#75.1 Return to Orkney

Tasting tots at J. Gow

TL; DR: We took Gianluigi’s parents to Orkney last April, driving north from Edinburgh and ferrying across from Gills Bay. The highlight of the first day on Orkney was J. Gow, the island’s rum distillery on Lamb Holm, where Collin showed us around: molasses from the Central and South America, different fermentations (including with local orchid yeast), and a warehouse full of interesting casks. During the tasting, the 8yr Hidden Depth single cask stole the show, really delicious!

After moving here just over eight years ago, we can finally say it out loud: Scotland is a pretty great place to live! And when family visits, it’s easy to pick somewhere spectacular to take them, and for us it’s a great chance to visit (or revisit) some lovely places. That was the case last April, when Gianluigi’s parents, Caterina and Fabrizio, came to visit us for just over a week. Except for that one time in 2020 (odd, we know), they usually come for just a long weekend, often with a Six Nations game in between, so there’s never much chance to take them around. This year, since they visited a bit later and for longer, we decided to take them to the Orkney Islands! Tucked off the north coast of Scotland, the islands have a growing spirits and beer scene, and a landscape like nowhere else. We’d gone up there with our friends Roberto, Cecilia and their daughter Flora back in 2022, we found the place pretty special, and obviously we made the most of it with a (very good) tour at Scapa and a (rather disappointing) one at Highland Park.

Anyway, we picked Caterina and Fabrizio up at Edinburgh airport on a Sunday after lunch and drove straight north. By dinner time we’d arrived at Tain, where we’d spend the night, them in a B&B, us parked in front of a nice beach. We had a lovely dinner at the Morangie Hotel (a typical pub menu, with fish and chips, curry, burgers and so on), one of those old-style cosy hotel-restaurants with carpet everywhere and fireplaces in every room. They were all unlit, though, waiting for the next cold season. The next day we woke up early, and before collecting them from the B&B we refilled the tank and got a good pie at Harry Gow (the coffee was debatable, though). We were soon on the road again, heading to John O’Groats, as our ferry was leaving from nearby Gills Bay. We briefly stopped at 8 Doors Distillery for a coffee in their visitor centre, which has a spectacular view over the Pentland Firth, and to say “hi” to Ryan, the distillery manager, whom we met last year and who was happy to show us the latest news and innovations. We had lunch on the ferry: sandwiches and bits we’d brought from home, in a typical Italian fashion.

Happy we had time to stop here before the ferry!

We got off the ferry at St Margaret’s Hope, a wee village tucked into a small bay, with dark grey stone houses. We explored South Ronaldsay for a bit before driving north over the Churchill Barriers to reach Orkney Mainland, passing Burray and Glimps Holm. We stopped on Lamb Holm, a tiny island with no population but two important landmarks: first, the Italian Chapel, built inside a small hangar by Italian prisoners of war during WWII. Within walking distance is the J. Gow rum distillery, and after dropping Caterina and Fabrizio at the chapel (which we had already visited in 2022), it was our turn to explore.

We only had a peek at the distillery back then, and not much time, so we managed just a small sip of the expressions available – now part of their core range: the Spiced Rum (40%, with spices from Orkney), Fading Light (3yr, chestnut-cask aged, 43%), and Revenge (3yr, ex-bourbon and virgin-oak casks, 43%). In the visitor centre and shop, alongside the rum, they sell merchandise (some very cool t-shirt designs, including one with a death-metal-band-style logo) and other local products. We hadn’t booked a tour, but we were lucky: Collin, the head distiller and director, and his wee border collie had time to show us around. In 2013 Collin started working at the family fruit-wine business, active since 2001. In 2017 he got a pot still and started distilling rum, adding Orkney to the map of the blooming Scottish rum scene, alongside other producers like Ninefold (Dumfries) and Matugga (Livingston). The name comes from John Gow, a short-lived pirate raised on Orkney, in Stromness, then captured and hanged (twice – the first time the rope snapped) in 1725.

The cutest tour guide.

The distillery and all the production sit inside a warehouse just behind the shop, not even a minute’s walk. As with many rums, production starts with molasses, a syrup from cane-sugar refining. Because sugar cane doesn’t grow in Scotland (yet), he sources it mainly from Central and South America, but sometimes elsewhere, like Indonesia.

Molasses, a sticky business.

