Ardnahoe prides itself on
being a modern distillery, set beautifully in a stunning location, that employs
rigorously traditional methods and values. The spirit being produced is sweet,
smoky and smooth yet peaty and spicy – unique and dynamic to its very core.
DORNOCH DISTILLERY, SUTHERLAND
AN ‘ELIXIR OF
OLD STYLE FRUITINESS’
Housed in the quirky old
‘Fire House’ in the grounds of Dornoch Castle Hotel, Dornoch Distillery is
located in the pretty Sutherland town of Dornoch. This micro distillery has
been producing whisky since December 2016 and laid its first cask in January 2017.
Not content with
establishing one of the world’s leading whisky bars in Dornoch, brothers Phil
and Simon Thompson have upped their ambitions and started making their own
whisky and gin on-site at Dornoch Castle Hotel, forming Dornoch’s first whisky
distillery.
Thompson Bros at Dornoch
Distillery was founded following a successful initial crowdfunding round in
2016 which saw 250 whisky lovers from all over the world eagerly put their
hands in their pockets to secure hotly anticipated casks of new make spirit from
Dornoch Distillery. A remarkably successful 2017 saw the team lay down casks of
future single malt whisky and launch Thompson Brother’s Organic Highland Gin,
available in 11 international markets.
The success of Thompson
Bros Organic Highland Gin and the need for more production, storage and
distilling space led to the brothers launching the second round of crowdfunding
in summer 2018 with the aim of expanding into a larger and more versatile site.
Following a passion for
single malt Scotch produced during the early 20th century, Simon and Philip
Thompson’s Dornoch distillery is a hotbed for traditional practices. With a
capacity of just 20,000 litres of spirit a year, the hand-operated distillery
is one of the smallest in Scotland, which enables a tighter focus on running
experimental batches using a variety of methods adopted by Scottish
distilleries during the 1940s-60s.
Only organic, heritage
varieties of barley are used, such as Plumage Archer and Maris Otter, floor
malted to a precise specification at Warminster maltings. These alternative
barley varieties, which are more expensive to grow and yield a lower amount of
spirit than conventional strains, are used to generate an intensity of flavour
in Dornoch’s whisky to complement long-term maturation.
Yeast strains are chosen
for their slow, and less efficient conversion rates, allowing Dornoch to
achieve fermentation times of up to 216 hours – quite possibly the longest in
Scotland. The result is a fruity, complex flavour profile, which the Thompsons
believe mirrors that of certain distilleries during their ‘golden years’.
Again, at Dornoch, flavour trumps yield.
Experimentation continues
through to the maturation, which takes place in an insulated shipping container
packed with earth to mimic the conditions of a dunnage warehouse.
While 90% of production
will be dedicated to single malt whisky (a signature style hasn’t been decided
yet), Dornoch will also distil its own ‘experimental’ gin, the botanicals for
which will vary from batch to batch.
Ghost Hunting: Boasting its very own Dungeon, Dornoch Castle Hotel is a ghost hunter’s dream. The ghost who stalks the halls at night is thought to be a former resident of the dungeon who was imprisoned there, and has since been spotted many times over the centuries. Andrew McCornish was a sheep thief and was executed by hanging. According to legend, the ghost was identified as Andrew by the local sheriff after he heard a detailed description.
In 1922 the owner of the hotel at the time went to the extreme lengths of having the building exorcised due to excessive spectral activity, but still the remnants of the past linger on. Many people have reported feeling uncomfortable in certain areas of the grounds and also seeing lights that can’t be explained.
HOLYROOD DISTILLERY, EDINBURGH
FIRST SINGLE
MALT WHISKY PRODUCED IN EDINBURGH IN 100 YEARS
Construction of the new
Holyrood Distillery, in the heart of Edinburgh, was completed on schedule and the owners started to welcome visitors for tours and tastings on 30 July, 2019.
It has been almost 100
years since single malt whisky was produced in Edinburgh and alongside
producing ‘full-flavoured spirits for anyone with an open mind and an open
mouth’. The ‘historic’ opening day will mark the first time since Glen Sciennes
closed in the 1920s that central Edinburgh has had an operational single malt
whisky distillery. Visitors will enjoy a hands-on, sensory visitor experience
that will both surprise and delight. The distillery has named Glasgow
Distillery’s Jack Mayo as its master distiller.
The new distillery which will
be housed in a carefully refurbished 180 year old B-listed building, a former
railway goods shed dating back to 1831, also produces gins and liqueurs. The aim is for Holyrood Distillery to become
a major visitor attraction, both for locals and visitors to the Scottish
capital. The distillery complex, which also contains a visitor centre and shop,
is located on the edge of Holyrood Park and is within a commutable distance to
Edinburgh Waverley rail station and other attractions in the city.
It cost £6.7m (~US$8.15
million USD) to build, and includes two exceptionally tall stills that, at 7m
tall, are said to be the tallest stills in Scotland in proportion to their
volume. Using self-described “innovative production approaches, such as a
complex combination of yeasts and a unique selection of different types and
styles of malted barley,” it will initially produce four core flavours of whisky
– smoky; sweet; spicy; and fruity/floral.
This year they have partnered with award-winning Edinburgh caterers, Hickory, in bringing back their very popular Courtyard Bar for Summer 2021 – a safe, sunny, south-facing, outdoor space for you to reconnect with friends and family, whilst enjoying some of the best food and drink Edinburgh has to offer! All plans remain subject to the Covid-19 situation prevailing.
Holyrood Distillery is the
brainchild of Rob and Kelly Carpenter, co-founders of the Canadian branch of
the Scotch Malt Whisky Society (SMWS), and of former Macallan master distiller
David Robertson. The complex is one of several whisky distilleries set to
launch in Edinburgh; the Port of Leith project is preparing for construction,
and John Crabbie & Co is set to make a return to the city.
LAGG DISTILLERY, ISLE OF ARRAN
BUILT ON
ARRAN’S SOUTHERN TIP
Complementing their first distillery
in the north of the island at Lochranza set up in 1995, Isle of Arran
Distillers Ltd opened their second site on the island at Lagg, on Arran’s
southern tip and Lagg distillery eventually took its first spirit cut on 19
March 2019 at 14.35pm, filling its first cask on 10 April, a Sherry butt reserved
exclusively for members of the Lagg Cask Society at 50 ppm and a strength of
63.5% ABV. They will be producing Lagg Single Malt Whisky from now on.
This part of Arran has
long associations with distilling, both illicit and legal, and the new Lagg
Distillery will produce a more heavily-peated style of single malt, distinct
from its northern counterpart. They plan to conduct investigations into the
effects on their whisky of peat sourced from different origins, of the
distinctive phenols they produce and of the various types of cask they use to
mature their spirit.
The new distillery will
house a welcoming visitor experience and visitors will be able to enjoy
distillery tours, tastings and a choice of restaurant or café dining, all with
fine views over the coast to the south and the hills to the north.
With a compelling story to
tell, the new distillery will dig deeper into aspects of production to add more
understanding to us customer’s appreciation of peated malt. For hundreds of
years, to increase their income, small Arran communities made their own spirit
in illicit home-made stills. The resulting whisky, which became known as ‘Arran
Waters’, was smuggled from Lagg and sold on mainland Scotland. That trade is being
revived as Lagg's heritage - legally, of course!
