Whisky Fringe 2018

Pink faced men in anoraks
(Yes they are all men)
Wait in the rain
It's August in Scotland
Time again for the Whisky Fringe..

We are queueing up in the rain for The Whisky Fringe. I can tell I am an ignorant fool, the boys in front of me have lists, have done their home work, know exactly where they are going, what drams and in what order. A grumpy fella behind, tweeds, umbrella, soft southern shoes...maybe he's been reluctantly sent north by some faceless corporate behemoth to check out the competition..

I listen in to the 'boys' in front, pick up a tip for Daft Mill...that's somewhere to start..

I am not a died in the wool whisky affecionado, I fortuitously picked up my ticket at the last minute from some surly men at the bus stop (perhaps, not surly - just Scottish in the rain)..Callum, a pink faced man in a check shirt. Check shirts, pink faces, anoraks...there's a few of them about..

The Whisky Fringe, organised by Royal Mile Whiskies, is a fine occasion every year to sample from a selection of literally hundreds of very fine whiskies, some of which I could never afford a dram of never mind a bottle. This year, as in previous years, it is held in the Mansfield Traquair, a gorgeous deconcecrated church, an ex-church, decorated by Phoebe Traquair with fabulous twentieth cenury murals (a rarety in calvinist Scotland). At least for today spirit has replaced, or is added to, Holy Spirit.

It's a dreich summer's day in Edinburgh. Sampling whisky is a fine activity for dreich summer's day. They go together like cheese and oatcakes.

The real connoisseurs ( or perhaps alcoholics), do all three days at £35 a pop. The tickets sell out faster than Glastonbury. I stumbled upon it (again) rather haphazardly, this year buying a bottle of Compass Box Assyla ( a previous Whisky Fringe favourite) for some Italian friends in the High Street shop, I left my address, in the vague hope of a return, and that's how Callum found me with his spare ticket. We agreed to meet outside the church, like a clandestine wedding.

The doors open and we file in, anoraks and brollies left at the door.  We get a nosing glass and a pamphlet and guide, 31 producer stalls, let's say 200 whiskies, and 4 hours to try them..

Again,  you can tell the pro's, they have a special lanyard that holds their nosing glass, presumably to allow them to gesticulate more wildly, or perhaps take notes. Prices seem to range from £40 -£300, I  decide to ignore prices, take a naive approach, see where my Nose / the Muse/ the Spirit takes me..but, I'll start with the Daft Mill, because the bloke outside said it was good.

Daft Mill (2006 Summer release)

A soft dram that reminds me of the rain
Sharp and spicey nose, smooth and warm
A rainy day on Loch Duich..

Then something twenty year old from Japan's highest distillery (from Compass Box).

Mars Shinanotanpopo

Smells different, I couldn't tell you how
Sherry cask, of mountain green
Steam off tropical hills
Quiet, austere, measured.

Japan becomes more Scottish with the nosing
..and the drinking.

If whisky brings the peace of it's maturation
This is the peace (or imagined peace)
Of a long hot, humid summer.

I find a shelf to lean on. There's lot's of whiskies to taste, but I want to take my time and try to savour a few (rather than swill down a lot). My other rule is not to look at the prices.. I might find out later if they are expensive or not.

Check shirt,who was Anorak in front of me in the queue outside, is taking notes on the same shelf. He points me to the Tomatin Moscatel.

Tomatin Muskatel

The Tomatin representative, shouts tasting notes through the din as he pours, he's been doing it for three days...in one ear and out the other. 'Just the wrong side of the road to be a Speyside.' -  He shouts. I passed this distillery recently,  flying, too fast, down the A9, on my way back from Skye and Loch Duich. Tomatin is a Highland Malt then, according to the random allocation of boundries..

It's fifteen years old, matured for five years in a Muskatel barrel. It tastes of cheese and wet blankets, spice and liquorice (my tasting notes are often a bit weird).

The Theory of Place

There are probably lots of theories and speculation as to what makes a good whisky, the barley, the malting process, the shape of the still, the barrel or barrels, the maturation.  Perhaps part of it is the place and duration of maturation. So an Islay whisky, rested and matured in a quiet, island warehouse near the sea might take on some of the characteristics of it's environment, sea salt and sea weed perhaps, more esoterically, the quiet stillness of such a remote location and the Tomatin, next to the busy A9, might be a bit more busy and restless.

