Month: March 2023

#26 Winterfest or Dramfest?

A day out at Deanston

 

TL;DR: In early December 2022, we spent a day at Deanston distillery for their Winterfest. Many drams were sipped throughout lots of fun whisky activities. Definitely a day to remember, and hopefully to repeat next year! 

The first weekend of December, right after Gianluigi’s birthday and to celebrate the passing of huge deadlines for both, we were looking for some whisky activity. At first, we thought about going to the West Highlands, Ardnamurchan or Mull, but then we decided to postpone this trip: we would have had to rent a car, book accommodations…We wanted something simpler. However, having visited most of the distilleries in the area, it wasn’t easy to pick something new. But well, who said that it had to be new? The solution was there all along: Deanston, Warehouse 4 tasting. We figured the casks would have definitely been different from the ones we had sampled from in May 2021. When we checked out their website though, there was no availability for the day. Unlikely, a bit strange, but oh well. It’s after some snooping on their website that we found out that something different was going on: the Winterfest! Tickets were £50 pp, for a tour and some tastings, plus a snack and a meal. Couldn’t believe it, so off we went!

Third time, lucky again.

So, there we were, on a cold Saturday morning, jumping on train at Waverley (train we almost missed, thanks for the n-th time to Lothian Buses), direction Stirling, similar to our January 2020 trip. And if here you are asking: “wait, January 2020, May 2021…is it the third time you visit Deanston?”, the answer is yes, and probably won’t be the last. Anyway, we had some time to kill before the bus to Doune, so we had a quick pie and a coffee. The bus was on time and in about 20 minutes it brought us to Deanston (on the bus we bumped into Rachel from The Grail Tastings, which we’d seen only on screen before!).

When we arrived, the shop and café were already full of people ready to start the day at the distillery, some were from the Friends of Deanston Facebook group, others from the East Linton Whisky Society. We checked in (to find out that our badge names were Teresa…and Teresa 2, ahah) and joined one of the three groups. Ours headed off to the production plant, where we did an in-depth visit, including the water turbine.

The open mashtun.

This time we paid more attention to the open mashtun and to one interesting characteristic: there is only one receiver where low wines, foreshots, and feints mix together. For the non-geeks: the low wines are the result of the first distillation (usually around 20%abv) in the wash still. The second distillation, in the spirit still, is what produces the new make spirit, which will be put into cask and matured. However, not all the product is kept, only the middle part (or “heart”). At Deanston, it is taken between the abv of 75% and 67% (the “cuts” or “cut points”). The foreshot (or “head”) is the first part of the distillation which contains a lot of methanol so no good for drinking, while the feints (or “tail”) are the end of the second distillation, too low in abv and containing some undesirable compounds. These two don’t go to waste, they are distilled again. At Deanston, they mix it with the next batch of low wines, and the receiver tank never goes empty: according to their master distiller, this is the reason why the spirit is so waxy. Very fascinating.

A beautiful warehouse.

When the tour finished, the guide took us back to the café, where breakfast was served: coffee (or tea) and a yummy morning roll. After this half-hour break, we started the second activity of the day, a warehouse tasting…nope, not the usual Warehouse 4, but Warehouse 2. Here, they gave us a tote bag with plenty of gifts (funnels, glasses, etc.) and we started the tasting. Unlike the Warehouse 4, the Warehouse 2 tasting consisted of three bourbon-matured drams of Deanston directly from the cask: one young-ish (5y old, can’t remember the abv), one a bit older (12y, 57.2%), and finally a 21y (54.3%). The aim was to understand how the cask affects the whisky, which was a great purpose, very educational (similar to what we did at Lagavulin). The 12y old sample probably came from a very active cask, as it was much darker than expected, darker than the 21y as a matter of fact, but all three were delicious.

Bourbon bombs in Warehouse 2.

After a short break, we went to Warehouse 4, for yet another tasting: this time the drams were four, and they were all matured or finished in sherry or other casks. We started with a 10y finished in an ex-Lepanto brandy cask (59%), followed by a vintage 2004 in an ex-amontillado butt (58.7%) and an organic distilled in 2001 and matured in an ex-fino hogshead (55.3%). We finished with a sublime 29y (vintage 1993) which spent 11y in an ex-bourbon cask and 18y in an ex-port wine cask (47.5%).