In 2017, Arran Distillers
began building their distillery and its visitor centre. Two years later, they’ve
opened their doors to the waiting world. Their architects have created a
spectacular building to echo the contours of Arran as we’d see it from Ailsa
Craig. Its dramatic roofs are covered with a sedum blanket. This contains a mix
of plants that change colour with the seasons. Their custom-made copper pot
stills were installed on the distillery floor in August 2018, and now sit
proudly alongside their mash tun and four traditional wooden washbacks.
Lagg single malt itself
will be a heavily peated style, made using barley with a phenol content of
50ppm. While all barley will be malted on the mainland, the peat used to dry
the barley will be sourced from all across Scotland, perhaps even the world, as
Lagg explores the impact of peat terroir on whisky flavour. Experimentation
won’t stop there – Lagg will work with various yeast strains and barley
varieties as it ‘plays around’ with different aspects of the production
process. Despite its focus on innovation, Lagg will be a sizeable operation,
capable of producing 500,000 litres of spirit each year. With 140 apple trees
already planted on the surrounding estate, Lagg will also produce its own cider
and apple brandy, rather than follow the rest of the ‘craft’ Scottish
distilling movement and produce gin.
Newly-opened Isle of Arran
distillery Lagg has released a trio of heavily-peated distillery-exclusive
bottlings, all of which have been produced at its sister site in Lochranza.
 |
| Lochranza Whiskies available at Lagg Distillery |
ABERARGIE DISTILLERY
LOWLAND SINGLE MALT
SCOTCH WHISKY
Combining tradition,
provenance and heritage, this ‘barley to bottle’ farm distillery near Perth
marks the Morrison family’s return to distilling. As a Whisky broker, Stanley P.
Morrison had owned Bowmore during the 1960s, his distilling, blending and
brokering business forming the basis for Morrison Bowmore, now owned by Beam
Suntory.
In 2005 the Morrison
family secured a majority stake in the Scottish Liqueur Centre in Bankfoot,
Perth, where it nurtured the Bruadar and Columba Cream liqueur brands. The
group – later renamed Morrison & Mackay – moved into blending and bottling
Scotch whiskies under the Carn Mor range, and re-established the Old Perth
brand in 2014.
At the time of Old Perth’s
creation, the business had sought to move its operation to larger premises. The
Morrison family owned a 300-acre farm in the nearby village of Aberargie, where
they had been growing barley for maltsters for a number of years.
In early 2014 Morrison
& Mackay’s plans to build a blending and bottling hall on the farm were
approved. Along with the designs were plans for an adjacent, yet separate
distillery to be owned and operated solely by the Morrison family under The
Perth Distilling Company. Due to the Morrisons’ majority stake in Morrison
& Mackay, they were able to proceed with both builds simultaneously.
Ground broke on the
project in June 2016, and following distilling trials in October 2017,
Aberargie distillery’s first cask was filled on 1 November.
Technically a Lowland
distillery (it misses the Highland line by a few miles), Aberargie eschews
regional style with its rich and fruity whisky. Its sole use of Golden Promise
barley – grown entirely on its own farms – gives an inherent waxiness to the new
make spirit, while the distillery is set up to nurture a fruity quality, with a
smoky characteristic from the occasional peated run.
Maturation will take place
in a mixture of first-fill ex-Sherry butts, first-fill ex-Bourbon barrels from
Woodford Reserve, and second-fill Sherry/Bourbon casks, further enhancing the
rich Aberargie whisky style.
Situated ‘a football kick’
from Morrison & Mackay’s new blending and bottling facility, Aberargie is
designed as a ‘barley to bottle’ operation – every process bar the malting
(courtesy of Simpsons') will take place on-site.
Every drop of spirit
produced at the distillery is destined for Aberargie single malt, although some
may be commandeered as fillings for Morrison & Mackay’s Bruadar whisky
liqueur.
CLYDESIDE DISTILLERY
LOWLAND SINGLE MALT WHISKY
Glasgow was once a major
whisky distilling and bottling hub of Scotland, with around 40 companies
operating out of the city in 1963. But by the 21st century, they had been
reduced to just a handful. The whisky contingent dwindled so much that Glasgow
distillery, which began operation in 2014, was the city’s first malt plant to
open in 39 years. A small operation, named Kinclaith, had operated within the
walls of Strathclyde grain plant on the banks of the Clyde from 1957-75, but it
too flew solo as Glasgow's only malt whisky representative.
Around the same time as
Glasgow distillery’s conception, Tim Morrison, owner of AD Rattray and formerly
of Morrison Bowmore Distillers, conceived an idea for a malt distillery on the
banks of the Clyde.
The old Pump House, built
in 1877 by Morrison’s great grandfather, fell into ruin and was ultimately restored as a visitors’ centre for the Tall Ship
attraction at Glasgow Harbour in the 1990s.
In 2011, Morrison Glasgow
Distillers (MGD), led by Tim Morrison as chairman, his son Andrew as commercial
director and Glen Moore as MD, purchased the site and began the long process of seeing its conversion into a malt whisky distillery.
Originally the plant was
to be called Glasgow distillery, but excavation complications arising from the
infilling of the Queen’s Dock halted construction work, allowing the Glasgow
Distillery Company to open its own Glasgow distillery in Hillington.
Work finally began on
Clydeside distillery, which took its new name from the riverbank on which it
sits, on 1 August 2016. The first distillation at Clydeside occurred on 6
November 2017, with the visitor centre opening on 23 November.
One of the first malt
distilleries to be built in Glasgow for 40 years, Clydeside intends to eschew
its Lowland base and create a malt whisky that reflects the city’s shipping
heritage. Owner Morrison Glasgow Distillers has worked closely with distilling
consultant Dr. Jim Swan to design a ‘light but fruity spirit’ less
grassy and malty than other Lowland malts, instead veering toward a spicier
Speyside style to reflect Glasgow’s past in bringing tobacco and spices to the
UK.
GLENWYVIS DISTILLERY
HIGHLAND SINGLE MALT WHISKY
Across the Cromarty Firth
from Dingwall, the famous Ferintosh Privilege is granted in 1690 to local
landowner Duncan Forbes. He is allowed to distill whisky on his land duty-free.
When John McKenzie retired
from the army in 2002 he returned to his hometown of Dingwall and became a
commercial helicopter pilot, flying VIPs and film crews across Scotland. It was
during these many flights he came upon the idea of opening his own whisky
distillery.
Many clients were headed
to the golf course, or remote distilleries on Jura, Islay or Orkney for
exclusive tours, during which McKenzie learned to appreciate whisky.
With a dream to breathe
life back into the rural Dingwall community, in 2011 he began looking into the
possibility more seriously. McKenzie already owned several acres of farmland,
as well as a wind turbine, and having worked on the board of a local wind
energy cooperative, he began considering how to crowdfund Scotland’s first
community-owned distillery.
Planning permission for
GlenWyvis distillery – an amalgamation of the lost distillery names Ben Wyvis
and Glenskiach, both of which closed in 1926 – came in 2014, on McKenzie’s 40th
birthday.
The following year
McKenzie launched GlenWyvis Gin (produced at Saxa Vord distillery in Unst) from
a helicopter, the label for which carried details about how investors could get
involved with the new distillery.
On 16 April 2016 GlenWyvis
launched its first crowdfunding campaign. Its goal was to reach £1.5m, but by
the close it had reached just over £2m. The build began in January 2017, and
was completed by November the same year. GlenWyvis distillery officially opened
on 30 November 2017 and began its commissioning process (running the mash,
fermenters and stills) in the next few weeks.
