LOST DISTILLERIES REOPEN AS WHISKY MARKET EXPANDS
Ghost whisky is popular among whisky enthusiasts and collectors because, by its very nature, it’s rare. The distilleries aren’t making any more of it, so the stock that is around is the last of its kind. That also makes the whisky historically significant as it remains the last tangible connection to the closed distillery, aside from rare cases like Dallas Dhu where you can visit the closed site. The whisky represents an almost lost history of whisky and distilling heritage, as well as a glimpse into the past and the flavours of it, like the characteristics unique to the closed distillery.
The demand for whiskies from lost distilleries is also naturally informed by the quality of the whisky. While some producers gradually fell into obscurity, others gained more plaudits when closed than they ever did when producing. The likes of Brora, Rosebank, Port Ellen, and Karuizawa gathered such fame as ghost distilleries that all of them have actually been brought back to life. The single cask Port Ellen bottling released for Fèis Ìle 2008, for example, was sold for £99.99. Good luck finding one now for under £4,000.
The combination of rarity, quality, cult status, and historical significance gives whisky made by these distilleries investment potential, so they’re often a goldmine for collectors. It’s a simple equation, the value of the whisky increases over time as the supply dwindles. Collectors – and flippers – then add to the price rises by hoovering up the remaining whisky. It’s a cycle that means counterfeit products will emerge, so if you're interested in collecting ghost whiskies, make sure you do your research and verify the authenticity of the bottles.
WHY WOULD YOU WANT WHISKY FROM A CLOSED DISTILLERY?
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You might be asking yourself the question at this point, if these distilleries produced such good whisky, why did they close? The answer is sadly that good whisky isn’t always going to be insulated from a bad market. The industry goes through boom/bust cycles and when the going gets tough, distilleries get going.
Some distilleries were simply mothballed or had pauses in production and have survived, the unlucky ones were demolished. In that case, we truly never will see its like again. Even if a site is erected on the same land, with the same production process, we know just enough about whisky to know that we don’t really know anything about it all, and that there’s something truly special and unrepeatable about the magic of creating whisky.
So, many distilleries, even very good ones, were forced to close their doors, not before selling remaining stock to stay afloat. Hence, ghost whisky. As we referred to earlier, that market has swelled and soared so much that the decision has been made by various companies to restore old closed distilleries.
Of course, these rebirths come with questions, the biggest one being: can you recreate the magic? It feels slightly doomed in that sense because no matter how good the new whisky will be, it will be impossible to truly recreate what came before. A bit of maturity in realising this and tempering expectations to match is required here, as there’s no reason the new whisky can’t still be sublime. There’s also the question of what these revived distilleries will do to the prices of existing bottlings from the old sites.
Factually, over the last few decades whisky has prospered. This is especially true of single malt, which has transformed from a virtually unknown category into the Scotch industry’s golden goose. Ironically, certain popular malt whisky brands, now well-known and integral parts of whisky’s fabric, are also a reminder of darker times. Port Ellen, Rosebank and Brora are first and foremost. The likes of St Magdalene, Convalmore, Banff, and Glen Mhor are slightly lesser known, but still highly regarded. Even Benromach and Knockdhu, generally not mentioned because they have since reopened, were part of a momentous historic occasion four decades ago – one that reverberated across the whisky industry.
Trouble had been brewing for several years: the rise of oil prices, a global economic downturn, and a generation turning away from brown spirits. The response from the industry wasn’t swift enough. Production initially continued while sales dwindled, until things came to a grinding halt. On 17 February 1983, the headline on the front page of the Aberdeen Press and Journal read: “Scotch on rocks!” The newspaper reported on the latest body blow dealt to an “already crippled” Scotch whisky industry: Distillers Company Ltd (DCL, now Diageo) had decided to axe 530 jobs in Scotland. It had also shut down 11 malt distilleries and one grain distillery, Carsebridge.
