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The
Scotch Malt
Whisky Society
Whisky Tours - Distilleries
Situated on the South East coast of Islay, like Lagavulin and Laphraoig, Ardbeg has produced whisky in the present distillery since 1815, the year of the Battle of Waterloo. Whisky had been produced there, though for many more years into the past. By 1886, production was running at 250,000 gallons a year. The typical Islay flavours abound in this whisky, peat smoke, seaweed and that ocean influenced hint of iodine. A robust and lingering flavour and possibly to be treated carefully by a novice whisky. The walk between Ardbeg, Laphroaig and Lagavulin distilleries must be the highlight of any distillery tour. The single track road runs through woodland near the shoreline and the total distance is only one and a half miles. A pleasanter afternoon can't be imagined for the enthusiast!
Bowmore Distillery
©Duck Foot Design
Owned by the Suntory company of Japan, but lovers of good malt need have no fear of any dilution of the character and long tradition of this, one of Scotland's and Islay's oldest distilleries. Suntory have maintained the line of the Morrisons as hands on producers of this smokey, chocolatey malt.The maturation warehouses on the banks of Loch Indaal are lapped by five feet of sea water at high tide and this definitely lends to the hint of salt and seaweed in the nose.
From the start, this distillery was intended as a high ouput producer of malts. Most of its production was earmarked for blending with other malts, but the distinct flavours found in this malt has led to larger quantities being bottled as the single malt which has gained a good reputaion as a slightly different Islay malt. Lighter than most, with a smooth palate and long full sweet finish. Built around a courtyard, the distillery, like Caol Ila, clings to the Sound of Islay and Jura is everpresent across the fast moving waters. Built in a remote area of the island, the community of workers and their families built with the distillery and now a village hall and schoolhouse sit high above the distillery.
Near the ruins of Dunyveg Castle, from where over 1,000 Islay men sailed to fight for Robert the Bruce at the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314. Thought to be one of the oldest distilleries in Scotland. By the mid 1700's there were as many as 10 illicit stills producing whisky in this small bay area and of these, the two remaining, now legal distilleries joined in in 1837 to form Lagavulin.
Lagavulin Distillery
©Duck Foot Design
Founded, like its near neighbour, Ardbeg, in 1815, the traditional malting floors like many of the other original buildings still exist and the malt is still turned by hand throughout the seven day germination period, to ensure the maintaining of an even temperature. Laphroiag with its archetypically dark, oily and peaty Islay malt is one of the top selling malts in the world. Its somewhat sharp iodine and seaweed hints led to it being available thoughout the Prohibition Period in America, as "medicinal spirit", which went a long way to cementing its position of favour on the US market. The name means "pretty hollow by the wide bay" and it is a lovely situation for a distillery.
Caol lla Distillery
©Duck Foot Design
Gaelic for Sound of Islay, this distillery lies hidden in a little cove near Port Askaig on the Sound and looks out over to the Paps of Jura, towering on the horizon. Production here began in 1846, but the orginal distillery and its subsequent buildings were replace in 1974 when a larger distillery was built in a similar architectural style. The Caol Ila malt is a lighter Islay malt, with less of the strong peaty flavours. Slightly sweet, medicinal, salty and spicy flavours abound with distinct floral notes on the nose and inevitably, a trace of the peat. Like all Islay malts, the complexity bears long investigation.