Lagavulin 2001 Distillers Edition

 Check shirt and I seem to have synchronised our tastings and we meet again at the one wee shelf where it is possible to put down your glass and write some notes..

I imagine this dram to have been lovingly rested on an island, in a dry sherry cask, I am told..A whiff of the sea, liquorice and spice and of course a peaty fire..

'You're not on the Islay's already?' Clearly the Big Flavours of Islay should be left until the end of the day..I elaborate my 'Theory of Place' -check shirt tells me Lagavulin is matured in Fife..so bang goes that theory.

Kilchoman

'Islay's single farm, single Malt, from barley to bottle.' It's matured on the island too..

They have four releases on offer, I forgot to note down which one I tried, but it is dry and nutty and I note 'more pure in it's peatyness' ..which may well be my imagination at work.

Glen Scotia - A visit to the basement

Time for a break (sort of) and a wee bit of pallet cleansing after those two Islays (I suppose). Anyway, Glen Scotia an old, but newly revived, Campbeltown distillery is offering a presentation by the distillery manager Ian McAlister, in the basement.

Campbeltown, is the newest, of the five defined whisky regions (the others being Highland, Island, Speyside, Islay and Lowland) and the town used to be the Victorian Whisky capital of the world with about a fifth of all the distilleries in Scotland. Today there are just three, Springbank, Glengyle and Glen Scotia, with appropriate investment and marketing going in to reinvigorate Campbeltown as a Whisky region.

Ian takes us through a tasting of three Glen Scotia's - An eighteen year old, The Victoriana and  a twenty nine year old single cask.

The eighteen year old has a long, sweet and spicey nose, tastes of liquorice, apricots and sea salt. 'Good nose prickle', I am told..

The Victoriana is finished in heavily charred oak casks, giving it colour and sweetness. 'Caramellicious' is the word I wrote down, though perhaps a bit too sweet..nice, I would imagine,  after Christmas dinner.

The twenty nine year old cask tastes of polish and leather, wild place and wild winter weather. Ian hints at some other deeper taste,  a peatyness, which becomes obvious as soon as he says it, peat and cigars, perhaps coming from the barrel, used for a previous whisky's maturation..origins uncertain.

We have a nice chat about, what makes a good whisky and where does the flavour come from.

Someone argues that a really good whisky comes from a first fill bourbon cask (somewhat different from the whiskies we are tasting). Ian argues that it is his job to balance all the different flavours, you can fill ten barrels with the same whisky on the same day and end up with one very good one and one that is indifferent, why? well there is still much to be discovered all you can do is take the best ingredients and then manage and process them to the best of your ability.

It's argued that Islay and Campbeltown whiskies are exposed to Atlantic gales and Speyside whiskies aren't...that there is an oiliness and saltyiness associated with the former. Perhaps the saltiness comes in with the barley (but then, it is easier to get good quality barley from the east coast..) and Bowmore (like Lagavuillin) is stored and matured in the central belt..

So perhaps we could say the fruitiness comes from port and sherry casks, the caramels and darker colouring from the charring of the cask, wood and nuts (my 'polish and leather') from the cask and the time spent in it. The peatiness is a echo of the drying of the wet west coast grain over peat fires and the wild, saltiness an echo and a flavour of the wild west coast and the perhaps areflection the preferences  and character of the people that live there.

My notes get esoteric, maudline (and only partly legible) after that and it is not even half time. I particularly enjoy A Single Cask Glen Moray from the Adelphi Distillery Company (another recommendation from Check Shirt, he's been invaluable, the whisky Sensei appearing when you need him in a simple guise of anorak and check shirt).

At the end, fourteen drams and one steak pie over the four hours. That's probably my 20 units of alcohol for the week. The  ticket includes a £10 voucher to buy a bottle from Royal Mile Whiskies and an additional £10 off offer from Glen Scotia for one of their whiskies..

I take home a bottle of single cask Glen Moray (1995) from Adelphi and the eighteen year old from Glen Scotia, to sit in the cupboard and be savoured over the year..

I'll let you know how I get on..

Fortuitous Stumblings - The Whisky Fringe

The Whisky Fringe is not a dodgy haircut you might give yourself after a wee bit too much of the water of life.

Edinburgh in August is host to one of the largest Arts Festivals in the world. The Whisky Fringe was part of it this year.

If you are interested in the background read on, if you'd rather go straight to the tasting notes, scroll down to Tastings.