While some shareholders received
a bottle of three-year-old whisky, its first commercially-available single malt
won’t be released ‘until the whisky reaches optimum maturity’. GlenWyvis’ new
gin still was installed in 2018, bringing production of its gin in-house, a
majority decision made by the distillery’s 3,000 shareholders.
GlenWyvis is set up to
produce a ‘Highland style’ yet green, grassy newmake with long fermentations
and plenty of copper contact. Maturation in first-fill and refill American oak
will add a sweet roundness to the final whisky, while a proportion of
Sherry-matured spirit will provide a richer depth.
Small in size, GlenWyvisclaims to be a ‘craft’ distillery, but its redeeming feature is its 100% self-sufficiency. Powered by its own wind turbine, hydro scheme, solar panels and
biomass boiler, the distillery operates completely off-grid (the turbine in
fact belongs to MD John McKenzie, who takes GlenWyvis’ draff for his cows as
payment). It even has its own electric car and at some point in the future will
offer visitors tours in its electric bus. Latest details are available via this link.
GlenWyvis can also claim
to be Scotland’s first community-owned distillery, with a list of over 3,000
shareholders from the local Dingwall area and beyond.
LINDORES ABBEY DISTILLERY
LOWLAND SINGLE MALT
SCOTCH WHISKY
Tironensian monks first
arrived in Fife some 800 years ago to build an abbey on the banks of the River
Tay and first produce uisce
beatha in 1494. Now little more than a ruin, a single malt distillery has risen in its
wake.
Built as a daughter house
of Kelso Abbey, Lindores Abbey was founded on the edge of Newburgh, Fife, in
the late 12th century by the Earl of Huntingdon. Once visited by kings and
queens, the Tironensian Abbey is now little more than an overgrown ruin. In
1912 the Abbey and a neighbouring farm were sold to John Howison, a farmer in
the Carse of Gowrie, Perth and Kinross. The lands were passed down through the
generations and are now owned by Howison’s great-grandson and current
‘custodian of Lindores’, Drew Mackenzie Smith and his wife, Helen.
It’s claimed that the
first written reference to whisky being produced in Scotland relates to
Lindores Abbey. The Exchequer Rolls of 1494 lists that, by order of King James
IV, ‘eight bols malt’ be presented to Tironensian monk Friar John Cor to
produce ‘aqua vitae’ – the water of life. It’s thought that Friar Cor resided
at Lindores, and the Abbey has become known as the ‘spiritual home of Scotch
whisky’.
Mackenzie Smith had long
considered building a distillery at Lindores, and finally embarked on a £10
million project in 2013, with backing from three European investors. An
excavation of the land adjacent to the Abbey – a former farm steading used as a
dairy – revealed an ancient 18-metre wall just five inches below the earth’s
surface.
The excavation and
subsequent archaeological investigations delayed construction until July 2016.
Lindores Abbey’s ‘world-class’ visitor centre eventually opened to the public
in October 2017, with distillation commencing almost immediately.
According to Mackenzie
Smith, despite Lindores’ historical roots the company has faced at least one
trademark challenge from consumer brands over the use of the Abbey’s name. As
such the distillery will never produce a chocolate liqueur to avoid a battle
with Lindt, producer of Lindor chocolate.
Considering its historical
importance, Lindores Abbey distillery has been built as an aesthetically
sympathetic monument to the 800-year-old Tironensian structure, using local
wood from Denmylne and stone from Clatchard Quarry.
Lindores’ one wash still
and two spirit stills will produce a lightly peated Lowland malt (the site lies
just on the border with the Highlands) using barley grown on neighbouring farms
and around Fife, and malted at Muntons. Maturation will be conducted on-site in
a purpose-built dunnage warehouse, 25% of which will be heated to increase the
rate of maturation.
The heated warehouse won’t
be the only curiosity at Lindores: a special strain of yeast that may have
existed in the 15th century is being replicated in partnership with Heriot-Watt
University, and will be used to produce a limited edition single malt. In
addition, instead of producing a gin, a percentage of Lindores’ new make spirit
will be put aside to produce ‘aqua vitae’ – a malt spirit macerated with local
herbs like sweet cicely, which grows abundantly on the banks of the River Tay.
Eventually, fruit from the Abbey’s newly-planted orchard will also be
incorporated.
Above all, the Mackenzie
Smiths have plans to create a ‘world-class visitor attraction’ with Lindores,
educating guests on the Tironensian monks’ crafts and way of life, the Abbey’s
history as well as the whisky production process.
NCN'EAN DISTILLERY
HIGHLAND SINGLE
MALT SCOTCH WHISKY
Taking it’s abbreviated
name from Neachneohain, the Gaelic Queen of Spirits, this distillery embodies
the spirit of this legendary character – strong, independent and never afraid
to walk her own path – a quiet rebel and a fierce protector of nature. Perched
above the Sound of Mull in secluded Morvern, Ncn’ean Organic Whisky Distillery
started producing single malt whisky in March 2017, using the best ingredients
and pioneering sustainable production methods. It is one of the new wave of
Scottish farm distilleries designed by the late Jim Swan, set up to
produce a light, fruity and organic single malt spirit.
The idea to build a
distillery on the grounds of the historic Drimnin Estate came to the Lewis
family in 2012, some 10 years after they bought and set about restoring the
neglected property. The estate itself had once been Maclean clan territory, and
formed part of the Drimnin Castle grounds, but was sold by a bankrupt Charles Maclean
in the late 18th century. Following a succession of owners and misfortunes –
Drimnin House itself burned down in 1849, its owners meeting unrelated yet
tragic and untimely deaths – the estate was rebuilt and eventually restored
into holiday lets, a cattle farm and conservation area.
By 2013 the Lewis family’s
plans to build a distillery in the historic farm buildings adjacent to Drimnin
House were well underway, with daughter Annabel Thomas leaving a job in London
to manage the project personally as CEO of the newly established Drimnin
Distillery Ltd. Following two investment rounds, which included a government
grant, the project was finally completed in March 2017.
While Drimnin distillery
became the working title for the project, the family and its private investors
were keen to separate the business from the rest of the estate. At the start of
2017 the new name Ncn’ean was chosen – Drimnin Distillery Ltd will soon also be
renamed Ncn’ean Distillery Ltd – and on 21 March the first spirit was filled into the cask. The distillery officially opened to visitors in July.
The first whisky to be
released by Ncn’ean distillery is expected in 2020, although a limited number
of individual casks are made available to purchase annually.
Ncn’ean (pronounced
Nook-knee-anne), is an abbreviation of Neachneohain, the name of a witch-queen
in Scots Gaelic folklore who, according to Sir Walter Scott, ‘rode on the storm
and marshalled the rambling host of wanderers under her grim banner’. Much like
its namesake, Ncn’ean distillery on Scotland’s Morvern peninsula, is very much
a leader in its protection of its natural environment, and intentions to
operate at the forefront of innovation.
Ncn’ean has been designed
as the first fully organic modern distillery in Scotland powered by 100%
renewable energy. Wood chips for the biomass boiler are sourced from a local
forest, while all by-products are recycled as animal and plant feed on the
remote estate on which it lies.
The farm distillery was
designed by the late distilling consultant Jim Swan to produce a light, fruity
and estery spirit, a character intensified by slow mashes, long fermentations,
horizontal lyne arms and shell and tube condensers, with a high, narrow spirit
cut.
Experimentation comes in
the form of varying yeast strains not usually adopted by distillers, while the
wood programme will be focused predominantly on ex-Bourbon and red wine cask
maturation, with a small Sherry influence. Two dunnage warehouses, located on
the hill behind the distillery, feature temperature regulators to allow Ncn’ean
greater control over the flavour generated in cask over time.
