Category: Wisdom & Opinions

Pulteney Distillery

When you think of the great coastal distilleries that play on their maritime location, the usual suspects typically include the likes of Talisker, Lagavulin, Bunnahabhain, even Highland Park.   One distillery that particularly plays on its maritime theme somehow manages to continue sailing under the radar:  Pulteney Distillery.   It’s well known to those who know it well.

Pulteney is located in the town of Wick, right up in the north-east corner of Scotland’s mainland – in fact, John O’Groats is just a further 22km north.  Wick was a major herring port in the 19th century and Pulteney Distillery was established in 1826 to cash in on the thousands of sailors, fishermen, and associated trades that descended on the town each season.  (At its peak, the town played host to over 500 coopers who worked feverishly to produce the barrels for the herring’s storage and transportation.)   The distillery experienced mixed fortunes and changes in ownership, particularly once the herring had been fished out and the industry died away.  It is one of the few Scottish distilleries to suffer the ignominy of being closed due to the temperance movement – Wick was a “dry town” from 1922 until 1947 and the distillery was closed from 1926 until 1951.

Old Pulteney Distillery - production buildings
Pulteney’s production buildings

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Six historical whiskies you MUST try

You’ve probably been at a whisky event amongst a bunch of people and you were tasting a whisky from a particular distillery when someone near you remarked, “Ah, it’s not as good as it used to be…their whisky was so much better 20 years ago!”   Or words to that effect.   It’s a sentiment I’ve heard a lot lately.  Mostly because I’m the old fart repeatedly saying it.  We all look back on the rare and special whiskies we’ve tried in the past, and it’s hard not to wish that current incarnations were the same.

But I know I’m not alone – it’s an observation shared by many, and particularly amongst some of the pals I’ve been dramming with for 15-20 years.   We’re often accused of wearing rose-coloured glasses or getting caught up in sepia-toned memories.   That being said, we can be objective about this, and you should perhaps read our feature article, Is whisky better or worse today than it was 20 years ago?

To be clear, I’m not referring to all whisky per se … it would be folly and a blatant mistruth to suggest all whisky was generally better in the past.  However, there are some distilleries that, on the whole, are releasing whiskies today that are a far cry from the bottlings they released in years gone by.  I hesitate to suggest that their quality has gone downhill, since quality or flavour preference can be a subjective thing.

But, having said that, if you’ve been enjoying single malt whisky for over 20 years, there are a few benchmark drams that some of us hang our hats on.  You may have heard of these drams in the past and wondered what all the fuss is about?  Why are they so revered?

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Age is just a number: The truth about young whisky

You’ve probably heard the saying, “You’re only as old as you feel.”   It’s often accompanied by its well-worn colleague, “Age is just a number”.   And when it comes to whisky, never a truer word was said!

In the context of whisky, your perspective on a bottling’s age is probably a function of when you started drinking the stuff.  If you got into whisky more than 30 years ago, then a whisky’s age statement wasn’t much of a big deal to you.  The vast majority of whisky available and being consumed was blends without age statements, and for the enlightened few who had discovered and preferred single malts, the small number of distilleries available showcased their whiskies with humble age statements typically between 8 to 12 years.

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Investing in whisky or buying a cask? What to look out for…

Are you thinking of investing in whisky? Or buying your own cask? Owning your very own cask of whisky, maybe selling it for profit one day, or just enjoying every drop for yourself sounds like the ultimate indulgence, and it definitely appeals.  When you love whisky this much, owning your cask – or investing in one – is the icing on the cake, yes?  But icing can go off if you’re not careful, and investing in whisky has a lot more traps and pitfalls than the sales brochures make clear at the start…

There’s no denying that there’s a degree of romance involved.  It’s like owning your own little piece of Scotland, not to mention that it affords great bragging rights with your friends down the pub.  And, if you buy a cask when it first gets filled, you also get the enjoyment of watching it mature, and then tasting it at various intervals along its maturation journey – almost like watching your kids grow up!

It all sounds great on the surface, and plenty of people pay for and acquire a cask with the expectation that nothing could possibly go wrong.  After all, what’s the worst that could happen?  In ten years’ time, you’ve got 200-350 bottles of your own whisky to drink, sell, or give away!  But, for many people it seems, this end outcome causes more problems than joys.   “Why? How?” I hear you ask, indignantly.  Let’s explore…

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Distillery a victim of political correctness

Ripples shot across the pond of the Australian distilling industry this week when the PC brigade flexed its outraged muscles and seemingly strong-armed a distillery’s marketing department into an awkward about-face.