Fermentation is one of the key steps for adding flavour: at J. Gow it usually lasts 7 to 10 days, but for some expressions it can last up to a month, especially when yeast from local orchid flowers is used. They use a 2,000-litre iStill with a tall thin column, first without the copper rolls (for the stripping run) and then with them, to obtain about 300 litres of spirit. The residue from the stripping run is added to the next fermentation, while the pot ale goes to farmers.

A distillery not like others…

…and look at this iStill!

Casks are filled at distilling strength, except for some second fills, which are filled at 65% abv. The warehouse takes up one side of the main production building, and there they store a variety of woods and cask types, including many ex-bourbon and ex-wine casks, but also chestnut casks from Italy. Interesting!

Many different casks – an experimentation heaven.

Back in the shop, we had three tots of rum. We skipped the ones we’d had last time and tried the Culverin (unaged white rum); Pieces of Eight, the new one aged in Madeira casks (very sweet and dangerously drinkable); and the third and final release in the Hidden Depth series, an 8yr single cask (truly stunning!). We also had a sip of their previous Wild Yeast Series release, using a yeast sourced from local marsh orchids growing behind the distillery: the funkiest of the bunch! They currently have a new release in this series, the Wild Yeast Series Orchweizen 2023, with different specs (different casks, abv and fermentation times).

Tots for nerds.

A very unique tot.

After the distillery tour, we rejoined Caterina and Fabrizio, reached the flat we’d rented in Kirkwall, and went for dinner at The Neuk restaurant: a simple menu but very tasty dishes, and a selection of local beers (both bottled and on tap), perfect to end our long day.

We really enjoyed J. Gow: we’d already visited distilleries that make rum as one of several spirits (Blackness Bay and North Point, for example), but this was our first time at one making rum exclusively. We love what Collin is doing in terms of experimentation, making a unique product whose character is embedded in the distillery’s surroundings. The Hidden Depth series is our favourite, both vol. 2 (which we had in the past, long gone now) and vol. 3, delicious stuff. We aren’t rum experts by any means, but J. Gow is one we’re keeping in the house.

Stay tuned next week for another Orkney adventure, back to whisky this time! Until then, slàinte!

J. Gow Distillery Tour

Price: £15.00 pp (April 2026)

Duration: 45min-1hr

Tasting: 4 tots of J. Gow rum, the Culverin (white rum, 50%), Pieces of Eight (8yr, ex-madeira and ex-bourbon casks, 43%), Hidden Depth Vol. 3 (8yr, single ex-bere whisky/port style cask, 50.1%) and (now released) Wild Yeast Series NMO 2021 (3yr, 2^nd fill Moscatel octave, 58.8%, small batch 460 casks)

Target: everyone

Value for money: great!

Highlights: the location is pretty special

Recommended: if you like rum, it’s a must-do!

Link: https://jgowrum.com/

#74.6 The Springbank Whisky School

Everything comes to an end
(day 5, Friday, and epilogue)

TL; DR: The final day at the whisky school was Teresa’s birthday and exam day: an open-book test marked by Findlay Ross himself, followed by awards from the distillery manager Gavin and a celebratory lunch in the Washback Bar. The post wraps up with our reflections on the experience: a unique, hands-on look at an old-school distillery, with great people.

(missed Part 5/Part 4/Part 3/Part 2/Part 1?)

The very last day, Friday, was Teresa’s birthday! (And yes, there was a cake involved thanks to Marie) Different to the previous days, we had a late (full Scottish) breakfast (8am instead of 7am), then cleared our room by 10am and showed up at the distillery for the exam at 10.30. It was an open book exam, so not too difficult, and Findlay Ross himself came to mark our tests. Obviously, we took the chance to ask him some nerdy questions. On reflection, it’s a shame that a Q&A with him was not included in the overall experience, that would have been uber-nerdy! But we can also see the challenges in doing it given how busy he must be.

Anyway, everyone scored more or less close to the maximum (including those who didn’t read some questions in full, lol) so after that, we headed to the Washback Bar and got our awards from the distillery manager Gavin (wonder if we can write that on our Linkedin profile…), together with the self-blended bottles. Teresa got an extra 20cl bottle of her choice for winning the Scholar of the Week award, “for her determination in rolling the casks”. She also got a dram from our good pal Aly, who was there waiting for the next tour. Not a bad birthday!

