Mark Girdlestone’s Post

The Lowlands region. 🥃 An historically overlooked region for Scotch whisky, and once home to the infamous ‘rascally liquor’ condemned by Robert Burns, BUT the region is currently undergoing an exciting flurry of revitalisation. Where is the Lowlands region? The Lowlands region is a protected locality under UK Government legislation and is located in the area south of the theoretical Highland line. It stretches from Glasgow, across to the Kingdom of Fife in the east and down to the Scottish Borders in the south. How many distilleries belong to the Lowlands region? As of March 2024, there are 22. Why are there so few distilleries in the Lowlands? In the late 19th century, there were over 100 producers in the Lowlands, producing whisky on an industrial scale, but often of poor quality.  Many became victims of the harsh effects of WWI and the U.S. Prohibition, and by the year 2000 the number of distilleries had plummeted to just THREE. What’s special about the Lowlands region? The Lowlands are home to the FIRST ever written reference to whisky. On the 1 June 1495 the Royal Exchequer Rolls included an entry detailing that Friar John Cor, was ordered by King James IV to produce ‘VIII bolls of malt’ at Lindores Abbey. 👑 Anything else? Because the vast majority of distilleries have been built from the ground up in the last 10 years or so, they tend to be quite innovative and have an inbuilt dedication to sustainability, arguably more so than any of the other regions. ♻️ Eden Mill St. Andrews, for instance, have built a brand-new distillery on the Eden Campus at the University of St. Andrews. The distillery has been built using bio-based materials and aims to achieve net-zero status when it opens later this year. Who are the best-known Lowlands producers? Well-known distilleries include Auchentoshan, Glenkinchie, Bladnoch Distillery, The Borders Distillery and Kingsbarns Distillery and Visitor Centre. Any new distilleries? Yes, The Port of Leith Distillery opened just last year and the revered Rosebank Distillery (which had been mothballed for 25 years) ran its first distillation in June 2023. Does Lowlands whisky have a particular flavour profile? It is often said that Lowland whiskies have a light, grassy and sometimes floral flavour profile. Should I visit? Yes. Most distilleries in this region have visitor centres and offer tours of the facilities. The region is also home to Johnnie Walker Princes Street and the famous SCOTCH Whisky Bar at the Balmoral Hotel in Edinburgh. Any festivals I should know about? Yes, the Fife Whisky Festival held in late February every year showcases whiskies from the Fife area and some of the other regions. You’ll find a wide variety of drams to try, tasting events and masterclasses. Are you a fan of Lowlands whisky? Let me know in the comments. 💫 FOLLOW for more whisky-related insights. 🔗 CONNECT if you’d like to talk about content for your business. #whisky #scotchwhisky #scotland

North Uist Distillery begins whisky production B Corp-certified North Uist Distillery has started distilling whisky and will produce grain-to-glass spirits using heritage barley. Located at Nunton Steadings on the Scottish island of Benbecula, North Uist was founded by Kate Macdonald and Jonny Ingledew in 2019. The 18th-century building that houses the carbon-neutral distillery was acquired by the brand’s founders in 2020. The company, known for its Downpour gin brand, is seeking to create a ‘flavour-forward’ whisky using heritage barley, a long fermentation and brewer’s yeast. Distillation occurs in squat stills that have been designed to fit under the low roof of the distillery building. The downward facing lyne arms of the stills are said to be able to capture more complex flavours, which will be complemented by ex-Bourbon, new oak, and oloroso Sherry-seasoned casks. The distillery will use bere barley, a ‘resilient and rich’ heritage crop that has grown in the high-pH soils of the Outer Hebrides for centuries, and was once Scotland’s primary barley. It has been sourced from local crofters on the island who use traditional and sustainable methods such as seaweed fertilisation. “Distilling whisky here is about more than just the spirit in the cask – it’s about honouring the past while supporting the future of our islands,” said Ingledew. “By using bere barley grown on Uist’s machair, we’re investing in a resilient crop that has evolved with our unique environment over hundreds of years. It’s a true taste of Uist and Benbecula and of the past, present and future we want for our community.” Whisky production is led by distillery manager and head distiller Jacob Crisp (formerly of Dornoch Distillery) who plans to produce one cask per day. North Uist Distillery claims to be one of only 65 B Corp businesses in Scotland. The use of locally grown bere barley will enable the company to produce whisky sustainably. Macdonald added: “We want to produce amazing whisky that honours and protects the land it comes from. That’s why our long-term goal is to have grain-to-glass whisky production using heritage bere barley, grown, malted, distilled and bottled at our historic home at Nunton Steadings. This first distillation is another important step towards that ambition.” Source The Spirit Business

