18 | New Kids on the Block
helped develop the look and feel of the distillery. Even from that early stage, the commitment to malt whisky was absolute . Because we have set out to be a premium,
single malt Scotch whisky and will be waiting for around eight to ten years before we bottle, initially we are selling a handful – and really I do mean a handful – of private casks, but we won’t be offering a young spirit and we won’t do a three-year-old. It’s a question of holding out until we get to a stage where we believe the whisky is ready. As such, I would imagine the people we will be selling to will be fairly discerning . We began on 22 September last year and
For us it was
Distilling gin and vodka was rejected, says Brian Robinson.
important that we set out to be solely a malt whisky distillery
BALLINDALLOCH, SPEYSIDE BRIAN ROBINSON, DISTILLERY HOST
The genesis of Ballindalloch arose from a conversation between Mr Russell – whose wife is Lady Laird of Ballindalloch Castle – and Richard Forsyth, who is one of the world’s leading suppliers of distillation equipment. Richard plays at Ballindalloch Castle Golf Club and around three years ago he suggested putting a distillery in our derelict 19th-century farm steading . The family has a history in whisky in that Guy Macpherson-Grant’ s
great, great grandfather Sir George Macpherson-Grant was one of the founding partners that built Cragganmore Distillery and the original Speyside Distillery at Kingussie . So distilling is part of the Macpherson- Grant DNA and it seemed like a natural evolution for the estate. The distillery is being backed by the family and there was a Government
grant, which went a long way to making it a viable proposition. For us it was important that we set out to be solely a classic Speyside
malt whisky distillery. There was never any proposition about gin or vodka . Part of the thinking behind that is that it needed to be in keeping with the rest of the estate and it meant that we could build something that will give us credibility and identity in the long-term. In August 2012, former Cardhu, Glenkinchie and Talisker distiller Charlie Smith got involved to help get the project up and running. He
at the moment we are using a range of casks to give ourselves as many options as possible when it comes to mature stock. So, currently we’re using fi rst and refi ll Bourbon barrels, fi rst and refi ll Hogsheads, and fi rst fi ll sherry butts. As time evolves, we may use different cask types, but at the moment it’s just a case of building robust levels of stock to give as many options as possible
when we come to bottling. From an awareness perspective,
our visitor centre is very important. Given that we are going to be waiting as long as we are for a mature product, the
experiential side of what we’re offering will be key. Our tours will be by appointment only, and will be smaller, more intimate and more relaxed than those offered by the larger distilleries. I also have to ensure that we mirror the kind of welcome guests get at the castle, so the visitor centre is built and operates to the highest possible standard. Tel: 01807 500331;
www.ballindallochdistillery.com
LINDORES ABBEY, FIFE DREW MCKENZIE SMITH, FOUNDER &
MANAGING DIRECTOR
Lindores Abbey itself has been in my family for 101 years and around 15 years ago I happened to be looking at a website describing all the best things
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