WHISKY
Following your nose
For the whisky lover, a trip to the distillery that produces your favourite dram can be one of the most enjoyable, and informative, experiences
A
s a whisky fanatic, I love to visit distill- eries. I lost count a few years ago of how many I’ve been to. I’ve been fortunate to
visit distilleries that do not have visitor’s centres and there are many I’ve visited more than once; and there are many more that I have yet to visit. You might think that once you have seen one
distillery you’ve seen them all. In one sense this is true: each distillery in Scotland makes whisky in the same way under the watchful eye of the Scotch Whisky Association. The processes and ingredients used in each distillery are the same. So, why do I seek out other distilleries to visit?
Well, fi rstly each distillery has its own history, and its own slightly different way of doing things. Learning about what makes each distillery unique is what I love most about visiting them. Recently I was invited to take part in a very
exclusive tour at Glenturret Distillery (also known as The Famous Grouse Experience). The tour is called ‘Behind the Scenes with a Still- man Tour’. As the name suggests the tour is with a Stillman, the person who operates the copper pot stills, and not a tour guide. I joined an Australian couple who, believe it
or not, had come all the way from Sydney just for this tour! They rushed off at the end of the day to catch their plane back to Oz. The tour is unique in the sense that we could
spend as long as we wanted in each section of production with the Stillman. We did not move to the next part of production until we had really covered every single possible aspect of it – which appealed to my inner geek. Quite often tours of distilleries can feel quite rushed. but we spent at least 40 minutes talking about the mill that turns the malted barley into grist. Glenturret has a tiny mash tun, which is
turned by hand using a big wooden paddle. One of the highlights for me was getting to ‘rouse the mash’ with mashman Mark Armin Giesler using the wooden paddle. It really was a very hands-on tour. The Stillman who took us around was Ian
Renwick, and he was excellent. He was very knowledgeable and more than happy to answer any sort of question; he could answer certain technical questions that a tour guide might not
WWW.SCOTTISHFIELD.CO.UK 171
know. He also joined us at lunch to continue our whisky discussions. After lunch, we learned about the marrying
process. At the end of the day we did a nosing and tasting challenge where we had to try and identify certain scents and whiskies and, fi nally, we got to make our own unique blend of whisky to take home. It was defi nitely one of the most interactive
and comprehensive tours I have been on and the knowledge that Ian was able to share was great. If you have never been to a distillery before I
would highly recommend you go and visit your local distillery to learn more about whisky. If you have already visited a handful of distilleries then I would suggest the ‘Behind the Scenes with a Stillman Tour’ as a great way for you to further your knowledge and appreciation of whisky. For those who are thinking about visiting a
distillery for the fi rst time, here are two pieces of advice for you on your fi rst tour. First, do not volunteer to smell the washbacks – a by-product of the fermentation process is the creation of large amounts of carbon dioxide, so if you put your head in the washback to try and smell it your sinuses will give you a massive kick back when the gas hits your nose and you’ll impul- sively jump backwards. Secondly, do not drink too much of the wash from the washbacks; the yeast in it acts as a very powerful laxative. You now have no excuse not to enjoy your
tour of a distillery.
‘The yeast in the wash from the washbacks acts as a very powerful laxative’
WORDS BLAIR BOWMAN
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