No pictures of the exam, so you get pictures of us learning…

We had lunch all together with Gavin, a cold platter with three types of salmon, cheese, oatcakes and other bites (thanks again Donald for the tasty haggis mini-rolls!). Another nice touch, they gave us the list of available cage bottles, and if we could buy up to two per person, avoiding the usual scrum in the morning before the shop opened. We weren’t greedy, so we just picked up one each: a Longrow and a Springbank. Actually, we got a third one for Gianluigi’s brother, who always appreciates some cage juice! After a wonder in the bottling hall (where the equipment was getting moved to the new building) and a couple of extra drams kindly poured by Chris, we got a goodbye pint with the others at Feathers before leaving the Wee Toon, feeling grateful but also a bit sad.

…and working “hard”?

What. A. Week. That. Was. We are wrapping the write-up of the whisky school a couple of months after the fact, after some other trips to London, Orkney and Speyside. Importantly, we had time to reflect on what we did and how this experience fits in the context of our whisky experience and knowledge (avoiding hard to use the word “journey” here, eww!) and of whisky hospitality more generally. Based on our experience up to now, it is going to be hard to match the Springbank Whisky School.

…for all of us.

First, it is a unique learning experience. We could see first hand how the distillery day-to-day operation looks like, with its challenges and peculiarities, the fast-paced moments and the slower ones. Many distilleries are fully or partially automated, where operators can stop everything from a computer keyboard. Definitely not the case for Springbank’s (or Glengyle), where we felt that the almost 200-year history still contributes to what is produced now, and to what will be made by future generations. Also, one week of intensive learning and “living” a distillery is not the same as visiting a place more than once – we got a lot of knowledge from our many distillery tours and tastings, but it’s only during this week that we understood and appreciated certain nuances of whisky making (please don’t take it as we now feel we know everything, quite the opposite if anything).

Find Wal..Stephen.

Second, we think that there is no other place like Springbank. We don’t want to sound too cheesy, but in a world where the most important thing seems to be shareholders’ returns, they decided to keep their own pace, and not to overstretch or up their prices by taking advantage of the pandemic frenzy that hit the world of whisky. Instead, contrary to many, they’re playing the long game. Yes, they almost doubled production around 2018 (before that, they were alternating malting and production), but they didn’t go crazy like other companies trying to add X million-litre-per-annum capacity, only to mothball other distilleries sometime later, with the consequent loss of jobs in often rural areas. Providing over 100 jobs in a remote place like Campbeltown is one of their prides, and it should be. So, for us, touching that reality for a week was really special and difficult to replicate, let alone that not all companies would allow a half-dozen geeks to roam around production for 20 weeks a year (for a price, more on that later).

A happy student/distiller.

Third, but not less important, the people we met, both the other “students” and the staff. It’s easy to bond with people sharing the same enthusiasm for whisky as you, so somehow we expected (and hoped) to get along with the other students, but we also couldn’t exclude the possibility of meeting absolute jerks or simply someone we wouldn’t connect with. We were lucky to spend the week with very nice and fun guys like Graham, Robert and Stephen, and hopefully we’ll reunite as a group at some point (at a future Campbeltown malt festival maybe?). As for the staff, their patience dealing with us and their efforts to make sure we got the most out of the time with them were genuinely impressive. We were most likely an impediment to their work more than anything else but still, everybody made us feel welcome, and it was great to hear people’s stories (for example, in shocking news to us, it turns out that many of the staff don’t like whisky).

Before rolling casks…

…and after (sort of).

So now, the elephant in the room: it is a very expensive experience, or at least, that was how we felt at over two grands per person. Something we really appreciated, though, was Springbank management not trying to sell it as an “ultimate luxury”, “premium” or whatever crap other companies are coming up with to try justifying their greediness, so to actively exclude whisky fans and tourists alike from visiting some distilleries (more rants coming on the blog soon probably). On the face of it, it did feel a bit overpriced, but at the same time we think it must be complicated (aka costly) to comply with all the legal requirements (including insurance) that can make the school happen…And let alone the time the staff take to show us around, explain processes and answer questions, plus the tastings and the tours, and the whole full-pension for a week. Also, as we said, we are not sure how much we really helped, except Teresa with her cask rolling determination, of course! Obviously, it is not like a tour you would do every year, and probably not even every other or so. For us, it was more of a lifetime experience, a gift to ourselves, and it really was a great one!

Thank you for a really great week!