The Bruichladdich Distillery which stopped production in 1994, was bought by independent bottlers Murray McDavid at the end of December, 2000 and they took Jim McEwan of Morrisons Bowmore Distillery to be Production Manager. Once again the sad and neglected site is a thriving producer of fine whisky. Questions were asked whether the lighter Bruichladdich style, with its moss and almond flavours, delicate nose and oily texture would be replaced by the more "obvious" sea and peat flavours of Islay.Since then, "The Laddie" has opened to visitors and is winning medals and prizes left, right and centre, including twice being voted "Malt of the Year". A decision to bottle on-site is one thing that sets them aside from all other Islay distillers. Another is the main bottling which retains the delicate nose and light flavours mentioned above. 75% of the distillery production goes to the main brand and the phenol count (peat content to you and me) stands at 3 parts per million (ppm). 13% of production is the single malt, Port Charlotte which has a phenol count of 40ppm, putting it right up there in the peat lists with Ardbeg, Lagavulin and Laphroaig, The other 12% of the distillery production is in the form of Octamore, the peatiest whisky in the world! A staggering phenol count of over 80ppm, yet, perhaps due to the long narrow necks of the stills, a refined and smooth, satiny finish, following a knockout nose. THe distillery even has a futures market on this product, they are so convinced of the wonderful result they'll have in a few years, when they come to bottle. Many distilleries have been taken out of cobwebs over the last 10-15 years, but mainly by the larger distilling giants, seeing a huge upturn in the golbal single malt market. The Laddie is a success story involving people who care about whisky and care about the community. 17 people now work in the Bruichladdich distillery, which might not sound like many, but when you think of the "16 men of Tain", the huge advertising campaign for Glenmorangie, saying the whole process is done by 16 men, then Bruichladdich has made a significant difference to the lifes of the workers and the community of which they are the centre.
The first licence to distil was issued in 1831 and production of a typically peaty island malt continued up to 1901 when a dispute between the island laird who was the landlord of the distillery and the distiller resulted in the distillery being closed until 1963, the roofs taken off to avoid the need to pay taxes on the buildings. When production restarted in 1963, larger than normal stills were used which has resulted in a lighter, more typically Highland malt, with a gentleness and balance which still retains a subtle peaty background. The distillery sits apposite the hotel, just above the harbour and looking out to the Small Isles.
The newest distillery in production in Scotland, situated on the gentle slopes above Loch Ranza and the small ferry port to the Mull of Kintyre, opened in 1995. The Isle of Arran was reputed in the early 19th century to produce the best malt whisky in Scotland, from more than 50, mainly illegal, stills. The water is paramount in any whisky and the soft waters of Arran running down from the granite mountains through the peaty soil, make this malt one that will soon be recognised as a great whisky. The first run to be bottled has matured very quickly, in special sherry casks and is already being recognised as a classic.
Built in 1794, the distillery sits in the centre of town, looking down to the harbour. Apart from a break of about a year in the 60's this distillery has been in almost continuous production. Technically a Highland Malt from its' mainland position, this malt hints at the sea and has some of the flavour of the islands, with a recognisable similarity to Bowmore. Oban is one of United Distiller's Classic Malts series. An ancient site, this, when enlargement took place in 1890, a cave was discovered containing bones from the Mesolithic era.
Edradour Distillery
©Duck Foot Design
Established in 1825, Edradour is Scotland's smallest distillery. It's a pleasant little drive into the hills east of Pitlochry. Whisky production is carried out by only three men and total production in a week is only enough to fill 12 casks. If you want to sample Edradour whisky, then you better do it at the distillery, as production is so low, it is the only spot guaranteed to have supplies.
The Blair Athol distillery is in a lovely spot in the historical town of Pitlochry, surrounded by beautiful scenery. The Allt na Dour burn runs through the distillery grounds, but the water used in the distilling is taken from the Kinnaird Burn. Blair Athol has been an illegal still since 1798 and became a legal distillery in 1825. This malt is used as a major ingredient of the popular Bells Blend.
Near the pretty town of Crieff and on the banks of the Turret Burn, the Glenturret distillery claims to be the oldest in Scotland. Illicit stills were present on this site as early as 1717 and probably long before and the distillery has legally produced whisky since 1775. It is also the most visited of all the Scottish distilleries with around 200,000 guests a year.
Chivas Regal, one of the world's best known blended whisky, sells in over 150 countries. Its main ingredient? Strathisla. This pretty distillery is one you'd traditionally expect all others to look like with its twin pagodas and waterwheel. There is a real history to Strathisla, more, maybe than even most distilleries. Dominican monks discovered the clear waters of the Fons Buliens, the spring which is the source of Strathisla's malts today, in the 12th century. Originally named Milltown, the name changed in the 1870's.
The familiar green, triangular bottle of Glenfiddich was the first single malt to be spread throughout the world. One of the larger distilleries, with 18 spirit stills and 10 wash stills and warehouse space to store over quarter of a million casks. Compare that to little Edradour with its production of 12 casks a week.