Spirits | Alcoholic Beverages | Distilleries - UK registered distillery numbers explode post-COVID In 2023, the number of registered distilleries in the UK grew to 387, up 42.7% compared with pre-COVID levels. This was up 8.7% from the 356 distilleries reported in 2022. Last year saw 48 new distilleries registered in the UK alone (up 20% from 2022) while Scotland – the home of the UK’s biggest drinks export, Scotch whisky – saw three registrations last year (eight in 2022) #spirits #whisky #alcoholicbeverages #Scotchwhisky #whiskies #distilleries #distillery

Some really interesting perspectives in this article from Mark Littler, considering the question of how new distilleries can continue to stand out in such a competitive landscape. With malt distillery numbers increasing by over 40% in the last 10 years, new entrants no longer benefit from having the spotlight purely shining on them, with it now feeling like every few months brings a new distillery announcement, first cask being laid down, or inaugural release. Martin Purvis & Duncan McFadzean's Spirits Business newsletter last week emphasised the challenges around the "0% income, 100% investment/overheads" phase of a new distillery and the need to ensure a robust revenue strategy in order to build a viable business, which will survive through to the point that cased goods sales reach a volume to make the business sustainable. Those financial challenges are hard enough, but combine them with the increasingly competitive landscape for new distilleries, and it becomes clear that owners face a real battle. Fortunately, demand & enthusiasm continues to be strong around new releases, but new distilleries & products must be built on a strong backstory, clear core values, a striking visual identity, and alignment with the expectations of their target market (particularly around ESG) in order to flourish. If nothing else, this has given me the incentive to support some of my favourite new kids on the block when selecting my Friday dram(s)!

What is an Independent Bottler of Scottish Whisky? Visit a large liquor store and the Scotch Whisky section will be filled with bottles from all of your favourite distilleries. You'll be spoilt for choice! After dabbling in a few different expressions you may decide that you are very fond of a particular distillery's whisky. Let's use Macallan as an example. You really enjoy the 12yo expressions and on a particularly special occasion you splashed out on a bottle of the 18yo, lovely! You even managed to grab a few special releases on your way through duty free. Is this all that is available though? If you buy another bottle of Macallan 12yo, you will get a predictable experience. In fact, it should be just like the last bottle you bought! Larger whisky distilleries in particular go to great lengths to ensure product consistency. However, what can you do if you want to dive deeper into this distillery you are becoming more and more interested in? What else is out there? Independent bottlers are out there. But what on earth are those? A little known fact, the majority of whisky brands who bottle Scottish Whisky do not own a distillery. So who are they and where does their whisky come from? Distilleries deliberately overproduce whisky compared to their projected requirements. If a distillery uses up all its mature stocks of 12 year old whisky and needs to make more, the lead time is.... well, 12 years! As you can imagine, this is not really a viable business strategy. It's better for distilleries to produce more than they need, then sell off what they do not require. Distilleries are labour and capital intensive, so selling off casks for liquidity is a regular occurrence within the industry. Independent bottlers buy surplus stock from distilleries and whisky cask brokers. Some independent bottlers also buy new make spirit from distilleries directly for their own cask maturation programs. This is all well and good, but an inevitable question arises. Why would you buy whisky from an independent bottler instead of the distillery their whisky came from? Distilleries and independent bottlers traditionally have a different market focus and cater for different groups of whisky drinkers. Whiskies from independent bottlers are often single casks rather than large batched releases, and are frequently bottled at cask strength (regularly over 50% ABV) instead of the 40% - 46% ABV drinking strength most distilleries opt to present their core range at. Independent bottlings of whisky are snapped up by the whisky curious and whisky fanatics alike. They represent the uncut, unedited, full fat whisky experience!

What's in a name? If you poke around whisky cask investment sites for even a short amount of time, you will come across casks labelled with names like "Teithmill", "Blue Hill" or "Wardhead". A small amount of digging will lead you to the perplexing discovery that there are no distilleries under these names. So... where are these casks from? These are what are referred to as fillings or trade names. If you buy a cask of whisky which is labelled with a fillings name, there are restrictions on how you can label the liquid when it is bottled. Usually, the distillery cannot be mentioned by name even if you know for sure where it is from. In the case of Wardhead, it can only be bottled as a blended malt, not a single malt. There are other fillings which are similar in this regard. So, why do they exist? These brands essentially exist to protect the brands of the distilleries. Because their distillate is in someone else's care, they have no control over how it is matured, and eventually bottled. So should you consider buying one of these casks? Well the answer is, it depends. On the plus side, they are usually cheaper than a distillery branded cask. On the other hand, the reputation of the distillery is more difficult to leverage when labelling and selling the whisky. Some bottlers have worked out some slightly cheeky ways to get around this, but that is a story for another day! If you know, you know. Slainte!