These weren’t the first distilleries lost during the turbulent 1970s and 1980s, and they wouldn’t be the last, either (Rosebank, for example, closed a decade later), but DCL’s course correction was the most substantial and noteworthy signal of an ailing industry. Of course, the rationale was simple. There was a glut! DCL decided that all three distilleries were surplus to requirements and closed them – after all, Caol Ila produced whisky similar to Port Ellen, Clynelish produced enough whisky without the assistance of Brora (which was right next door), and Glenkinchie fulfilled the company’s needs for the light Lowland whisky that Rosebank had become well known for.The closures impacted their communities hugely, but not many whisky drinkers would have been too distressed at first. Nobody was drinking Port Ellen or Brora, but rather Johnnie Walker or White Horse, and with Caol Ila and Lagavulin still producing, those blended whisky brands weren’t in danger of becoming unavailable any time soon. It wasn’t until later that people would take notice of the silent distilleries’ legacies and the whiskies they had left behind.
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Bottlings from silent distilleries brought a genuine rarity to the market. Scarcity and collectability weren’t fully understood before the turn of the 21st century. As a category, single malt was still in its infancy and sales were only a few per cent of the global whisky market. But now, here was something truly rare and unique.
It was quite transformational in the way people thought about collectability, say whisky scholars and industry veterans. A former global marketing director for malts at Diageo was closely involved with the company’s Rare Malts Selection and its successor, the Special Releases programme, which is still released annually. First launched in 1995, the Rare Malts included some of Diageo’s finest stock. Closed distilleries made up a big chunk of the bottlings: Glenury Royal, Millburn, Rosebank, Port Ellen, Glenlochy, Glen Mhor, and many others. It added a critical, and until then missing element in the collectability of single malts.
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The bottlings of these closed distilleries, which other companies started doing as well, changed or was the stimulus for consumers thinking about collecting, and it was a stimulus for the secondary market… It brought in speculators too, for better or worse. When the Special Releases were introduced in 2001, Diageo-owned distilleries with shops initially received generous allocations. It is also worth mentioning that in the 1980s a similar fate befell many distilleries, which are now considered an integral part of the single malt Scotch whisky market, including Ardbeg, Bunnahabhain, Glenglassaugh or even Springbank.
BRORA DISTILLERY REOPENED ON 21 MAY 2021
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| BRORA IN ITS OLDER AVATAR |
On 21st May 2021, the Brora Distillery opened its gates after more than thirty-eight years of closure. Set in the rolling hillsides of Sutherland, northeast Scotland, its picturesque courtyards and grey brick, slate-roofed buildings will now see renewed whisky making.
Following a three-year restoration programme, production resumed under the watchful eye of the Master Distiller, Stewart Bowman. Staff filled the first casks of 2021 with new make spirit from the stills. Thus, a new era has begun as the casks’ contents mature to become premium Brora whisky.
The closure spanned four decades, during which stocks of the brand’s bottled and cask whiskies appreciated significantly. Some of Brora’s legendary and much sought-after single malt scotches have achieved cult status among connoisseurs, collectors and investors alike.
As he officially reopened the imposing doors of the distillery, Bowman spoke about his father, the distillery’s last exciseman. In 1983, the latter closed off the then distillery ledger with an entry referring to the beginning of a silent season for an undetermined period.
Now, the old hands must feel a sense of pride. Inside, even the refurbished spirit stills are precise copies of the original installations. The owners, holding company Diageo plc, have replicated the former production processes and conditions wherever possible.
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| BRORA TODAY |
GUIDED VISITS
According to their website, guided tours for visitors commenced from July 2021. As one would expect of this fine establishment, the experience includes whisky tastings and either a light or a substantial lunch. Currently, prices are £300 to £600 per person.
Founded in 1819 by the Marquis of Stafford, the reawakened 202-year-old distillery looks likely to continue releasing select, much-celebrated vintages. For now, a unique Brora Triptych commemorates the reopening with three different bottling runs of scarce, well-aged single malts from decades-old casks.