TORABHAIG DISTILLERY : ISLE OF SKYE
ISLANDS SINGLE MALT
SCOTCH WHISKY
Skye’s second whisky
distillery to produce a typical Island-style malt, complementing
long-established Talisker Distillery at Carbost. It overlooks the Sound of
Sleat and the dramatic wilderness of the Knoydart peninsula and is housed in a
converted 200-year-old farmstead. Production got underway in January 2017 and
the distillery also now offers visitor tours and there’s a shop and a café
serving refreshments and light bites on site. Torabhaig is one of the four
distilleries along the Hebridean Whisky Trail, the others being Raasay, Talisker and Isle of Harris.
Single Malt Scotch Whisky
is inextricably linked to its place of origin, perhaps more so than any other
product. The water, the land, the climate, all play a role in the character of
the whisky. All these factors are also vitally important in planning a new
distillery. Simply put, one can’t just build a distillery anywhere.
Some time ago, the old
farmstead at Torabhaig was identified as the perfect location for a small,
traditional distillery. All the factors needed to make good, robust island
whisky were in place, right down to the Allt Breacach, the burn that feeds the
site with purest island spring water, all this in a stunning natural setting. They
were also fortunate to start with a handsome, rugged building, rich in history
and local lore. 200 years or so ago, the stone that forms this building was
hauled up from the ruined castle in the bay, by horse and cart. Men toiled from
dawn till dusk building this Steading which was to stand the test of time for
the next 150 years or so until farming practices changed.
Their 19th century
steading has now been fully restored to hold the gorgeous copper stills and
traditional wooden washbacks, and should allow production of whisky here for
the next two hundred years; they have even built in a roof that can be removed,
so that in time, the pot stills can be replaced without disturbing the old
building again.
Sir Iain Noble, the man
who founded Noble Grossart, Scotland’s first modern merchant bank, moved to the
Isle of Skye in 1972. He purchased 20,000 acres of land, including a hotel at
Isle Ornsay, which had been part of Lord Macdonald’s estate.
Noble – who founded independent blender and bottler Pràban na Linne (Gaelic Whiskies) in 1976 –
planned to convert a 19th century listed farm steading at Torabhaig into a
distillery. He’d obtained planning permission for the project as early as 2002,
though sadly passed away in 2010 before his plans could be realised.
Around the time of his death, Mossburn Distillers, a subsidiary of Dutch drinks group Marussia
Beverages BV, was also seeking a site on the island to build its own
distillery. While the group hadn’t previously considered the renovation and
preservation of a historic building for its project, Noble’s Torabhaig farm
steading proved the perfect location.
Mossburn set to work renovating the property, which had become little more than a ruin, in 2013. The
steading’s infrastructure took three years to rebuild, with a bespoke
removable slate roof to allow access to the two stills for
repairs.
Whisky production commenced at the distillery in early 2017, and a small visitor’s centre complete with
café and retail shop opened to the public from July 2017. The Torabhaig single malt will be backed by Mossburn.
Torabhaig is another of
the traditional farm steading-turned distillery projects cropping up across
Scotland in recent years, though its output is significantly larger than many
of its peers. Every drop of its spirit
will be earmarked for bottling as a single malt, to begin with, though expect to
see some siphoned off for blending further down the line.
In uncovering the true expression of Torabhaig, its distinctive character is fast evolving into a signature style, the Torabhaig flavour profile christened ‘Well-Tempered Peat’. The ambition with Torabhaig Single Malt is to change the course of whisky-making on Skye by injecting diversity, vitality and a distinctive character. A bright and exciting future for whisky is envisaged on this rugged and beautiful island. That said, Talisker remains a towering presence on Skye.
BLADNOCH DISTILLERY, NEAR WIGTOWN
LOWLAND SINGLE MALT
SCOTCH WHISKY REDEFINED
Although not strictly a
‘new’ distillery, Bladnoch Distillery has been completely renovated under new
ownership and began production again in 2017 under the watchful eye of Master
Distiller Ian MacMillan. Located near Wigtown in Dumfries & Galloway, the
distillery was originally founded in 1817, making it both Scotland’s most
southerly distillery and the oldest working distillery in the Lowlands whisky
region. A world-class visitor centre is currently being built.
Bladnoch’s rich history dates back to 1817, when John and Thomas McClelland were first granted a licence to distill Whisky on their Bladnoch farm in Scotland’s Lowlands.For nearly a century, successive generations of McClelland family grew and modernised the distillery. At its peak, the site had six washbacks and annual production of approximately 230,000 litres of alcohol, which cemented its status as the “Queen of the Lowlands.” Over the next 85 years, Bladnoch Distillery changed hands several times but continued to produce fine Lowlands Whisky.
It was one of many stills to close in 1905, during a period of over-supply and low sales. Bladnoch is not far from the sea crossing between Stranraer and Larne and twice in its history its saviours have come from Northern Ireland. The first of these was Belfast distiller Dunville & Co. which owned the Royal Irish distillery. It bought Bladnoch in 1911 and continued production – albeit intermittently – until 1937. At that point, Dunville’s directors were spooked by (Scottish-based) DCL’s declaration that Irish whiskey had no future. After DCL turned down the chance to buy the firm, it went into liquidation, despite being profitable and having stock. Bladnoch was closed once more.
Worse was to follow. Its new owner, Ross & Coulter, sold off Bladnoch’s mature stock and sent the distilling equipment to Sweden – and so the story continues, with owners coming and going at rapid rate. Bladnoch reopened in 1956, was expanded to four stills in 1966, became part of Inver House for a decade, and then in 1983 was bought by Arthur Bell & Son. After Bell’s was taken over it was folded into Guinness/UD [now Diageo] and production once again slowed. In 1993, it was officially decommissioned.
The year after, however, two brothers from Northern Ireland bought it with the initial idea of turning the extensive site into a holiday village. A change of heart soon after saw them wishing to start making whisky again – contrary to the terms of sale. It took six years to persuade Diageo to allow them to make 100,000 litres a year – below capacity and as it turned out right on the limits of profitability.
Most of the distillery’s income came from tourism, events and the extensive warehousing rented out to other producers. Production remained intermittent with mothballing taking place in 2009/10. In 2014, the brothers placed it into administration.
In July 2015 Australian businessman David Prior, along with ex-Scotch Whisky Association CEO, Gavin Hewitt, announced the purchase of Bladnoch and plans to restore the distillery to its former glory. Ahead of its reopening in 2017, three single malts created using existing stocks of Bladnoch (Samsara, Adela and Talia), were released in limited quantities in Australia, the UK and other global markets.
Bladnoch
Lowland Single Malt Scotch Whisky.
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THE BLADNOCH 29 YEAR OLD
BICENTENNIAL RELEASE |
Releasing limited edition whiskies using old
casks filled before Bladnoch fell silent. Reimagined but respectful.
New thinking with old expertise. It’s a place where fine Lowland Single Malt
Scotch Whisky has flowed for two hundred years. You can sense it in the deep
bluestone walls of the Mash House, the Tun Room and the Dramming Room and you
can feel it rising out of the pure waters of the Bladnoch River. This is the
place where Lowland Single Malt Scotch Whisky is being redefined.