Los tres amigos.

They were all delicious, and very happy to have tried them (unfortunately, once back to the visitor centre, we noted a steep increase in single cask bottling prices since our 2021 visit…probably a bit more than what would be caused by inflation alone). The variety of the drams we tried was huge, and we could see how Deanston’s spirit can deliver in ex-bourbon casks, and how it holds up in stronger casks, like port or sherry: a chameleon of a spirit, and we’re very happy to confirm so after these tastings.

Valinch ready to go in Warehouse 4.

Then, the three groups got together, and we headed to a big tent outside (someone joked: “like the Dothraki in Game of Thrones”) where we enjoyed a full meal, including a delicious soup, coffee, etc. Once finished, we were asked to wait a few minutes to clean the tables and prepare the final tasting (yes, another one!). This time, the tasting was hosted by the Master Distiller Brendan McCarron, who’s always very funny and insightful to listen to. We tried four cask-strength drams (this time 10ml only, fortunately for our livers). We started with the (at the time) newly released Deanston Virgin Oak cask strength (57.5%), a celebration for the 10th anniversary of the visitor centre. It was followed by an Organic 2000 vintage (50.9%), a 2009 Bunnahabhain Coterie (Winter 2022), finished in Amarone casks (59.7%), and by a peated dram, a Ledaig Ink Doublewood (Winter 2022, 53.8%).

Listening carefully to the Master.

We left the distillery soon after the tasting (thanks Ronnie for the lift back to Edinburgh!), not that tired, but definitely happy. What a day, probably one of our best whisky-days so far. Deanston is one of those distilleries that we didn’t fully appreciate at the beginning, it was not immediate “love” like Tobermory/Ledaig or Glen Scotia. However, over time it grew on us, so much to become one of our favourites.

Until next time, slainte!

Deanston Winterfest

Price: £50 (December 2022, inclusive of tour, three tastings, breakfast, and lunch)

Duration: All day

Tasting: SO MANY DRAMS (see above)

Value for money: Very, very good

Highlights: Great atmosphere, great whisky, very friendly staff

Recommended: Absolutely

Link: https://www.deanstonmalt.com/

#25.3 Highlands trip bonanza!

Back to Edinburgh through Aberfeldy and Pitlochry

 

TL;DR: The final day of the trip was dedicated to slowly driving back to Edinburgh. Still, we were able to fill the day with a few distillery visits: Aberfeldy first, followed by Edradour and Blair Athol! Phew! 

(missed Part 2/Part 1?)

We woke up early that day, skipped breakfast, and drove straight to the ferry terminal at Fishnish, on the Isle of Mull, to catch the ferry back to the mainland under the morning sun. After a quick ferry trip (we believe it’s the quickest Mull route), we arrived in Lochaline, on the Morvern peninsula (home to another distillery, Nc’Nean, which at that time we didn’t even know existed). We had breakfast, finally, at the Lochaline Snack Bar, which serves delicious sandwiches, rolls, and other goodies at very reasonable prices. We enjoyed our breakfast in the good company of a nice English couple, who told us how they decided to spend their retirement on Mull…not a bad idea at all!

Not a bad morning!

Back in the car, we soon arrived in Corran for another quick ferry (this time just to save us over an hour drive), and then drove for the first time through Glencoe: what an incredible place! It felt like being in the middle of American canyons, but green.

We followed the road to Bridge of Orchy and Tyndrum, then we turned left (eastward) and drove almost straight towards the first distillery of the day: Aberfeldy! It was not a new name for us, we had seen it in supermarkets and at the airport, but we had never tried it before, so we were quite curious. The distillery is in the village of….yep, you guessed it: Aberfeldy! Lovely place, the landscape was not as dramatic as the ones we had crossed earlier in the morning, but hilly and cosy. The distillery itself sits in quite a beautiful spot, almost like a postcard, with a small walking bridge to cross before entering the visitor centre.

Teresa wasn’t ready for the picture.

The distillery is owned by Bacardi, together with Dewar’s, one of the most prominent blended scotch whiskies, and a few other single malt distilleries (Craigellachie, Royal Brackla, Aultmore and Macduff). Before the tour, we could take a look at the museum on site, with lots of memorabilia and documents about the history of John Dewar and related brands.