Edinburgh's Festivals

Edinburgh in August does not have just one festival, but three major festivals: The Edinburgh International Festival, The Fringe Festival and The Book Festival, not to mention the Edinburgh Military Tattoo. This year alone there more than 50,000 individual performances.

In short, if you like anything to do with the Arts, Edinburgh is a great place to be come August. Edinburgh is a great city, come Festival time it's amazing.

The Edinburgh International Festival got going after the Second World War, when many of Europe's cities had been bombed out. From the outset it attracted performers and artists of outstanding quality and ability from all over the world.

Soon after it started, individual artists and smaller theatre companies started flocking to Edinburgh at Festival time. They found their own venues in pubs,clubs and church halls and put on shows in the hope of being noticed by the critics and money men who were also in Edinburgh at Festival time. This supplementary festival became known as the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, because it took place on the margins or fringes of the main International Festival.

Today, 'The Fringe' is considerably bigger than the International Festival and many think it is the Edinburgh Festival. Many talented artists and entertainers, particularly in comedy were discovered in Edinburgh: Peter Cook and Dudley Moor, much of the Monty Python team, Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie and Eddie Izzard to name but a few.

The Whisky Fringe

What has this got to do with whisky I hear you asking? Well a number of years ago Royal Mile Whiskies decided to get in on the act and in the best traditions of the Fringe, they hired a venue and put on a their own 'show', whisky related of course and they invited all the whisky producers they could think of to come and offer samples of their wares.

I went to a couple of Whisky Fringes back in the early days and then it seemed to disappear. Fringe events come and go, that's the norm, so I thought not much more about it apart from the occasional reverie - that Whisky Fringe, that was a good thing, I wonder whatever happened to it?

Anyway, I found myself walking down Broughton Street on a fine August afternoon and I see people milling about outside the Mansfield Church that was, and I'm going...hang on a minute that's where they used to have the Whisky Fringe..I wonder..so I went up and asked and indeed it was. So popular has it become that they no longer bother advertising, tickets sell out within minutes of going on sale.

I don't suppose there'd be any tickets left then? I asked with a mixture of hope and apprehension, adjusting myself to the notion of an unexpected afternoon of whisky drinking...

The Mansfield Church

A wee bit about the venue..

The Mansfield Church I have to say is a fine venue for whisky drinking. A Church?? I hear you say, aye, but a deconcecrated church.

The story I heard was that it was owned by a Christian sect who managed to convince themselves that the Lord was coming back next Tuesday. So, having no further need of material possessions, they sold the place for a tenner (ten pounds). It's a good story, I don't know if it is true or not. Anyway, it was abandoned and used as a store room for many years until it was saved, restored and given a new lease of life as a venue and center for Scotland's voluntary organisations.

In it's former life as a Kirk, it was decorated by Phoebe Anna Traquair. Here's some pictures from the interior.

She came back.

...'You're in luck' she said, 'we've had a couple of returns.' 

So in I go some what bemusedly and unexpectedly, my wallet thirty quid the lighter, tasting glass in hand, into what has been described as 'Scotland's Sistine Chapel', dedicated, for this afternoon at least, to celebrating another kind of spirit.

Tastings

The Whisky Fringe program states -

'Our intention has always been to broaden people's knowledge of whisky in a convivial and relaxed atmosphere.'

And also -

'..behave in a responsible manner. It only takes one numpty to ruin it for everyone. Don't be that numpty.' A 'numpty' is a good Scottish word for a turnip, generally used to describe an idiot.

With over 200 drams there to sample, the program recommends you to try 'no more than five or six', striking the right balance, as always with whisky drinking, is going to be part of the challenge.

The sample measure is about two sips, which I thought was a nice idea that could be adopted by some of the more touristy pubs, allowing people to sample a range of whiskies. Scottish drinking laws however, probably wouldn't allow it.

The crowd seems mostly made up of Scots. Meaty Scots I would call them on the whole, not the thin artistic types I've been seeing at other Festival events. I am a bit on the meaty side myself (although my soul, I like to think, is the thin artistic type).

Chivas Regal 25 year old

Chivas is not a whisky it would ever come to me to look for or ask for in a pub in Edinburgh. It's a blend and we tend not to go for blends. I remember it from a wedding I attended in Chile and indeed Wikipedia tells me -

'It is the market leading scotch whisky 12 years and above in Europe and Asia Pacific.'

Owned by Pernod, Chivas' home is the Strathisla Distillery in Speyside. The 25 year old is a limited edition blend of whiskies aged 25 years old or over. The price is around £165 ($300) a bottle, so I won't be buying a bottle any time soon.