In 2015 itself, David Prior began an extensive refurbishment of the distillery. After 2 years of renovations, Bladnoch Distillery resumed production of its grassy, malty typically Lowland-style spirits. In 2017, Bladnoch celebrated its 203 year anniversary, making it one of the oldest and one of the largest privately owned Scotch Whisky distilleries. In 2019, highly acclaimed Master Distiller, Dr Nick Savage joined the Bladnoch team. Bladnoch launched its state-of-the-art Visitor Centre experience, gift shop and Melba Cafe.
Isle of Raasay Distillery
PIONEERING ISLAND DISTILLERY
The first legal distillery on the Isle of Raasay in northwest Scotland began distilling in September 2017,
with a vision to create the finest Hebridean single malt Scotch whisky and a
unique whisky destination with arguably the best view from any distillery in
Scotland.
Experience at first hand the
exciting journey from revitalising an island landmark building, to harvesting
the first Raasay barley for a generation, and handcrafting the first Isle of
Raasay single malt in Scotch whisky history with water sourced from a Celtic
well deep beneath the distillery.
First Raasay Whisky in Scotch History: In 2020, they will release the first Isle of Raasay Single Malt
in Scotch whisky history. Raasay whisky will be a taste of the ruggedly
elegant, exceptionally diverse island, made in small batches from the mineral
water drawn from the Celtic well on site. The long fermentation period brings a
rich, fruity character to the spirit even before it touches the oak of the cask. They will then use a
combination of virgin American oak, high rye bourbon and wine casks to create
a contemporary single malt Scotch whisky for the future generation of
discerning drinkers.
Raasay Single Malt Whisky:
The Isle of Raasay Distillery began distilling in September 2017. It takes
three years of maturation in oak casks before it can be legally called “whisky”. This means the first legal Isle of Raasay Single
Malt Scotch Whisky will be bottled in 2020.
All maturation is carried
out on the island in their own warehouses, which will maximise the influence of
the variable Hebridean climate on the final single malt whisky. While waiting
for the new Raasay whisky, they have crafted a single malt, aptly called Raasay
While We Wait, that demonstrates their whisky-making skills and offers a
tantalising taste of what’s to come from the Isle of Raasay Distillery. The new
whisky will reach the market as a 46% ABV, natural colour, non-chill filtered
whisky. This release in the 'While We Wait' series is a blend of peated and unpeated whiskies from a single distillery, finished in Tuscan red wine casks.
The idea behind Raasay While We Wait is to show the style they are aiming to achieve at the Isle of Raasay Distillery. Working with a Highland distiller, they blended heavily peated and unpeated single malt whisky together from this distillery, and finished the liquid in Super Tuscan wine casks from the Montechiari vineyard. This vineyard was chosen as they have excellent French oak casks, lovely Cabernet Sauvignon wine which seasoned the casks, and they are based in Tuscany, an area they have a strong relationship with as they developed their pot stills for the distillery with Frilli, the Tuscan based Pot Still producer.
The Master Blender achieved this by blending two expressions from one distillery; one peated, one unpeated.
The whisky is then finished in French oak Tuscan wine casks. The inaugural expression
has been produced from heavily peated (40 ppm) Scottish barley, distillers’
yeast and mineral rich water drawn and filtered from the Celtic well. Coupled
with long fermentation periods of up to 115 hours, the resulting spirit
developed a rich, fruity character before even touching the cask.
A £200,000 grant from
Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) in 2018 has enabled Isle of Raasay
Distillery to build its own bottling plant and more warehouses. HIE is an
agency of the Scottish Government responsible for economic and community
development in rural areas and small businesses. From 2020, Raasay Single Malt
Whisky will be bottled on the island.
BORDERS DISTILLERY, HAWICK
BUILT IN THE
SCOTTISH BORDERS
Hawick has a long and
colourful history which can be traced back to the 12th century, when King David
1st granted land to a Norman family, the Lovels. Today Hawick is part of the
Textile Trail and is the major centre for the industry in the Scottish Borders.
The town therefore has many shops with a large selection of knitwear and
cashmere.
The Borders Distillery®,
the first Scotch Whisky distillery in the Scottish Borders since 1837, was
commissioned in March of 2018. This new distillery is dedicated to making whisky
and capturing the spirit of the Borders. Every day in the Distillery they
distill from local barley and create ‘ New Make Spirit’. The vast majority of
this spirit is filled in oak casks for maturation until it develops into the
finest Single Malt Scotch Whisky.
They keep some back to
charge their Carter Head Still, designed and commissioned for the Borders
Distillery. Once charged they can further distil again to the higher strength
required to make their distinctive Gin and Vodka, as well as many other things, all from local barley by their
distilling team.
Their hometown, Hawick,
has a famous history of manufacturing, where cashmere is king and where tweed
was invented. The distillery is in a landmark building in the Towncentre,
making them familiar and new. There is a spirit of industry and enterprise here
that inspires them in all they do.
Occupying the site of the
former Hawick Electric Company, they have undertaken a careful and complete
renovation of the building to a fully functioning distillery.
With a committed attention
to detail and a real acknowledgement of the building’s history every tiny
details has been covered. From the restoration of the original 1930 crane to
the lead welded windows, this is a build that the owners are immensely proud
of.
Lower East Side: Liberty –
the freedom to do things your way – was the driving force of the Scottish
Enlightenment and is the central tenet of the constitutions of the free world. At
the confluence of these champions of freedom is Lower East Side®: a smooth,
easy-drinking Blended Malt Scotch Whisky of exceptional quality. This is a
whisky to drink your way, when you like it, how you like it.
The distillery uses locally-grown barley, all harvested from 11 farms lying within 30 miles of the distillery. It draws its water from an underground lake beneath the site. The lake’s water takes between 50 and 70 years to filter down from the hills through the rock. Even if it never rained again (unlikely in the Borders!) the lake contains enough pure water to last the distillery for thousands of years.
They also produce the Clan
Fraser and the Clan Fraser Reserve Blended Scotch Whisky.
You’ll find these in the
most forward-thinking bars: free-poured over ice, stirred liberally into a
Manhattan and openly mixing with the world’s greatest drinks to create stylish
new cocktails. To drink Borders is to celebrate liberty. And there’s only one
way to do this: your way.
Lone Wolf distillery
FROM BEER TO WHISKY IN DISRUPTIVE INTERFERENCE
Brewdog, the ‘punk’ brewer
of the beer business, moved into distillation via its Lone Wolf spirits
offshoot with the opening of a distillery in 2016. The venture includes –
unsurprisingly – an iconoclastic approach to Scotch whisky production.
Located in in Ellon in rural
Aberdeenshire, LoneWolf is a distillation subsidiary of BrewDog. This
distillery produces gin and vodka from grain to glass and is already distilling
grain whisky, mainly rye. In December 2016 BrewDog launched its first Scotch
whisky, Uncle Duke’s, a four-year-old single grain sourced from an undisclosed
third party distillery. The team is also working to launch its first
Ellon-distilled whisky. LoneWolf whisky production began in 2018 using the only triple bubble still in the world – just one of the ways that LoneWolf runs against the pack and strives to challenge the traditions of the industry.
A serial headline-grabber,
the company’s past antics include driving a tank through the City of London to
publicise its Equity for Punks crowdfunding scheme, and packaging a 55% ABV
freeze-distilled beer in small stuffed animals. What can we expect it to get up
to in Scotch?