Then, we started the tour of this very pretty distillery. Around production, the signals of being owned by a big corporation were obvious, with a lot of signs that reminded Gianluigi of his environmental consulting days (not a bad thing, on the contrary: emphasis on environment and safety are a must!). It is on this tour that we realised that we could remember all the stages of production…after all, that was the 5th distillery in 4 days.

At the time we didn’t really know what it was…

Then, we moved on to the warehouse, where a dram taken from a cask was served, but only to those with a more expensive ticket (3-4 people on the tour, including Teresa). It was a 1999 (so almost 20y old) Aberfeldy ex-sherry cask, and it was truly delicious. The fact that it was served with people with the regular ticket just waiting and watching was not the best however, a bit awkward. Anyway, back at the visitor centre, we could try a dram each: we chose the Aberfeldy 12 and the Dewar’s White Label. Not very memorable the first one, more memorable (but not in a good way) the second one.

We had lunch at the café in the visitor centre, but we soon left to get to the next distillery of the day: Edradour! It is a very small distillery, located near the village of Pitlochry. It used to be one of the smallest, if not the smallest in Scotland (called ‘the little gem’), but then they lost the record because a few smaller distilleries opened and because they built a second production line in a separate building on site, increasing the stills from 2 to 4. Edradour is owned by Signatory Vintage, an independent bottler, and indeed the shop stocks quite some of their range.

Ready for the second tour of the day.

This time, drams were served at the beginning of the tour (so Gianluigi could sip a tiny bit of it): we picked the flagship Edradour 10 (40%) and the peated version Ballechin 10y (46%), and decided not to go for the whisky cream liqueur. We started the tour with a big German group, but after a while, we and another 3-4 people branched off to get the tour in English. As usual, the tour guide went through the story of the distillery, which was founded in 1825, although their first single malt was only released in 1982! We visited the new distillery first, while the old production plant was showed to us from the courtyard as we walked back to the visitor centre. It is on this tour that we discovered what the ‘monkey shoulder’ is. At the shop, we found out that for a few extra quid, we could get the Signatory Vintage version of Edradour, still 10y old and vintage 2019, bottled at 46%, non-coloured and not chill-filtered: a very delicious treat to ourselves! We also got the whisky cream liqueur for a friend, who gave absolutely positive feedback!

Back in the car, we drove towards the final stop of the trip, the neighbouring Blair Athol distillery, in Pitlochry. We went first for a coffee in the village (the early start was catching up on us), and then checked in at the distillery. After a bit, our host for the day, the very knowledgeable Calum, took us to the table for the tasting (after two tours in a day, we didn’t feel like going for the third one…Well, we would catch up later on).

We can’t remember whether this was before or after the tasting…

We hadn’t had any Blair Athol before, and actually rarely heard anything about it, so we weren’t surprised when Calum explained to us that the majority of the whisky produced there goes into blends. Now that we are a bit more experienced, we can say that Blair Athol drams can be fantastic, but mostly the independently bottled ones. There, we were given Blair Athol 12y and Distillers edition 2019, followed by a range of Diageo products: Cragganmore, Caol Ila and Lagavulin Distiller Editions, and a wee tiny sip of Johnnie Walker Blue Label – the first and only time we tried it, not impressed (instead, we determined that the much cheaper Green Label we had at home was more enjoyable). After collecting “our” driver’s drams and a quick stop at the shop, we finally drove home.

It was a cracking weekend, one of the most memorable ones, and we took so much in from all these distillery visits. It’s when we switched from being whisky curious to whisky enthusiasts! Some of the experiences were quite touristy, which was OK with us at the time, but would not suit us well today after n more distilleries tours and tastings…We really appreciated Ardnamurchan for their environmental forward thinking (well, now we appreciate them ALSO for the stunning quality of their whiskies), while the range we tried at Tobermory was incredible. Edradour and Ben Nevis were unknown to us previously but revealed themselves as little gems in the scotch whisky landscape. Overall, a fantastic trip!

Until next time, slainte!

Distillery Links

Aberfeldy: https://www.dewars.com/gl/en/aberfeldydistillery/
Edradour: https://www.edradour.com/
Blair Athol: https://www.malts.com/en-gb/distilleries/blair-athol