Matheson ran the distillery successfully for 28 years before retiring and selling it to Anderw and Charles Mackenzie. In 1263 Colin of Kintail, Chief of the clan of Mackenzie, saved King Alexander III from a charging stagg.

The King, as a reward to this act, allowed the Mackenzie clan to use the 12 pointed Royal Stag emblem on their coat of arms. Andrew and Charles, as part of the Mackenzie clan, used this emblem in the bottles of their distillery.

In 1920 the distillery was almost destroyed by an explosion and fire in an accident in the nearby base of the Royal Navy, where mines were produced.

After Mackenzie Brothers Ltd merged with Whyte & Mackay (who are the current owners) a period of further mergers and sales began.
In 1966 the number of stills were increased from four, to eight with the distillery’s current capacity reaching approximately 4.2 million liters per year.