Balvenie Castle is a ruined castle

Castle

A castle is a type of fortified structure built in Europe and the Middle East during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars debate the scope of the word castle, but usually consider it to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble...

 near Dufftown

Dufftown

Dufftown is a burgh in Banffshire, Scotland.The town was originally named Mortlach in the Middle Ages, until the 19th century when the Earl of Fife built the town as a housing for soldiers returning home from war...

 in the Moray

Moray

Moray is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. It lies in the north-east of the country, with coastline on the Moray Firth, and borders the council areas of Aberdeenshire and Highland.- History :...

 region of Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

.

Originally known as Mortlach, it was built in the 12th century by a branch of the powerful Comyn family (the Black Comyns) and extended and altered in the 15th and 16th centuries.

The castle fell out of use in the early 14th century when the Comyns were reduced by Robert the Bruce. At some point in the 14th century the castle and the lordship of Balvenie passed into the earldom of Douglas. Nothing is documented as to how the Black Douglases first acquired the castle but the most likely account is that it came with the marriage of the heiress Joanna Murray to Archibald 'the Grim' , 3rd Earl of Douglas

Archibald Douglas, 3rd Earl of Douglas

Archibald the Grim also known as Blak Archibald , 3rd Earl of Douglas, Earl of Wigtown, Lord of Douglas, Lord of Bothwell and Lord of Galloway was a late medieval Scottish magnate....

 in 1362. His son and successor Archibald Douglas, 4th Earl of Douglas granted his younger brother James 'the Gross'

James Douglas, 7th Earl of Douglas

James Douglas, 7th Earl of Douglas, 1st Earl of Avondale , known as "the Gross", was a Scottish nobleman. He was the second son of Archibald Douglas, 3rd Earl of Douglas and Joan Moray of Bothwell and Drumsargard , d...

 the lordship of Balvenie in 1408. James's main residence was at Abercorn Castle, a coastal fortress to the west of Edinburgh

Edinburgh

Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...

 and Balvenie Castle's use was as temporary accommodation when the need arose.

In 1440, William Douglas, 6th Earl of Douglas

William Douglas, 6th Earl of Douglas

William Douglas was a short-lived Scottish Nobleman. He was Earl of Douglas and Wigtown, Lord of Galloway, Lord of Bothwell, Selkirk and Ettrick Forest, Eskdale, Lauderdale, and Annandale in Scotland, and de jure Duke of Touraine, Count of Longueville, and Sire of Dun-le-roi in France...

 was murdered by King James II

James II of Scotland

James II reigned as King of Scots from 1437 to his death.He was the son of James I, King of Scots, and Joan Beaufort...

 and the elderly James the Gross,possibly complicit to the murder became the 7th earl. James immediately provided the lordship of Balvenie with its castle to his youngest son, John Douglas, Lord of Balvenie

John Douglas, Lord of Balvenie

John Douglas, Lord of Balvenie was the youngest of the five formidable Black Douglas brothers, who clashed with King James II of Scotland.-Early life:...

. Earl James's death in 1443 signaled a resumption of the hostility between the royal Stewarts and the Black Douglases. The Battle of Arkinholm

Battle of Arkinholm

The Battle of Arkinholm was fought on May 1, 1455, at Arkinholm near Langholm in Scotland, during the reign of King James II of Scotland.Although a small action, involving only a few hundred troops, it was the decisive battle in a civil war between the king and the Black Douglases, the most...

 in May 1455 saw the defeat of this, the main Douglas line by an army loyal to James II. All of their lands and titles were forfeited to the Crown including Balvenie Castle. King James divided up the estates among his supporters which included the Douglas earl of Angus and provided Balvenie Castle to Sir John Stewart

John Stewart, 1st Earl of Atholl

John Stewart, 1st Earl of Atholl , also known as Sir John Stewart of Balveny, was a Scottish nobleman and ambassador to England .-Life:...

, later the first Earl of Atholl

Earl of Atholl

The Mormaer of Earl of Atholl refers to a medieval comital lordship straddling the highland province of Atholl , now in northern Perthshire. Atholl is a special Mormaerdom, because a King of Atholl is reported from the Pictish period. The only other two Pictish kingdoms to be known from...

. Balvenie Castle served as a garrison during the Jacobite rebellion. It was abandoned in 1720s but was briefly garrisoned by Government troops in 1746.

Today, the remains of the castle are managed by Historic Scotland

Historic Scotland

Historic Scotland is an executive agency of the Scottish Government, responsible for historic monuments in Scotland.-Role:As its website states:...

. They are open to the public during the summer months. Balvenie whisky

Balvenie

The Balvenie Distillery is a Speyside single malt Scotch whisky distillery in Dufftown, Scotland owned by William Grant & Sons.-William Grant:...

 is produced by William Grant & Sons

William Grant & Sons

William Grant & Sons Ltd. is an independent, family-owned Scottish company which distills Scotch whisky and other selected categories of spirits. It was established in 1887 by William Grant, and is now run by the descendants of the founder. It is the largest of the handful of Scotch whisky...

at the Balvenie distillery next to the castle.

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