Non-conformist distiller
Steven Kersley has worked at Oban distillery, tried brewing and distilling at
Heriot-Watt, and spent four years managing a number of Diageo distilleries,
including Benrinnes, Teaninich and Linkwood. He is experienced enough to try a
disruptive technique in distilling Scotch Whisky at LoneWolf. Deconstructing the
whisky-making process, the neighbouring brewhouse will supply all of Lone
Wolf’s wash, experimenting with different yeast strains – not just distillers’
yeast – and varying fermentation temperatures. Peat may well be involved, but
so might barley dried with cherry or apple wood, says Kersley, along with
different grains like rye and corn.
 |
Destined to
produce whisky, Lone Wolf's peculiar wash still (left) is designed to increase reflux
for a light spirit style
|
There are two pot stills
for whisky, each with a 3,000-litre charge. The first has an ‘interesting’ neck
with a triple bubble, to create plenty of copper interaction and reflux. Pot
still number two is more traditional in style and shape, but is linked to a
complex condensing system, including a second condenser with temperature
control and a catalytic converter with a ‘massive’ area of copper surface. This
can either be engaged for a more delicate spirit style, or bypassed for
something heavier and meatier.
There’s also an
eight-plate rectification column, designed for ‘stripping’ the spirit to make
rye, Bourbon and grain. One run can create a spirit at 80-90% ABV, which can
then be cut back, distilled again in pot still two or allowed to mature.
2020 AND BEYOND
Beyond 2019, Diageo has
big plans to invest £150 million over the next three years across their
Discovering Distilleries sites (which will grow from 12 to 14 with the
re-opening of the ‘lost distilleries’ of Port Ellen on Islay and Brora in
Sutherland) and a new state-of-the-art immersive Johnnie Walker
visitor experience in the centre of Edinburgh.
Douglas Laing
are currently developing their Clutha Distillery
in Glasgow, which they hope to open in 2020. Whilst over on the east coast, a John Crabbie & Co
gin and whisky micro-distillery at Granton Harbour in Edinburgh is planned.
Plans for the innovatively designed Port of Leith vertical distillery, which will sit alongside Ocean
Terminal, are also taking shape.
Further south, the Borders
will see continued growth in whisky production in the shape of R & B’s second
distillery (complementing their site
on Raasay) coming to Peebles and Mossburn Distillers Ltd, continue to develop their Reivers Distillery in
Jedburgh.
Toulvaddie DISTILLERY
1st SCOTCH WHISKY
DISTILLERY FOUNDED BY A WOMAN IN ALMOST 200 YEARS
Toulvaddie Distillery will be the first Scotch whisky
micro-distillery to be founded and run by a woman in over 200 years, after
Cardhu. This will be the first legal distillery in the Fearn and Tarbart
peninsula, in the North East, Highlands of Scotland,.which was once rife with
illicit stills, including one which was hidden under the pulpit of the local
church. At the foot of Nigg Hill, on the site of the old World War II Royal
Naval Airbase HMS Owl, Toulvaddie Distillery will soon begin to distill single
malt whisky.
Founder and Distiller, Heather Nelson has spent a
number of years designing, developing and now is in the process of building Toulvaddie
Distillery. It has been a long time ambition and dream which has taken a
colossal amount of work to finally get it off the ground.
Her family background is embedded in the agricultural
industry with both sets of grandparents being farmers it meant that her whole
life and culture was influenced by the land. Anyone who has had any involvement
with farming knows that it is not a job, it is a way of life, a culture for the
whole family – and in this area it is intertwined with distilling industry. Many
years ago the farmers would have done it themselves in an illicit still away
from the watchful eye of the excise man, but now the barley which is grown in
the fields right next to the distillery is used for making whisky.
Whisky has always been perceived as a man’s drink, and
it really isn’t, and this incorrect perception is dying, slowly, but things are
changing. Starting Toulvaddie distillery will help break down the barriers.
Hopefully it may encourage other women to try whisky when they maybe would not
have done before.
The distillery is being built on the site of an old
Royal Navy Airbase where Navy pilot bombers trained on how to land on the decks
of aircraft carriers during the war. Incorporating the site history into the
distillery is also important to Heather. Much of the base has been returned to
farmland after it was no longer needed by the Navy for bomber training. The
distillery to retain some of that history and the spirit of the men and women
who worked there.
Toulvaddie will initially produce around 30,000 litres
per year, hand crafted in the time- honoured tradition. Construction is
underway and production to begin as soon as possible after that. A limited
number of Year One casks will be available to purchase, thus allowing whisky
lovers from all over the world to be part of its history.
At the heart of the distillery will be big work horse
Wash Still Milly, and the smaller, slow and steady Spirit Still, Nelly. The
stills are named after the Horse and Cow in the emblem. Nelly was born at Heather's
parents small holding and lived there for all of her 23 years. Milly was a much
later addition however there was a stong bond between them. Hopefully, their
name sake stills will emulate their harmonious partnership.
Twin River Distillery
RIVER DEESIDE’S FIRST
DISTILLERY IN TWO CENTURIES
The team behind Deeside
Brewery has opened a new distillery in River Deeside, thought to be the first
in almost 200 years in the Scottish region.
Banchory-based Twin River
has recently invested over £200k in the distillery to accommodate the
production of its spirits – including gin and whisky – with plans for new
premises in 2018. £1.4m will be invested to build a new brewery, distillery and
visitor centre with taproom.
The distillery is seeking
funds for the centre through both internal and external sources including
private investment and crowdfunding, via the sale of early release octaves (55L
casks).
To support with the
development and production of its products, the distillery has appointed Andrew
Tulloch as a distiller. Ryan Rhodes has also been recruited as brand director
and joins Twin River with over 12 years of experience in the drinks industry.
Twin River’s spirits are
manufactured entirely in-house, from the creation of a ‘wash’ to the final
product. No spirit is brought in or contracted out. Rhodes believes, “To create
a whisky, you firstly need a wash which is fundamentally an 8% beer. We’ve used
our brewing knowledge to create a wash, which includes chocolate malt before
distilling it to cask strength and laying it down in 55L virgin charred
American oak casks. This type of cask ages the whisky much quicker.”
FALKIRK Distillery UPDATE
After more than five
decades spent running local businesses, the Stewart family celebrated in July
2020 when the distillery became fully operational. There was further reason to
be pleased late last year when Falkirk Distillery Company started producing a
spirit for the first time. Fans will have to wait a wee while before sampling
its whisky, though, as a spirit isn’t whisky until it has been distilled for at
least three years.
Inside the magnificent new
distillery building are two copper stills and a copper mash tun, which have a
long history in whisky distilling having come from the Caperdonich distillery
at Rothes, Aberlour.
George Stewart’s family-run
distillery has taken the step to “producing status” after 10 years of vision,
planning and construction work. Equipped with the mash tun and two stills from
the closed Caperdonich Distillery (the Belgian Owl Distillery has been working
with the other two Caperdonich stills for a while), the Falkirk Distillery will
have the capacity to produce more than a million litres of alcohol annually.
They want to produce a light Lowland malt that would appeal to a wide range of
spirit drinkers.
Experienced Distillery
Manager Graham Brown, who started at Distell and worked for both Deanston and
Tobermory, is responsible for the development and quality of the whisky and
explains that their main aim here is to focus on the quality of the spirit.
There is no rush to just put anything out to market that isn’t something to
feel immensely proud of and that facet will show in the final product.
Founder George Stewart also thinks in terms of time and said: “The whole process to date has been one of passion and patience. We have invested heavily in time and money to create something we hope the local area can be immensely proud of. We are overwhelmed
with the support shown already from the local area and whisky community. There
is something about whisky that really brings people together. Our expectations
are that over 80,000 visitors will come through the doors here every year and
that has to be a boost for the local community. Furthermore, once fully
operational with tours and restaurant running, we will require well over 60
staff members.”