In my own tasting notes, I describe it simply as a smooth Speyside. Chivas, if it is for sale in Scotland (I didn't have the courage to ask!) is not heavily marketed or promoted and I hadn't looked at the price tag.

I was just getting started, but it came across as just a descent Speyside.


The Feathery

The Feathery is again a malt blend, taking it's name from the early golf balls, which I believe were stuffed with feathers. The Feathery is produced by the Spencerfield Spirit Company which is a Fife based company and seems to be mostly a  blending and marketing operation (and nothing wrong with that) producing it's own label gins and whiskies.

I was drawn to their stand by their award winning 'Sheep Dip' brand, but somehow got swayed onto The Feathery. Sheep Dip along with Fettercairn were the two favorite drams of the shepherd on the farm where I grew up. On a cold April lambing afternoon, I'd occasionally get treated to a dram. For me, whisky memories don't come much better or whisky endorsements much higher.

My tasting notes for The Feathery - A blend, very smooth, orangey, almost a liqueur. I am hesitant to call it a woman's whisky, for men can be delicate souls too and vice versa, but perhaps a whisky for someone who doesn't like whisky; a gentle introductory whisky, or a whisky for the non whisky drinker.


Ledaig

Ledaig is a Single Malt produced by the Tobermory distillery on the island of Mull. The Tobermory Distillery, the only distillery on the island, produces a non peated malt, The Tobermory and a fairly heavily peated malt, The Ledaig.

Tasting Notes -

Sharp and peaty, quite soft on the nose, of gun rooms and wet dogs, sharp and earthy, gunpowder, think Lapsang Souchong.



Glenmorangie

I was drawn to the 12 year old Quinta Ruban which had a beautiful rich orangey colour. The whisky is matured for ten years in American white oak casks before being transferred to Port 'pipes' from the Quintas estate in Portugal. The trick is, the man said, to not allow the delicate flavours associated with Glenmorangie to be overwhelmed by the stronger flavours of the port.

Tasting notes - The nose is very delicate and definitely a 'whisky nose'. Actually difficult to find anything of the Port. Strong in the mouth (without added water). Orangey, spicey, peppery. Not that exited about it.

Compass Box

I am an old fan of Compass Box whiskies. The Asyla had been a discovery and one of my favorites at a previous Whisky Fringe.

The Whisky Fringe ticket at £30 includes a £10 voucher off a £40+ bottle of whisky. I eventually, after humming and hawing over four whiskies I didn't know, opted for a bottle of the Compass Box Spice Tree, which I am now quietly sipping of an evening at home.

Compass Box are a London based company (we won't hold that against them too much) that produce a range of blended whiskies. I had great chat with their representative Greg Glass.

Grain whiskies can be made from any grain, whereas malt whiskies must be made from malted barley. Additionally, Scottish malt whisky must be made in a pot still, whereas grain whisky can be made in a column still (a column still produces greater alcohol per volume, but a less flavourful spirit).

Traditionally, when all Scottish whiskies would have been peat dried, Scottish whisky, all Scottish malt whiskies, would have been peaty and heavy and would have been mixed, or blended, with grain whiskies to reduce that heavy flavour.

'Generally blends today have a bad name and are coarser whiskies, but there is no reason why a blend can't equal in quality a Single Malt. It is to do with the ingredients used; use a rough whisky and you'll get a rough blend. Grain whiskies can add a lightness to a heavy malt, a hint of vanilla and of tropical fruits.'

Greg Glass - Compass Box

In all I tried three of Compass Box's whiskies.

Great King Street - Artist's Blend

I can't seem to find my notes on it, but I remember not being overly impressed. A nice bottle and at £22.50, one of the cheapest whiskies here, so perhaps not bad for the price.


The General

A feature of the Whisky Fringe is the 'Half Time Whistle', a whistle blows and the producers whip out one bottle of something really special. The General was Compass Box's special whisky, one of the few remaining bottles of a blend of two 'thirty years plus' single malts of unknown origin. It was lovely; a lovely long sweet nose of caramels and cigars, sweet and relaxing to swallow.

The Spice Tree

The Spice Tree was my take home bottle, so I've tasted it in a different way from any other whisky mentioned here. It is a blended malt whisky, non chill filtered and aged in virgin French oak. The casks, which are made to order, are composed of new French oak for the heads and used American oak for the bodies. The malts used are ' all Highland single malts, primarily from the village of Brora' (this would hint at Clynelish, which is not a whisky I know).