Brora Triptych
Each of the three superb bottlings represents a distinct era of the distillery. Triptych Elusive Legacy is 48 years old, the oldest single malt scotch ever released by Brora. Triptych Age of Peat is 43 years old, in the classic late 1970s heavily smoked style. It contains 48.6 per cent ABV. The third and youngest bottling is Timeless Original, from casks filled in 1982 and almost as potent.
The unique ash wood presentation cases contain three precious half-litre crystal decanters with Glencairn stoppers, filled with luxury scotch, as well as a personal invitation from Mr Bowman to visit the distillery. While the press release does not disclose how many of these trio sets will be available, it puts the price at £30,000 for UK purchasers.
Bowman described his deep affection for Brora in a press interview, narrating how it runs through his history. The Scot grew up in the village, with a view of the distillery’s bell tower visible from the kitchen window of the family home. Unsurprisingly, he speaks of feeling honoured to introduce visitors, share his experience and tell one or two of his father’s stories.
In 2019, during Brora’s period of dormancy, Diageo released a 40-year-old 200th Anniversary Quintessential scotch. This golden, smoky Highland liquor boasted rich flavours of figs and ripe fruit. The bottling ran to 1,819 units which sold for around £4,500 apiece.
ROSEBANK DISTILLERY TO REOPEN ON 07 JUNE 2024
After a 30-year absence and a a four-year restoration
project, Rosebank Distillery will reopen to the public this summer – officially
on Friday 7 June.
Rosebank Distillery was held in extremely high regard and it was a huge shame that it closed when it was distilling some of the best spirit for the Scotch whisky industry. Now out of its 30-year slumber, the newly-restored site mixes modern updates with old features retained from its original run, which honour the distillery’s heritage.
For starters, the distillery’s Victorian red brickwork faces the Forth and Clyde canal, while a new glass-fronted stillroom has been installed from the front of the building. Here, visitors will see exact copies of the original stills, replicated using blueprints salvaged from the Rosebank archives.
THE THEFT OF THE ORIGINAL ROSEBANK STILLS
Against a beautiful, cloudless sky, Rosebank’s three new pot stills were lifted one by one from a flatbed trailer to dangle high above the distillery, the copper gleaming in the late February sunshine. Each was then carefully lowered through a hole in the roof and positioned in the new stillroom. It was memorable sight, but it begs the question – whatever happened to the original stills?
When the old Rosebank distillery closed on June 30th 1993, the stills went cold, the doors shut and the workers were laid off. The whole place must have felt dead, especially from the outside as signs of decay – missing tiles, broken windows, weeds sprouting from gutters … gradually took hold.
Yet inside, even after the distillery had been sold to British Waterways in 2002, the stills remained as though waiting for some miracle that would fire them back to life. Such hopes had all but faded when Scott Jackson, a diehard fan of Rosebank whisky, was allowed in one night to pay his respects and raise a dram to ‘the old lady’ in the stillroom.
Some years later, just after Christmas 2008, a very different set of visitors arrived. They came at night by lorry not on some whisky pilgrimage, but to steal the copper. When a Detective Inspector of Falkirk CID broke the story of the theft on January 21st 2009, there was disbelief. Had the thieves really walked out with the stills glinting in the moonlight? The Falkirk Herland wondered if the gang had been planning to cash in on Robert Burns’ 250th anniversary that weekend, before remembering it takes three years to make whisky.
The police claimed “a significant amount of planning would have been involved in order to get into the building, and then set about removing the metal equipment over a period of some weeks.” There was supposedly security on site, but it was hardly Ocean’s Eleven. Those involved in the ‘great Falkirk copper heist’ simply hacked a few gaping holes in the stills before loading up their lorry and heading for one of the less reputable scrap merchants, one imagines. So far, no one has been charged.
With the remains of three pot stills damaged beyond repair, it was surely now Rosebank R.I.P. With its heart ripped out, no one could have dreamt it could somehow survive. But here we are, twelve years on, with the distillery nearly rebuilt, a brand-new set of stills faithfully copied from the original designs, and with Rosebank about to make whisky again.
