Scotland – Day 6: On the Trail

We went back to where it all started this morning and it felt great to be there. Ian Macleod, home of Chieftain's and the very first cask we ever purchased from Scotland. David and I landed in Edinburgh back in 2011 and went right to our appointment in Broxburn, a couple of glassy-eyed lads in search of adventure with no idea of what they were doing or where they were going. Three years later we're a couple of old pros. John Glass was there to meet us as usual and he had the cask samples pulled and ready to go. Chieftain's always has great selections of the highest quality and this visit was no different. There was a rockin' cask of 1997 Bunnahabhain that knocked our socks off – heavily peated and full of salty brine and Islay goodness. In all honesty, it belonged right there in that line-up of single barrel Ardbeg casks we tasted at the distillery. Stylistically it was very similar and flavor-wise it was just as good. Count on that one coming home with us.

Since Tullibardine, a small Highland distillery not too far outside of Edinburgh on our way north, had been recently purchased by an independent French company, we thought we might stop by and see if there were any fun casks available for K&L. The facility was mothballed in 1994 by Whyte & MacKay until another independent group reopened it as a visitor's center in 2003, but serious production wasn't started until five years later. That means everything in Tullibardine's warehouse is either super young or super old. We met with distillery manager John Torrance to check out the scene.

John worked for Diageo before coming over to manage Tullibardine, so he's a wealth of knowledge concerning the Scottish whisky industry. He's operated just about every Diageo distillery in Speyside, including the grains. We were super curious about how grain distilleries worked since we've never visited one and the specifics are never really made clear by most producers. We'll talk more about that information later because right now I need to show you this next picture.

When I say they have "old whisky" at Tullibardine, I'm not kidding. Fifty year old casks are there for the taking. And they're GOOD. Like 1974 Ladyburn/1979 Glenfarclas good. Let's hope, however, that the pricing resembles something from Tullibardine and not something from a lost legend or an industry darling. If it's even close to what I hope it will be I can't see any reason not to bottle an amazing 50 year old cask.

We also had lunch with one of the main directors of the brand spanking-new Ardnamurchan distillery located on Scotland's remote west coast, Mr. Alex Bruce. We've worked with Alex on some previous whisky projects with other bottlers, so it was fun to meet up and check in on the progress. He told us, with a smile on his face, that they're getting ready to begin distilling in about a week. He also showed us what the distillery will eventually look like when it's all cleaned up and ready to go. Check out the pic below:

The actual site is on the Ardnamurchan Peninsula, northwest of Oban and directly across from Tobermorey distillery on the Island of Mull. Alex knows his shit and there are some pretty cool things that his new distillery has over other producers – one thing being the fact that Alex's family has been farming barley on their site north of Edinburgh for four centuries. That means all of the barley being malted at Ardnamurchan and peated in their kiln will not only be Scottish barley, but also harvested by the actual farmer. I think that makes them this era's first grower/producer if we're to use wine terminology. 

They've also invested in 10,000 liter stills (quite big for a distillery that small) and they purchased old Cognac vats to be converted into washbacks. That makes them the only distillery in Scotland using hard wood to ferment their wash. Pine and the other woods used in distilleries like Ardbeg are actually soft wood, used primarily because it's cheaper. We won't know what the difference is until we taste the whisky, but it should be interesting to see if that makes a difference. 

They also plan on selling casks, a la Bruichladdich and other start-ups, to private buyers in order to raise a little extra cash. I've never been tempted to buy an entire barrel of whisky before, but knowing Alex and his good taste, I'm a little tempted to buy in. David OG, too. If anyone else wants a barrel, let us know. We can definitely get you one.

And....Alex's independent bottling company, Adelphi, should be available in California very soon. We're looking forward to working with the brand once it's being distributed in the state.

We're in Pitlochry now, my absolute favorite place to stay, and we just went for a long run through the forest along the beautiful River Tummel. We walked to dinner afterward, had some fish and chips, a bottle of Chablis, and now we're hitting the hay a bit early to rest up for what will be our biggest tasting appointment of the trip: Signatory. 

I can't wait to see Des and make more "Taken" jokes. He really does look like Liam Neeson.

-David Driscoll