Tasting notes - Sweet liquoricy, spicy as you'd expect, but not unpleasantly so, oily, smooth. Not exceptional in flavour, but a pleasant relaxing dram.


At this point in the afternoon, I was reaching my limit; although it is only two sips per whisky, there's only so many you can or would want to taste in an afternoon. In the interests of research and balance, I decided to give a couple of the more peaty whiskies a go.

Talisker

Talisker is owned by Diageo. It is the only malt from the only distillery on the beautiful island of Skye, Highland home of my heart and a distillery I've actually visited (with my dear friend Dave Martin)...it's going to have to be pretty poor for me not to like it.

Talisker is 13-17 parts per million phenols from peat smoke, as compared to 50-60 ppm for Islay malts. 'Just peaty enough for some people', I am told. I try the Talisker Storm, which describes itself as a 'no age statement whisky'. I find it peaty yes, but still light and refreshing, so living up to the 'just peaty enough' description.

Laphroaig

Laphroaig seems to be owned these days, or at least stabled within, another large marketing concern called Maxxium UK ltd, a UK business based in Sterling.

At their stand I tried the Laphroaig Select where the man insisted, when I asked how old it was 'it's no aboot the age'. It is a triple wood aged whisky from Islay, finished in small sherry casks (so therefore more contact with the wood). It has a fruity nose and is surprisingly more woody than peaty, tastes of gunpowder/Lapsang Souchong. Quite dry, very nice, surprisingly refreshing.

Old Pultney 21 year old

To finish off, a dram of the Old Pultney 21 year old, an old favorite of mine. I bought myself a bottle for my birthday several years ago, having read in a newspaper that it had been rated the best whisky in the world. I like an evening dram, that's how I tend to rate and enjoy my whiskies. It didn't disappoint then and it doesn't disappoint now..it brought me peace. My favorite whisky to date.

Tasting notes - Soft and fruity nose, slight pepperyness  on the tongue - gives you a sense of peace and a warm after glow.


There was also a rather forlorn man in the corner trying to interest people in what were probably some fine Rye whiskies and a dapper, well mannered Japanese man with samples of Hakushu and Yamazaki whiskies. He was being harangued by two kilted Scottish numpties, but coping reasonably well with it. I might of tried one, but I can't remember.

For me that was enough for the day and it was time to get back out into the sunshine.

Ranking by taste

(1)   Old Pultney 21 year Old
(2)   The General from Compass Box
(3)   Spice Tree from Compass Box
(4)   Laphroaig Select ('It's no aboot the age!')
(5)   Talisker Storm
(6)   The Feathery
(7)   Glenmorangie Quinta Ruban
(8)   Chivas Regal 25 year old.
(9)   Ledaig
(10) Great King Street from Compass Box

Glenkinchie 12 year old - A Protestant kind of dram.

Tasting conditions, I would have to say were ideal for this one. After a muddy, entertaining and tiring walk with a friend round Roslyn Glen, on a cold February afternoon and after a hearty wholesome meal of bangers and mash.

I found it a dry ('Protestant' I called it), spare kind of dram, not full of sherry flavours or sweetness - dry and cold like the day (It was slightly chilled from sitting in a friends front porch for a couple of hours).  It was  peaceful, not busy with flavours. It rounded off the day finely, a stick of shortbread as accompaniment would have perfected it.

I have a theory that a good whisky should convey a sense of peace, something of that relaxation of water that comes from sitting still in a quiet place for a number of years. The Glenkinchie 12 year old did.

I really enjoyed this one, but then it was a particularly fine moment for a dram and I give it a rating of eight out of ten.

Addicted to pleasure, *****

If you haven't seen this, I really recommend it. The whole series has been superb, gently sticking the knife into the idea of a beneficent British Empire, the Scots less than salutary role it and  how it affects us physically and materially to this day.

Brian Cox also gets to try some 'Scottish hooch' fresh distilled from an old Hebridean pot still, which few people get to try as it can't legally be called whisky until it's been matured for at least three years in an oak cask.

There is also a nice explanation of how the Scottish summer sun causes the spirit in the cask to expand into the wood of the barrel, thus acquiring some of the flavour of the cask it is stored in.

Addicted to Pleasure, Brian Cox in a tour de force look at the history of the Scottish Whisky industry.