How to Stay Relevant in the Fast-Paced World of New Whisky Distilleries. #WhiskyInnovation #DistilleryTrends #BrandStorytelling #UniqueFlavors #WhiskyCommunity #TraditionMeetsModern #CraftDistilling #WhiskyLovers #IndustryInsights #SpiritsMarket

Some great thoughts in here.

Where to start with Independent Bottlings: There are several benefits when comparing independent bottlings to distillery bottlings. 1. Independent bottlings are usually single casks or small batch releases. There is a focus solely on the flavour of the whisky, as opposed to distilleries ensuring consistency and repeatability across successive large batches of a core product. 2. They are often cask strength and naturally presented. Whilst some independent bottlers release whisky watered down to a pre-determined drinking strength, many will simply barrier filter any bits out of the whisky, and bottle it at cask strength. They rarely chill-filter or colour their whisky (practices sometimes employed by the industry which I will go into in another post), so the whisky is presented in its most natural form. It is worth noting though, cask strength whisky can be pretty potent stuff! Do not be dissuaded from watering it down to a strength at which you can enjoy it. The point of a cask strength whisky is that you can determine the strength you want to drink it at. It doesn't mean that the whisky is perfect for everyone as is. 3. Independent bottlers champion distilleries with little or no core range. This is perhaps my favourite thing about independent bottlings. They shine a light on distilleries which would otherwise be unknown to single malt drinkers. For many distilleries, the majority of their output is destined for blended whiskies. If not for independent bottlers bottling their whisky as single malt, they would not have the cult followings they do. ------------------------------------------------------------------ So, where to start! Here are a few distilleries who owe their status in the whisky community mainly to independent bottlers. Some do have a few distillery bottlings, but the independent bottlings are something else!: - Clynelish - Ben Nevis - Mortlach - Longmorn - Blair Athol - Glentauchers - Ardmore - Caol Ila And here are a few independent bottlers to check out. There are many more, but these are a good starting point.: - Gordon & Macphail - Signatory Vintage - Cadenheads - Berry Bros. & Rudd - The Whisky Agency - Thompson Bros. - Scotch Malt Whisky Society (membership required to buy) ------------------------------------------------------------------ Questions? Comment or DM. Let's talk whisky!

Welcome to part 4 in a my series of reviews covering recent releases from the Dumbarton-based independent bottler, Dràm Mòr. In this installment, I’ll be getting to grips with a wee sample from Loch Lomond Distillery, arguably one of the most interesting whisky producers in all of Scotland. Loch Lomond is capable of producing a wide range of different spirits. Each new make style is given a unique name in order to differentiate them. Some are named after islands that can be found in the famous loch. Like Inchmurrin, for example. The Loch Lomond Distillery was established in Alexandria in 1964. There was an earlier distillery to hold the name but it was relatively short-lived and the two are unconnected. Over the plant’s relatively short life, it has undergone several upgrades and expansions. Production commenced on a solitary pair of straight-necked stills that look like a combination between pot and column still. In place of the traditional swan neck, there is a cylindrical column, inside of which, there is a series of plates that can be adjusted to alter the character of the spirit being produced. The number of stills doubled in 1990, before a set of traditional swan neck pot stills were added in 1998. Complicating matters further, a set of column stills were added in 1993, to allow for the production of grain whisky. This made the distillery entirely self-sufficient and able to create everything required for making blended Scotch in-house. Despite the distillery’s impressive flexibility and potential for creativity, however, it would be fair to say that its single malt didn’t always enjoy the greatest of reputations. Things have improved in recent years after first one, then a second, management buyout. A new core range, which showcases the spirit at 46% ABV, without chill-filtering or colour enhancement, paints the spirit in a much more positive light and celebrates some of the incredible flexibility that’s been built into the distillery. Inchmurrin is the name given to an unpeated malt, distilled in the straight-neck stills and this Dràm Mòr expression is a single cask, which has been finished in an oloroso sherry hogshead before bottling at 55.7%. https://lnkd.in/eTPrWa-P