John & Robert Harvey started the family business in 1770 , the Harvey family carried it forward ever since unit in the 1920′s Alec Harvey took the business in a slightly different direction. Using the then derelict Seaham Hall he stored bottled & bulk whisky there, exporting it from the local harbour, Seaham Harbour before it made it’s way to the US , during the time of the US Period of Prohibition.

Now a 5 Star Hotel, The Seaham Hall & Serenity spa (www.seaham-hall.co.uk), offering some of the finest Spa facilities in Europe, is the home of SPEY. The cellar in the Seaham Hall Hotel had many secret passages which led to the local harbour. Alec Harvey used these tunnels, in the dead of night, to take the whisky discreetly to the harbour before being shipped off to London and then across the Atlantic. The cellar now records that intriguing local history.