Nice wee exhibition at the Scottish parliament by the Scotch Whisky Association

 My flatmate works with the Scottish Parliament and told me about this. 

It is a celebration of  the Association's 100th Birthday. I Learned some interesting facts, for instance 'White Horse' is named after the White Horse Inn from where the coaches to London left in the eighteenth century. The Inn is still there, just up the road on the Canongate, must pop in for a pint some time..

 Also, did you know,  Scotland ships 40 bottles of whisky a second overseas. 

After looking round the exhibition, I went and watched the debate on Scottish science in the chamber. Apparently we are quite good at it, punching above our weight in terms of UK funding. We seem to have a problem with female scientists leaving the profession. There was some discussion of whether scientific evidence led to policy or policy led to to a scramble for 'evidence' to back it up. Alex Harvey, the leader of the Scottish Greens recommended a  a book called 'The Geek Manifesto', which sounded quite interesting. It was an interesting debate to listen to.

The debate was fairly sparsely attended. The rest of the MSP's came in at five to vote and after they left there was a wee debate on the Camphill communities that were set up by in Scotland by German Anthropsophical refugees before the war. They are now all over the world and do good work caring for young and old, with learning difficulties etc. It turned out to be an interesting afternoon.

Anyway  I took some notes on the exhibition, for those of you interested who can't make it along in person.

What is the Scotch Whisky Association?

In 1909, under Chancellor Lloyd George, taxes on whisky rose 30% to fund social reforms. This is the background against which the Scotch Whisky Association  was formed, rising taxes and consequent falling sales. 

In 1912 The Wine and Spirit Brand Association was formed. In 1917 this organisation changed its name to the Whisky Association. In 1942 it was renamed the Scotch Whisky Association.

The main functions of the Scotch Whisky Association are -

(1)   To protect the integrity of Scottish Whisky world wide.

(2)   To promote responsible attitudes to alcohol consumption.

(3)   To secure fair and equal access to international markets.

(4)   To tackle tax discrimination and help secure appropriate regulation of the industry.

(5)   To promote Scottish Whisky as a quality product made from natural raw materials.

(6)   To represent the Industry’s interests at Government level, both at home and abroad.

Facts and Figures

Scotland has the greatest concentration of distilleries in the world and Scotish Whisky is the most productive food and drinks industry in Europe. It employs 10,000 people in Scotland and a further 25,000 jobs are supported by the industry.

Forty bottles of whisky are shipped overseas every second.

United States 654 million bottles (up 31%)

Asia 318 million (up 44%)

Taiwan 155 million (up 44%)

Brazil 99 Million (up 48%)

Rising demand in both mature and emerging markets has resulted in export values increasing by an average of 10% a year over the last five years.

Whisky Regions

Today five main whisky regions are recognised-

Highland

Lowland

Speyside

Islay

Campbeltown

Difference between Grain and Malt Whisky

Malt whisky is made by the pot still process and grain whisky by the patent or Coffey still process. Malt whisky is made from malted barley only, while grain whisky is made from malted barley and other cereals.

Flavour

Many imitators have tried in vain to copy the aroma and flavour of Scotch whisky. The main factors are –

Water

Peat

The Scottish Climate

The cask

The exact reasons for it’s distinctive flavour remains a mystery, there is no universally accepted answer. However the Scottish climate is thought to be particularly important, particularly when the whisky is maturing, the soft Scottish air permeates the cask while it is maturing, eliminating the harsher elements to produce a mellow flavour.

Malting

Tradition meets science. During malting the barley secretes the enzyme diastase which makes the starch soluble for conversion into sugar. The barley is regularly turned  and germination is stopped by drying the malted barley, or green malt in the malt kiln. This process used to be carried out manually, at the distillery, on malting floors. Nowadays this process tends to be carried out mechanically in malting drums and often not at the distillery itself.

Distilling

The true art of distilling is only acquired over many years and is handed down from generation to generation.

Laws and regulation

The Scotch Whisky  regulations 2009 govern the production, labelling and presentation of Scotch whisky and prohibit and whisky, other than Scotch to be made in Scotland.

These regulations also state that for blended whiskies, the age displayed must be the age of the youngest whisky used in the blend.

Categories of Scotch Whisky

(1)   Single Malt

(2)   Single Grain

(3)   Blended

(4)   Blended Grain

(5)   Blended Malt

Recipe

 Only three ingredients

(1)   Water

(2)   Cereals

(3)   Yeast

But the production process is complex, combining tradition, science and innovation. It takes highly trained and dedicated people to make Scottish Whisky. Patience is also required. The production of whisky is an art form, not to be rushed, as generations of families who work in the Scottish whisky industry will tell you.