Falkirk Distillery waits
for revival of tourism, located on the M9. It hopes for a large number of
visitors once tourism starts up again after the Covid-19 restrictions. Then a
restaurant and a tasting event centre will join the distillery. Whisky fans can
follow the development of the distillery online and see if anything of note is
in the offing.
Glen Luss Distillery
INSIDE TROSSACHS NATIONAL PARK
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| Loch Voil in Loch Lomond and Trossachs National
Park is about an hour's drive from the new distillery |
A new distillery opening
in Scotland is a bit like a new restaurant opening in New York City: of course
there is. But to find a new distillery-slash-brewery inside a national park?
That’s a rarer treat, and having it set within Loch Lomond and the Trossachs
National Park—one of the loveliest and most accessible parks from big cities
like Edinburgh and Glasgow—is better still.
Glen Luss Distillery has been
getting buzz lately for its promise of a micro-distillery serving—deep
breath—single malt Scotch whisky, locally sourced botanical gin, aged and
new-make rums, small-batch vodka, and craft beer in the loch-side village of
Luss when it opens in May 2021.
People have been drawn to
Luss for over 1500 years. It was originally known as Clachan Dhu or ‘Dark
Village’ as it hid in the shadows of the surrounding mountains. It wasn’t until
the Christian missionaries arrived in the 6th century, led by St Kessog, that
the township took on the current name of Luss, from the Gaelic word ‘lus’ which
means herb or botanical. Other notable settlers to the area include the
Colquhoun Clan, who have called Luss their home since the 12th century, with
Rossdhu as their ancestral seat. And the 13th century saw the arrival of the
Vikings; whose final resting place lies under the Hogsback in the grounds of
Luss Parish Church.
Glen Luss Distillery will
be the first experimental brewery & distillery on the shores of Loch
Lomond, nestled in the heart of the Loch Lomond & the Trossachs National
Park. It will provide the township of Luss with an exciting year-round,
all-weather, visitor experience to cater for the existing million+ tourists who
visit annually. Our offering will complement the existing businesses in the
area, supporting the diverse range of activities and experiences available
within Luss.
Glen Luss Distillery will actively
support the sustainable development of Luss by providing 26 full-time
employment opportunities, as well as shorter term employment during additional
phases of the project. Their ambition is to recruit 30% of the workforce from
within the Luss and Arden Parish, and provide Modern Apprenticeships to support
the development of the local population. Glen Luss Distillery will donate 5% of
its profits annually, for a period of ten years from first profit to a
Charitable Fund. Through this Charitable Fund, they will engage with local
community groups to assist in the development of Community-Benefit Projects in
the Luss and Arden area.
Glen Luss Distillery will aim to reduce the impact of over-tourism by working with the local community to support the forthcoming Traffic Management plan for Luss Village. This includes incorporating the proposed Village Green Space and New Car Park Facilities to
the South of the township, which will promote the pedestrianisation of Luss.
Yes, the opening day is drawing near, but one might anticipate some more delay, given the Covid 19 curse, but
Glen Luss has a crowdfunding “founders club” campaign running for a few more
days for those interested in pledging. (Commitments run from
“Clansman/Clanswoman” at £500 to “Clan Chief” at £5,000, with various bottles,
merch, and parties included.) The work-in-progress project has the makings of a
high-touch interactive experience, akin to what big distilleries like
Glenfiddich and Macallan offer, with a guided tour of the facilities (the “making
and tasting” experience), along with an interactive discovery centre with a
cinema, virtual reality experience, and history and heritage walkthrough.
The region surrounding
Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park has a wealth of distilleries already,
though the “region” could constitute an hours-long drive west to Oban or east
to Perth. And look, I’d recommend both ends of that whisky road trip, but
there’s something great about the promise of a destination distillery just a
40-minute drive from Glasgow, in a village of only 150 people, on the shores of
one of the largest lakes in the United Kingdom.
Given the potential for
Glen Luss to attract some of the four-million-plus tourists who visit the park
annually once coronavirus isn’t a thing (please, let that be soon), the
distillery is making a commitment to sustainability.
“Energy efficiency,
recycling, reducing waste, promoting area biodiversity, using electric
vehicles, and preserving wildlife habitats in the area are all measures the
distillery team plans to undertake in the effort to be environmentally
conscious,” reports Whisky Advocate. Glen Luss also plans to hire locally and
build a 240-car lot south of the village itself. Hopefully these best-laid plans
help preserve the beauty and character of the area, while also giving us a new
spirit-lover’s trip to look forward to in 2021 and beyond.
At this moment, there is
an environmentalists’ move to block development of Glen Luss distillery.
KINGSBARN LOWLAND DISTILLERY GEARS UP
CLOSE TO THE HOME OF GOLF: ST ANDREWS
A charming distillery and visitors’ centre built in 2014 within an 18th century farmstead that’s ideally situated just a few miles from St Andrews.
LOWLAND SINGLE MALT SCOTCH WHISKY: Kingsbarns
Distillery, the brain-child of former St Andrews golf caddie Douglas Clement
was five years in the planning, but took just 18 months to build. All new
distilleries, regardless of the scale, need a lot of working capital, but
Clement had little beyond a box full of business cards gathered as a caddie for
wealthy golfers at Kingsbarns Golf Links on the Fife coast, a few miles from St
Andrews.
Realising there was no nearby whisky distillery to
satisfy the thirst of the course’s visitors, and having come across a derelict
18th century farm steading on the Cambo Estate, situated just a short distance
from Kingsbarns, Clement decided to build his own.
The initial £100,000 seed capital was raised from 32
investors, golfers Clement knew from Kingsbarns, which enabled him to get
moving. Further crowdfunding and government grants failed to procure the £1.6
million needed to actually build the distillery. He was nearly a million pounds
short of target when the Wemyss family, owners of Wemyss Malts, stepped in and
January 2013 saw Clement selling out to the Wemyss family.
With Clement remaining as a director, and funding now
fully in place, work began on Kingsbarns distillery within six months and was
up and running within 18 months. The relatively small distillery aims to fill
just 24 casks per week (140,000 litres per year), although fully matured whisky
became available in 2018.
Kingsbarns Dream to Dram
The flagship single malt from Kingsbarns Distillery in
the Lowlands, owned by the Wemyss family. The Dream to Dram single malt Scotch
whisky was matured in first-fill ex-Bourbon casks from Heaven Hill Kentucky
distillery and first-fill STR barriques (STR means shaved, toasted and
re-charred), and was distilled in 2015 and bottled at 46% ABV. A fruity, floral
expression, and an excellent introduction from Kingsbarns!
Nose: You can really smell those first-fill bourbon
casks. There’s vanilla and crème brûlée plus lots of new make character,
tropical fruit, and quite pronounced alcohol.
Palate: Smooth texture, sweet cereal notes, light and
fruity, with some roasty coffee notes.
Finish: Banana bread.
Kingsbarns Balcomie 46% ABV
The Balcomie is a sherried release from Kingsbarns
distilled with locally-grown Fife barley. It was matured exclusively in
American oak butts that previously held Oloroso sherry, which is rather unusual
seeing as sherry is usually held in European oak. Richer, spicy notes from the
sherry balance the sweeter, tropical notes from the oak. Top stuff from the
Lowland distillery!
Nose: Cinnamon scrolls and hot cross buns, with a
drizzle of maple syrup and dried cherry.