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Are whisky enthusiasts out of touch?

The 2019 Annual Brands Report by Drinks International has just been released, and it makes for fascinating reading.  For those that consider themselves a whisky connoisseur or, perhaps more accurately, a hardcore enthusiast, it also suggests you’re possibly out of step with what’s happening on the on-premise scene…

When did you realise your fondness for whisky went next level?  At what point did you graduate from being someone who merely liked whisky to someone who was interested in whisky?

Was it the day you went into a bar and ordered a neat single malt rather than a JW & coke?  The day you joined a Facebook whisky group?  Or was it the day you corrected someone for mispronouncing Islay?

Once your relationship with whisky transitions from merely liking to exploring, you join an enlightened group of comrades.  You learn and speak a new language; you make new acquaintances; you form new strong friendships; you grow a collection; and you devour all the information you can about whisky.  And, importantly, for the purposes of this piece, you find yourself part of a very small minority. For it turns out that the rest of the world – even those that like and drink whisky – are marching to the beat of a different drum.  There is a huge disconnect between the priorities and purchasing habits of a whisky enthusiast and the common imbiber.  And this becomes very apparent when you look at what’s going on in the bar scene…

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Trouble brewing for the Australian whisky industry?

Pour yourself a big dram of your favourite Australian whisky and get comfortable.  It’s a long read…

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Believe it or not, Australian whisky existed prior to 2014.  Australia enjoyed a rich history of whisky distillation from the 19th century into the 1980’s before resting for a few years of silence.  But it was in that fateful year of 2014 that a single cask release of Sullivans Cove won the accolade of World’s Best Single Malt, and Australian whisky suddenly lit up on everyone’s radar.  But whilst Sullivans Cove’s success that year told a story for 2014, it also told a story – for those that cared – about the Australian whisky industry’s previous 20 years.  And, as both producers and consumers jumped on the bandwagon, it also played a role in contributing to a brewing storm and some concerning issues now looming…
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Dalmunach distillery

Dalmunach is one of Scotland’s newest, largest, and more innovative distilleries.  But before we delve in too deeply, let’s set the scene and appreciate the contrast…

If you’ve been fortunate enough to visit one of Scotland’s older distilleries – say the likes of Strathisla, Glenkinchie, Ardbeg, Cragganmore, or Cardhu – then you’ve caught a classic glimpse of the Scotch whisky industry’s traditional distillery.   With their old, romantic 19th century buildings and quaint (but dormant) kilns and pagodas, these are the distilleries that are typically captured and displayed in whisky’s current literature and promoted by the brand ambassadors.   

The common thread that weaves through these distilleries is that they have been renovated, refurbished, and re-worked over the years to accommodate production capacity expansions, and also to keep up with modern distillation techniques and – in many cases – to be brought into line with current work, health, and safety standards!  As such, they can be a hotch-potch of disjointed buildings and re-purposed structures.  Strathisla and Dalmore are both two good examples.

In stark comparison then, what of the all-new, purpose built, modern and state-of-the-art super distillery?  Diageo started the ball rolling with Roseisle in 2009, and Pernod Ricard have followed suit with their own jewel in the crown:  Dalmunach.

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The Scotch whisky distillery building boom

If you’ve been somewhat overwhelmed by all the new whisky distilleries to appear in recent years, you’re not alone! The Scottish whisky distillery construction business is in a true boom cycle at present, with the building pursuit effectively splitting itself into four vastly different endeavours.

The first is the raft of new, relatively small distilleries being built.  Of course, this got its start a little over 10 years ago or so with the likes of Daftmill and Abhainn Dearg, but has exploded more recently with the likes of Kingsbarns, Ballindalloch, Ardnamurchan, Wolfburn, Glasgow…and well, the list goes on, right down to the tiny operations of, say, Strathearn and Dornoch.  If you haven’t kept up, it’s almost alarming to discover that over 30 new distilleries have recently started up or are currently under construction from the Lowlands to the Islands and everywhere in between.

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Whisky is just like Sudoku

Whisky is like Sudoku.  Or, depending on which pursuit you got involved with first, Sudoku is just like whisky.  Sound a bit far-fetched?  The two have more in common than you think…

Contrary to its appearance, Sudoko is not a maths puzzle or an exercise in arithmetic.  Despite the array of numbers and a crossword-like pattern, it’s merely a logic puzzle based on nothing more than elimination.  The puzzle is solved by eliminating incorrect possibilities as you fill in the blanks.  Sudoku’s similarity with whisky becomes apparent when you look at the journey an individual goes on as they transition from novice to expert.

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