Maturation

For the distilled spirit to become Scottish Whisky it must, by law, be matured in an oak cask for at least three years, in Scotland.

By law, Scottish Whisky must be wholly matured in Scotland.

Scottish Whisky is often matured for much longer than three years.. Oak casks are used because they are semi-permeable and allow air to pass through, this is essential to the maturation process, the harsher constituents are removed and it becomes a mellow whisky. 

Malt whisky generally takes longer to mature than grain whisky and is often left in the cask for ten years or more. The period of maturation required depends on the size of the barrel used and the temperature and humidity of the warehouse.

The newly distilled spirit is a colourless liquid. Scottish Whisky derives much of its colour and flavour from the cask in which it is matured.

White Horse

White Horse Whisky is named after the White Horse Cellar Inn on the Cannon Gate in Edinburgh. This was the starting point for the eight day coach trip to London in the Eighteenth Century. At this time most of the leading brands would be sold under the founders names, White Horse stood out as the exception to this rule.

White Horse was registered as a Trade Mark in the UK in 1890 and in the USA six years later by Sir Peter Jeffrey Mackie. Peter Mackie realised the potential of brand identity to fire the imagination wherever it was sold.

Tourism and Marketing

The realisation of the tourism and marketing potential of whisky distilleries in Scotland only occurred in the late 1960’s when the first dedicated visitor centres opened. Since then, many distillery visitor centers have opened and make a significant contribution to the range of tourist activities in Scotland, welcoming over one million visitors a year.

The advent of Blending/ Whisky goes global

Around the middle of the nineteenth century blended whiskies were introduced to the market. This was a significant development in relation to both the branding and marketing of Scottish Whiskies. At this time Andrew Usher was leading the way in advertising blended Scottish whiskies in London and this paved the way for the opening up of overseas markets in the late nineteenth century.

The industry was hugely supported by the fashion for all things Scottish led by Queen Victoria. Early advertising capitalised on the association between Scotch and Scotland. The kilted Scottish soldier was highly respected by all levels of British and colonial society. An image of him communicated glamour, heroism, honour and tradition, a perfect combination of male virtues

The introduction of glass bottles

Whisky hasn’t always come in glass bottles. Initially it was obtained from distillers, distillers’ merchants or public houses straight from the still or cask and dispensed in stoneware flasks or jugs known as pigs.

Glass became more commonplace once it could be manufactured rather than being produced by hand. With the introduction of moulded glass in the 1820’s, it became much easier to standardise capacity.

The earliest know whisky bottles are from 1841 and are reused wine bottles often used by local grocers.

An Independant Top ten..

Like this for the range of whiskies and price. Also the food reccomendations are interesting. I loved the Old Pultney 21 year old, my Birthday present to myself last year. The Asyla was this year's present, also very respectable.

An Independant Top Ten

Glenkinchie

It is a strange anomaly that of the major malt whisky brands and distilleries so few of them are located in the Lowlands. The only other distillery of note in the Lowlands is Auchentoshan, which is to the north of Glasgow and draws it's water from North of the Highland line.

So if you want to try a real Lowland Malt, Glen Kinchie is probably the one. If you're visiting Edinburgh and want to visit a Scottish distillery, Glen Kinchie is probably also the one, being located in Pencaitland, about fifteen miles south of Edinburgh's city centre.







The Scottish Malt Whisky Society provide a nice bit of background at this link -

Glen Kinchie - Scottish Malt Whisky Society 

Anything in quotes is taken from this article unless otherwise stated.

Historically, we are in the Kingdom of Lot (from whence the region, Lothian, takes it's name). It is a lowland landscape with rich arable, barley growing land. To the south are the limestone Lammermuir Hills, the start of the Southern Uplands and the source of the hard clear water that flows into the Kinchie Burn, the source of Glen Kinchie's water.

A licence to operate a distillery at Glenkinchie was granted to George and John Rate in 1837 ('Kinchie is a corruption of the Norman name de Quincey, a family which once owned the surrounding land'). In 1890 the distillery was taken over by a consortium of Edinburgh Brewers and Distillers. In 1914 this company joined with other lowland distillers to form Scottish Malt Distillers which today is part of United Distillers. 

Glen Kinchie is now the Lowland representative in the United Distillers Classic Malts Range. 