Palate: Pineapple upside down cake, marmalade and more
cinnamon, with a touch of cocoa.
Finish: Apricot jam and chocolate-coated nuts.
Plans for New Distillery near Port Ellen Approved
WILL IT BE NAMED FARKIN DISTILLERY BY ELIXIR DISTILLERS?
 |
| Artist's impression of how the distillery will look |
The rumours of a new distillery near Port Ellen, the 11th Islay Distillery, go back quite a few
years. It was referred to as "Farkin Distillery", named after the
local farm and first written about as Farkin Distillery in November 2015. 6
years on and recently Argyll and Bute council have approved a new distillery on
this location, to be built by the co-founders of Elixir Distillers, the
brothers Sukhinder and Rajbir Singh. The official name is not yet known, the
owners will name it soon. (It was named Portintruan Distillery early May 2022).
Does Islay really need
another distillery?
Not everyone was pleased with the new distillery as it will generate more traffic through the village of
Port Ellen, more capacity is needed on the ferry and a nice coastal part of the
island will be built upon and lost for nature and wildlife. A Petition was
drafted opposing the 11th distillery on Islay on the grounds that the island
just didn’t have the infrastructure, fresh water and peat bogs for saturation
on such a scale. Evidently, it hasn’t passed muster and the Distillery Manager
has been appointed, Georgie Crawford who has worked for Diageo for 14 years at
Talisker, Glen Ord and Teaninich, among others. After working for many years as
Lagavulin’s Distillery Manager, she took over the position of project manager
for the reconstruction of Diageo's Port Ellen Distillery in mid-2018.
She will be responsible
for the production of up to one million litres of alcohol in the Farkin
Distillery. The majority of this is to be produced from malt that is malted on
the company's own malting floors on the distillery site. But first she will
oversee the construction of this new Islay distillery in the south of the
island - not far from the Port Ellen Distillery where she is currently based.
Elixir Distillers were
founded by Sukhinder and Rajbir Singh, who also run the Whisky Exchange and,
for example, own the Port Askaig whisky brand.On the positive side, it will
generate more jobs on the island and to overcome the housing problems on the
island, there will be 16 new houses built next to the distillery for the
workforce.
Design Change
The design of the distillery has changed dramatically since the original plans were submitted and
the changed overall look, more traditional, is now more in line with the other
three Kildalton Distilleries of Laphroaig, Lagavulin and Ardbeg.
Other data: The total investment will
be between £20m and £30m, they will employ more than 15 people, the distillery
will also have a visitor centre and they are expected to open in 2023, work
will start this year.
InchDairnie
Distillery: Kinglassie, Fife
DOES
IT POINT TO A NEW WAY FOR SCOTCH WHISKY?
As exciting as crowd-funded micro-distilleries seemed two or three years ago, they are becoming so common place that people are struggling to care about the latest grow-your-own-locally-sourced-organic-barley operation.
InchDairnie has shrouded itself with secrecy and mystery to such an extent that people know only what is posted on their website. It is located in the drab industrial park at the edge of Glenrothes. Uh Oh! But wait; standing on a huge plot at one end of the park is a distillery so modern and imposing that one feels as though one were driving onto a fancy sci-fi movie set. It is one of the most modern whisky production facility in Scotland, currently running at 2,000,000 litre annual capacity but with the ability to quickly shift up to 4,000,000.
Their business plan will allow them to warehouse their whisky until it is ready. They have 4 warehouses to house 88,000 casks. No date is given, except that for a distillery built in 2016 over 18 months from 2014, their first single malt will be available around 2029! That’s thirteen years. If they can deliver on that promise then this alone differentiates them from the rash of craft distilleries that has appeared recently.
The distillery has a 3 stills, including a Lomond which will allow them triple distillation. A mash filter is used, instead of a mash tun, to squeeze the sugary liquid from the thicker mash. There are 4 washbacks in the distillery, and the ABV of the fermentated wort is 10%, which is higher than many other distilleries. They test thousands of variations of yeasts in order to find the perfect recipe.
As Ian Palmer, their MD says, “Alongside malted barley, water and yeast, one of the most important ingredients in our whisky will be technology. In our quest for flavour, we have distilled decades of industry experience and knowledge into fine-tuning one of the most meticulously designed distillation processes in the world.”
After an extensive and meticulous development process, completed in 2017, RyeLaw was announced as the first release for InchDairnie. RyeLaw, made from a high proportion of malted rye, the key component in American rye whiskey and also malted barley, the key ingredient in Scotch whisky, was first distilled in December 2017, following a pilot distillation in October of the same year.
RyeLaw is unique in a number of ways. It has been created using the unconventional mash filter, one of only two in Scotland, which is able to process the viscous rye grains, unlike the traditional mash tuns in most distilleries. Its secret recipe, with its high proportion of malted rye and the fact that it is being made and matured in Scotland, means that it will meet the legal definitions of both a Scotch grain whisky and an American rye whiskey. Distillation partly took place in the distillery’s bespoke Lomond Hill still, which was installed alongside two traditional pot stills to provide the capacity to experiment and to enable the ability to have greater control over shaping flavour. As a result, RyeLaw was the first rye and barley whisky ever to be distilled in a Lomond still. It will not be used to produce a single malt.
RyeLaw will officially be categorised as a single grain Scotch whisky, made using malted rye and malted barley. This is in line with The Scotch Whisky Regulations 2009.
The Prinlaws Collection will be a collection of unique flavour-led distillates from different yeasts, cereals and oaks. Every year up to two weeks are isolated for one off single campaign distillations at InchDairnie Distillery – distillations that may never be repeated, meaning PrinLaws bottlings have the potential of being some if the rarest distillates to come out of Scotland.
Their oats distillate is the first chapter in the PrinLaws Collection from InchDairnie Distillery and features a mash bill primarily of malted oats to deliver a different flavour. There is no definition for whisky made from oats, so InchDairnie has borrowed the American definition of rye whiskey and bourbon whiskey and applied it to whisky made from oats, meaning that a minimum of 51% of mash bill must be from oats – Only the distillation of oats is so unusual that there is no legal definition of oat whisky in Scotland, Ireland nor North America, so InchDairnie Distillery is leading the definition.
The new distillate from InchDairnie Distillery is ground-breaking in that there is no Scottish law for specifically naming a whisky made of oats. As such under current rules the only official term for a whisky made from oats is “Single grain Scotch whisky”, despite this being distilled first in a copper pot still, followed by spirit distillation in their Lomond still.
They are also creating a true winter distillate using peated malted barley. The name of the distillate that will one day be mature whisky, is KinGlassie, named after the nearby village, and it is believed to be the first peated whisky from the Kingdom of Fife in modern time. Using peat from St Fergus in Aberdeenshire, the creation of KinGlassie will allow a chunky smoky flavour to come through.
KinGlassie will be distilled once a year for 2 weeks every December. It will be matured for around 8 to 10 years in Bourbon and Amontillado casks, which together will combine the true characteristics of the distillery. Distillation will take place in the distillery’s two traditional pot stills which are cooled with two condensers to ensure more copper contact than at any other distillery.
KinGlassie has been in development for over the past 2 years. When it is released, it will become part of the core range being created at the distillery including Ryelaw and an InchDairnie Single Malt Scotch whisky.
Every year only a finite batch of Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter is distilled and together, these scarce, mature distillates will eventually form the Vintage InchDairnie. Once they are gone, they are gone. Rather than distil the same spirit throughout the year, they change according to seasons.
