We arrived
at the Lowland distillery Annandale on a windy February day. Of course it was
raining. Back in 1836, it was a working farm distillery, but it closed in 1918.
The current owners bought the place in 2007 and completely restored it before
they began production in 2014.
We went to
the visitor center, which is more a café than anything else, and got a cup of
coffee before the tour began. We had bought a normal tour for £8,5 which
includes a tour around the production, a quick look in their warehouse where
you will taste their 2 different types of spirit. A peated and an unpeated
version.
We were part
of a party of six people on the tour, and it was Julia Callaghan from the Annandale
Distillery team that showed us around. Besides that the distillery is very well
restored, it is very similar to other distilleries. It was first at the pot
stills there was something a bit different. First of all they have one wash
still and two spirit stills, but what was very special is that the wash still
has its own spirit safe. A cute little one I am inclined to say!
After the
tour we went to the warehouse where we were able to smell at the different
types of casks that they use. You probably guessed it… Yes, bourbon and sherry
casks… At the end of the tour we got to try their two different types of
spirit. Unpeated spirit and peated spirit at 45 ppm. Both at 63,5 %. The
unpeated version was very plain, and not something that stands out. And I have
tried quite some different types of new make spirit. The peated version though,
was something quite different and really makes me look forward to the time when
Annandale will start to bottle some peated whiskies. If they are buying good
casks, this will become very good whisky.
A couple of features that is special for Annandale,
which is worth mentioning:
- They have 2
different fermentation processes. One batch is fermenting in 66 hours and
another in 96 hours.
- The
washbacks are used for both peated and unpeated.
- The spirit
is distilled at 74 % and watered down to 63,5 % before it is entering the casks.
- The malt
mill is of course a Porteus, but what is worth to notice is that it is the old
malt mill from the closed distillery Caperdonich.
At the
start of the tour Julia (the tour guide) told about the start of the new
Annandale Distillery and about the restauration. After the tour around the
production, before we went to the warehouse, she told us about the history, in
the courtyard. A nice touch to the all over impression of the tour. I will rate
this visit 5/10.
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