Originally, the barley used for the malt would have been grown on the surrounding land and the casks matured on site. Nowadays, the modern world being as it is, the malted barley comes from Morayshire, prepared to the distillers 'lightly peated' specification. The three Glenkinchie warehouses are full and so the filled casks are matured in a huge modern complex in Alloa. 

'One thing is constant: the water that is drawn from the Kinchie Burn, Diamond bright and diamond hard, it rises in the Lammermuir Hills, running over rich limestone deposits. And the chalk makes Glenkinchie the driest of all Lowland malts. It is this water and this climate, drier and sunnier than the Highlands, which gives Glenkinchie and the other Lowlanders their quiet, distinct character. Lighter and drier than their Highland and Island cousins, the soft sweetness of the malt is allowed to come through.'  - Scottish Malt Whisky Society

Visiting the Distillery

I visited the distillery on a late October day, after one of the worst summer's we've had and we've had a few rotters in recent years. Even in the prosperous East Lothians, grain yields are down, potatoes left rotting in the fields.

Still, it was a beautiful autumn day. The distillery nestled in a dip in the landscape, with the Firth of Forth and Edinburgh to the North and the Lammermuir Hills to the south.

The distillery is brick built, Victorian, with a 'model village' in the same brick surrounding it. 

As the malted barley is now brought in from outside, the old malting floors are now used as an exhibition space. This includes a large scale model distillery showing all the various stages in the process  of creating a whisky. It's worth allowing an extra half  for your visit, to have a look round. My tour cost £6 and lasted about 40 minutes.





The Production Process

Both malting and maturing of the whisky now take place off site, the malted barley being  brought in by lorry four or five times a week,.

The production process is a batch process, using nine tonnes of malt at a time. First the malted barley is milled into grist and water, from a spring under the distillery, is added. This watery porridge is then heated in a stainless steel  mash tun  to between 76 and 84 degrees Celsius before being separated into wort and draft. 

The wort is the  sugar rich water to be distilled, the draft the solid wastes.The draft is used as animal feed  and the wort, with yeast added, is put into large  wooden tubs called washbacks, where it is fermented for about sixty hours until it turns into strong beer. 

The Glenkinchie washbacks are made from Canadian Larch or Oregon Pine.

The distillery uses two 30,963 Litre capacity washstills to convert the strong beer to spirit by a double distillation process. The Glenkinchie stills are the largest stills in use in Scotland. 

The first still produces low wines, which are 23% alcohol by volume. The low wines are then put through the second still and produce a liquid that is 70% alcohol by volume.

The Glenkinchie stills are not only large, but tall and the height contributes to it's distinctive light and gentle flavour.

The spirit from the second distillation passes through a Spirit Safe where the head (the first part) and the feints (or tail) are removed leaving the 'heart' of the spirit which will be watered down to 63% alcohol by volume.

To become Scottish Whisky this spirit must be matured in oak casks, for at least three years, in Scotland.

The casks used are either American oak ex- bourbon casks (which are reused for up to 50 years)  or Montellado sherry casks. For example a Glenkinchie whisky might be matured for twelve years in a bourbon cask, before being finished in a sherry cask.

Only 8% of the Glenkinchie production is used for the production of Glenkinchie Single Malts. The rest is used to produce blended whiskies. Johnie Walker, Dimple, White Horse, J&B are all whiskies that contain whisky from the Glenkinchie distillery. 

Tasting notes

Well, it was a long process to get a proper sit down and taste of the Glenkinchie. I bought a small, 20cl, bottle of the twelve year old when I visited the distillery. I spent that night with a friend in the Borders who had turned tea total and managed to leave the unsampled bottle at his house. He was leaving for Australia, but passed it on to a friend who lived in Roslyn. Suffice to say, I didn't reclaim it for a couple of months.

Tasting conditions, I would have to say were ideal. After a muddy, entertaining and tiring walk with a friend round Roslyn Glen, on a cold February afternoon and after a hearty wholesome meal of bangers and mash.

I found it a dry ('Protestant' I called it), spare kind of dram, not full of sherry flavours or sweetness - dry and cold like the day. Peaceful, it rounded off the day finely, a stick of shortbread as accompaniment would have perfected it.

I have a theory that a good whisky should convey a sense of peace, that relaxation of water that comes from sitting still in a quiet place for a number of years.

I really enjoyed this one, but then it was a particularly fine moment for a dram and I give it a rating of eight out of ten.