Being small, Rosebank was one of the more expensive whiskies to produce, but many felt that there was some combination with others facets that gave reason to close a distillery. Its reopening will be a proud moment for its hometown of Falkirk, for the industry and for whisky lovers everywhere. The 108ft chimney stack has also been repaired and continues to ‘dominate’ Falkirk’s skyline.The original mill, said to be around 103 years old, has been kept and will be used in the distillery’s whisky production, just as it was three decades ago. Furthermore, a new dunnage style warehouse has been built from the bricks of its historic counterpart, which now showcases casks of the original Rosebank next to the first casks of the new Rosebank spirit.
When the distillery reopens, guests will have access to ‘world-class’ visitor experiences, including three tours: Rosebank Reawakening, Rosebank Rekindled and Rosebank Revered. The guided tours will take guests through spaces such as the six tasting rooms, the original mill and the pot stills where the spirit is triple-distilled and condensed in traditional wooden worm tubs. Two of the tours will also offer bespoke tutored tasting of ‘extremely rare and old’ Rosebank whisky, and each one will finish up at the new distillery shop where exclusive expressions are available for purchase.
THE GLEN KEITH REOPENING IN 2013
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| THE GLEN KEITH DISTILLERY |
With sales of Chivas Regal rising throughout the 1950s, Samuel Bronfman, owner of Canadian Seagram’s, felt that he needed another distillery to supply juice for his blends – not just Chivas but Passport and 100 Pipers. He picked the site of a former meal mill in Keith, directly behind his existing Strathisla plant. As well as providing fillings for blends, Glen Keith became the Seagram’s experimental plant and still houses the Chivas Brothers lab.
It ran triple-distilled malt from the word go and alternated it with double distilled until the 1980s, ran trials with a wheat mash, was the first distillery to use gas-fired direct heating (all its stills are now steam-driven) and in its time also produced heavy peated variants [Glenisla] one made with peat smoke being passed through water which was then concentrated and the other in the normal manner. There were also trials with different yeast types. The fact that the stills were different shapes and sizes helped in these innovative trials.
Glen Keith reopened under new owner Pernod Ricard on
June 14, 2013 after a complete refit which saw a new mash tun and washbacks being
installed. Its six stills are the original. Chivas Brothers, the whisky and gin
arm of Pernod Ricard and owner of Glen Keith, produces six million litres of
spirit a year from the distillery. Most of the Glen Keith spirit will be used
in blended whiskies destined for export, such as Diageo's Johnnie Walker and
Chivas Brothers' Ballantine's, among others. Of course, there will be single
malts as well, favoured by cognoscenti that make up the vast majority of the
world whisky market.
Chivas Brothers was delighted to see this distillery re-opened and producing spirit once again. The fact that it reopened a silent distillery, and was soon to build a brand-new distillery in the region, shows just how strong the demand for their luxury Scotch whiskies is. With an extensive inventory of more than six million casks, and this new increased distilling capacity, they are well placed to continue to meet this demand, safeguarding the future of their award-winning brands for decades to come. The sweet, fruity spirit produced at Glen Keith, will be aged in oak casks and used in the Chivas Regal and Royal Salute blends, as in the past.
Prior to re-opening, the distillery underwent a major upgrade, resulting in a 50% greater malt distillation capacity. Work included the installation of new malt storage facilities, and a new mash-house and tun-room, which accommodates the new mash tun along with six additional washbacks, bringing the total to 15. The distillery’s existing six stills were also refurbished.
It was also the first Scottish distillery to be heated by gas. Other brandnames are Glenisla, Glenkeith or Glen Keith-Glenlivet.
KARUIZAWA –
JAPAN’S SMALLEST DISTILLERY, CLOSED IN 2000 REVIVED IN 2023
Founded in 1955, Karuizawa was known as the smallest distillery in Japan, aiming to produce wines in the style of Macallan. However the owners decided to mothball the distillery in 2000 and by 2011 all of the original equipment had been sold on. By 2016 the distillery had been demolished. However, it is the years since its closure that have seen it become one of the most sought-after and expensive whiskies on the market.
