understand it better than I do.”

Leonard says his own father showed a willingness to let him make decisions independently, which he valued greatly. “I’m very grateful for the fact that he gave me my head and let me undertake several projects that were alien to him. And I hope that I will be able to do that for my sons, too. We listen to everyone, and if someone has a good idea, we’ll investigate it. It’s more of a meritocracy than a dictatorship.”

There has never been any pressure within the family to enter the business, which means those who do so bring a genuine passion – and often bring new experience. Before Tom joined in 2018, he spent three years in China, where he studied Mandarin and gained experience in the region’s drinks industry. Later, he was able to take responsibility for regional business development from a base in Taiwan. “As a family member, I wanted to deeply understand the culture, the language, the ways of working so that we can have some sort of competitive advantage in that area,” he adds.

Tom is currently overseeing a project to expand into India, which the company believes is one of the biggest growth opportunities for the sector. The company is building a distillery in Himachal Pradesh, with a view to creating a new single malt using locally grown barley. As with Rosebank, the family has taken an approach that puts quality first. “We’ve not skimped on anything,” Tom says. Instead, they have invested in creating the best possible distillery they could. “We’ve shipped most of the materials and the stills from Scotland, which is possibly a bit irrational.” It is all about doing things properly, building something that lasts. The project, he explains: “Is very Ian Macleod in style.”