Glenfiddich Distillery ©Duck Foot Design
Glenfiddich is the only distillery in the Highlands to "chateau-bottle" their product, that is, they bottle the malt on site where it is made and matured. In "The Valley of the Stag", they make the biggest selling single malt in the world!
Set in woodland, this distillery was created in 1840 and is the producer of a quintissential pale golden Highland malt. You can visit the study of Major James Grant, once owner of the distillery in the 19th century and see how production has retained much of its original methods, even though by the end of the century, he had introduced a warehouse lift, refrigeration, electric lighting and its own fire service. A pretty Victorian garden adds to the 19th century atmosphere.
Glenfarclas means Valley of the green grassland. Distilled on the Ballindalloch Estate, on Speyside, since a licence was granted in 1836, the distillery started to grow when it was taken over by the Grant Family, still owners today, 5 generations later. This malt is always matured in Spanish Oak sherry casks, which give it its’ rich amber colour and its’ mellow and slightly sweet flavour. They like to boast "the only thing that’s changed in 160 years is the label."
The highest distillery in Scotland, midway between Perth and Inverness and situated at 326m/1073ft, Dalwhinnie is in a glen with the Monadhlaith Mountains on the one side, the Forest of Atholl, the Cairngorms and the Grampians to the other. Dalwhinnie is Gaelic for "meeting place" and the village stands at the junction of old cattle-droving routes from the west and north down to the markets of Crieff and Falkirk in the Central Lowlands. Dalwhinnie can be an isolated spot and needs to be completely self-contained. It has a special hostel for staff when blizzards cut off the distillery. The water comes from the Allt an t'Sluic spring, bedded in granite, which feeds the Spey and the malt is a major factor in the Buchanan’s and Black and White blends.
Cardhu has in the past been variously known as Cardow and Cardoor from the gaelic 'black rock'. Situated in the heart of Speyside, on the same stretch of river as Knockando and Tamdhu distilleries, which is a favoured spot for salmon fishermen. There was illicit distilling on the site (not unusual for much of Scotland) before a farmer, John Cumming set up a still in 1824. He’s said to have relied on the wonderful home baking skills of his wife Helen to disguise the odour of the whisky before finally becoming legal. The water used comes through nearly three miles of pipe from a spring on Mannoch Hill.
Although on the banks of the River Spey, this distillery draws water from the Cardnach Spring. Knockando is unusual in that it is bottled as a single malt under the year of distillation, intimating that the malt is bottled when properly mature, rather than at a specific age. Knockando has a production of somewhere in the region of 30 million litres per year.
Glenlivet Distillery
©Duck Foot Design
Glenlivet had such a famous reputation for its' whisky that by the end of 19th century, many whiskies distilled in areas clearly not in the glen were claiming to be Glenlivets. "The longest Glen in Scotland" it became know from this. After a court case in the 1880's, the distillery, as the first licenced distillery in the Highlands in 1824, earned the right to the name The Glenlivet.
Meaning Valley of Tranquility, the distillery, one of the smallest in the Highlands lies below the Tarlogie Hills on the Dornoch Firth. Production is limited to the distillery's own bottlings and none is used in blends. The four stills have very long necks and they are the tallest in Scotland, at over 5 metres.A popular whisky in Scotland, which might say something about the quality of this malt, but equally might not.
Glenmorangie Distillery
©Duck Foot Design
In the Muir of Ord in the 19th century, nine distilleries produced whisky and the area was said in the mid 1800's to have no other product save whisky. Now, only Glen Ord is in production. A little late to enter the 20th century, Glen Ord still had parafin lighting in the late 1940's and much was still operated by water power as late as the 1960's. Now with a visitor's centre and tours of the distillery, they're in a strong position in the 21st.
Another of United's Classic Malts, Cragganmore, halfway between Ballindalloch and Grantown on Spey was built here to take advantage of the first railway into the region. That now forms part of the Speyside Way footpath, so if it were possible to do a walking tour of distilleries (and Speyside might be the only area where it is even remotely feasible), this would be the place to start.