Named after the town of Karuizawa, the distillery was located around two hours from Tokyo on the side of Mount Asama, an active volcano. The distillery had small stills and aged their spirit in Sherry casks while using 100% imported Scottish barley of the Golden Promise variety. Wooden washbacks were also used and as with Scottish distilleries at the time, Karuizawa’s main focus was initially on producing whisky for blending. It wasn’t until 1976 that the first single malt was bottled. Karuizawa is noted for its high ABV
Its location on the side of Mount Asama saw the temperature and humidity combine to form a regular mist. This meant that the evaporation of water was happening before the evaporation of alcohol and resulted in concentrated, high ABV whiskies. One of the truly unique characteristics of the spirit and one that has allowed the long ageing. With cold winters and humid summers, maturation of the spirit was glacial, reflected by the array of aged single casks that have been bottled since.
Saving The Final 364 Barrels
When the distillery closed, there were still barrels full of whisky. It is thanks to the Number One Drinks Company, founded by Marcin Miller and David Croll that the legacy of Karuizawa was preserved. They purchased the final 364 barrels and became the sole distributor. Number One Drinks then sold on the casks to Eric Huang in 2011, a Taiwanese whisky collector who in turn became the largest holder of Karuizawa casks. Unconfirmed figures put Huang’s holdings in 2018 at just 20 casks, with a smattering of other owners having 5 casks. Huang released ‘The Last Masterpiece’ in 2022. This could well have signalled that his final cask has been bottled.
Iconic Karuizawa Bottlings
The Mirrored Geisha Series
The Mirrored Geisha series has seen ten pairs of releases featuring single cask bottlings of two differing ages. With the final pair, the recently released Platinum Geisha, the collection is now complete. The iconic labels were designed by Elixir Distillers Raj Chavda who bottled the set on behalf of The Whisky Exchange. The series was designed to celebrate the skill, beauty and tradition of both the geisha and the Karuizawa distillery.
- The First Geishas
- The Aika Geishsas
- The Golden Geishas
- The Emerald Geishas
- The Murasaki Geishas
- The Sapphire Geisgas
- The Pearl Geishas
- The Sapphire Geishas
- The Ruby Geishas
- The Platinum Geishas – Final Release
- The 1960 Karuizawa 52 Year Old Cask #5627 Zodiac Rat
This bottle set a record in 2020. It became the most expensive Japanese whisky ever sold at auction when it went for GBP 363k. This was more than twice the pre-sale estimate. It was one of only 41 bottles produced and is the oldest bottling from the distillery. Each bottle from the set is named after the figurine that hangs around the neck of the bottle so you will see other incarnations of this bottling aside from ‘Zodiac Rat’.
Karuizawa 50 Year Old 1970 The Last Masterpiece
Karuizawa left behind an astonishing legacy, as well as some very old stocks, giving independent bottlers the chance to bring Karuizawa to the world. One such bottler is Taiwanese entrepreneur Eric Huang. Huang was one of those who despaired at the decision of Kirin, Karuizawa’s owners, to permanently close and dismantle the site in 2011. And so, he and a few other Karuizawa enthusiasts bought up the remaining stocks. Subsequently, the remaining casks of Karuizawa were sold to Taiwanese Entrepreneur Eric Huang in 2011. Huang owned 20 of the 25 remaining casks of Karuizawa and had planned to release a final single-cask bottling around the 2020 Olympics which were, of course, cancelled due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. Huang chose to go ahead with the release though as yet we can find no record of the bottles.Eric Huang’s final cask was due to be released to coincide with the Tokyo Olympics in 2020, but the global situation at the time meant that didn’t happen. However, the final release, this 50 year old single cask, ran to just 211 bottles. One was sold as Karuizawa’s first NFT through blockbar.com. This particular NFT bottle also featured an exclusive label created by artist Souun Takeda, one of the most renowned calligraphers in Japan. The whisky was distilled in 1970 and bottled in 2020 from a single Sherry cask #6017.
THE REVIVAL
‘Resurrected’ , ‘revived’, ‘doors to reopen’. The excited headlines said it all. The return of Karuizawa from beyond the grave. Just when you thought it was all over, like Brora, Port Ellen, and Rosebank, the lights are being turned back on and production restarting. The band’s back together! ‘Karuizawa is getting resurrected in 2023 as its new distillery begins production again,’ wrote the Robb Report. ‘This shuttered distillery’s Japanese whisky became a cult hit. Now it’s making a comeback,’ it continued.
Fine Japanese whisky retailer Dekanter (sic) has teamed up with Karuizawa Whisky Company to revive the revered single malt whisky…’ said Drinks Business. There is a slight twist to this story.
If you read the press release from online retailer/bottler Dekantā (which is partnering with the owners of the new distillery in ‘a combination of official distillery bottlings and independent releases’), what had actually happened was that a new firm was opening a new distillery in the town of Karuizawa. The new distillery will be called Karuizawa, and its whisky will also be labelled as such. Nothing has been resurrected, or revived, or reopened.
But why let the truth get in the way of the story? Because the legendary name and fame are iconic. The issue isn’t the opening of a new distillery in Karuizawa – after all Komoro is already up and running there. It lies in the name, and the easy way that this fact can be blurred so that people are led to believe that this is the old place reopening. The use of the same name for the new distillery and whisky is trading on the goodwill and reputation of the old, demolished, distillery. You have to wonder whether the name’s potency will also influence the pricing structure.
In addition, the fact that terms such as ‘precious liquid’ are already being bandied about, suggests that cask sales will take into account the wildly over-inflated prices of the old stock in the secondary market. In other words, the reputation of the old will dictate the price of the (as yet unproven) new.
True, it will be precious, true it will come from Karuizawa, but it is not going to be the same precious Karuizawa liquid that the secondary market so loves. All of this revolves around the slightly bizarre way that a forgotten Japanese distillery somehow became the country’s equivalent of cult single malt Scotch. It’s this which has prompted the building of the distillery. This which has given the name, and has caused the hysterical news reports.
The original Karuizawa’s elevation to cult status is one which defines the way in which whisky has moved from drink to investment in the past decade. This is also a story which is now being mangled. According to the Dekantā release, when the distillery finally closed, the remaining stock was sold ‘to private investors’. Again, this isn’t true. The stock was sold to Number One Drinks Ltd., an established whisky distributor, importer, and agent for a number of brands. Number One Drinks Ltd. bottled and sold some of the stock under its own name, both as single casks, as well as a vatting which was sold under the Asama label.
The firm also sold a selection of casks to three other retailer/ distributors: La Maison du Whisky (France), The Whisky Exchange/Speciality Drinks (UK), and Magny Inernational (Taiwan). All of these were also bottled and sold on the open market.
The aim was always to try and make this finite amount of whisky available to as many people as possible, rather than making it the plaything of investors and speculators. The prices of those early releases is proof of that. They made a whisky, which was pretty much unknown in Japan, internationally available.
It was only when bottles began to appear on the secondary market that the, frankly ridiculous, Karuizawa fever started. That finite nature turned what was an interesting single malt into an asset which could be traded. It is this boom which the new distillery is trying to tap into. The magic of the name rubbing off on to something new and different.
There is also a difference between this and the revival of Brora, Port Ellen, and Rosebank. All of these are the original distilleries, which in the first two cases have remained within their owner’s estate. Ian MacLeod didn’t just buy the Rosebank site, but all the remaining stock, and trademark. Although it is now owned by a different company there is transparency when it comes to ownership. There is no confusion.
With the new Karuizawa, confusion exists from the start. Whether intentional or not, new Karuizawa’s reputation will be driven by time-mangled memory and false history. Names matter, and so does truthful reporting. The plans are for the whisky to be aged for a decade before release – though if you have bought a cask presumably you could sell it before. In 10 years time how many people will remember the true story?
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