So, here the important questions: in hindsight, would we still do it? Absolutely! Would we recommend it? If you’re a whisky enthusiast, and can spare enough time and money, definitely! Would we repeat it? Probably not, but maybe in a couple of decades (when enough changes might accumulate). Something we would do at some point, maybe for a special occasion, is the Barley to Bottle tour, which includes some of the fun activities of the school (an in-depth tour, the warehouse tasting and the blending session) and lasts five hours “only”. One of the many things we like about Springbank is that they offer a wide range of experiences, with tour prices starting from as little as £12 up to a lot: there really is something for everyone, from the casual tourist to the experienced whisky geek. And by attending any of these experiences, you will only increase the appreciation for their work!

That was a long one, we hope you enjoyed it! Next time something lighter, or maybe a rant, stay tuned to know! Until then, slàinte!

Springbank Whisky School

Link: https://www.springbank.scot/whisky-school/

#74.5 The Springbank Whisky School

From production to
the blending lab
(day 4, Thursday)

TL; DR: Day four at whisky school was a busy one. We spent the morning in production – mashing, fermenting and distilling Longrow, plus chatting with the operators. The afternoon brought cask regauging in the warehouse, a tour of Glengyle distillery (where we had a stunning 20y triple-distilled dram), and finally a blend-your-own Springbank session.

(missed Part 4/Part 3/Part 2/Part 1?)

We won’t lie, after the many drams we had on Wednesday, on Thursday morning we didn’t wake up fresh as summer flowers. But we’d seen worse, and it wasn’t something that a good shower and a tasty breakfast couldn’t fix: that morning we had pancakes with crispy bacon, another favourite of ours. It was the last “working” day of the whisky school, and we were eager as ever to learn as much as possible.

Our group (us and Graham) spent the morning in production – mashing, fermenting and distilling. The operators on shift are always two, and they run all three processes. Daniel showed us around and, to start with, he introduced us to the paraflow, an “ancient” heat exchanger that had been there for decades, but still going strong (to a maintenance guy surprise, we heard).

The paraflow, an impressively old heat exchanger.

We also assisted the filling of a washback with wort, and we could throw in the yeast, which comes in 25kg bags (they use three per mash). Then, they steamed clean another washback, and after that the room was very foggy, like a steam room in a spa.

They rely on a combination of shorter (not really short, 72 hours) and longer fermentation (110 hours), depending on whether it goes through the weekend or not. The result is a wash about 6%abv strength, which is lower compared to most distilleries we visited: usually we are told between 8% and 10%. Probably this is due to the really manual, old-fashion production, which might carry some inefficiencies as Robert pointed out (he has a degree in brewing and distilling). However, it is most likely part of what gives Springbank its unique character, and to us it makes a lot of sense that management think it twice before deciding to change anything.

Before…

…And after.

The operators also showed us how they take the alcohol strength reading during distillation, using the hydrometer and the thermometer – after years of experience, they know exactly when to start taking these readings. At that point, the wash still was running (the first distillation), so they told us to go back in the afternoon to possibly have a sip of the newmake spirit coming off the second distillation. That day they were producing Longrow newmake spirit, so a traditional Scottish double distillation. Longrow’s second distillation usually happens in the last of the three stills, the one with the worm tub condenser, while the middle one has a shell-and-tube one and is used less often for Longrow. When they produce Hazelburn, the spirit is distilled three times and each still is used once, while when they distil Springbank, they go for 2.5 distillations, where part of the second distillation is redistilled in the third still (but it’s a bit more complicated than that).

Longrow in the making.

You can tell the morning was more about watching than working, so there was plenty of time for a chat with the staff. We talked about how some people come from abroad to apply for a job there, and how the distillery offers great job opportunities, especially in a rural area like Kintyre. The operators also shared some of the anecdotes from past terms of the whisky school, including some nasty but clumsy attempts to steal newmake from the safe and others that we won’t share to avoid spoilers (and possibly disappointment).

At noon we were back at the guesthouse for lunch, where Donald had prepared chicken pasta with garlic bread. As Italians, we are always wary when we get pasta, but we have to say that it was delicious.

Back at the distillery, the afternoon was busy. First, the courtyard team showed us how to regauge a cask: this is the process of checking the volume of the spirit left in the cask and its strength, and it usually happens once in a while or when the cask is about to be used for a release. In our case, they used a “sacrificial” cask in Warehouse 3, that undergoes regauging every time there is a school term: a 14/15y (vintage 2011) 1^st fill American oak sherry hogshead. They showed us how to meansure the volume with a stick, and how to take the strength with beker, hydrometer and thermometer. The scientific effort was rewarded with a sip of the malt: dense and delicious stuff, typical sherried Springbank!

Learning how to regauge a cask.

Fun fact, we were in the warehouse with wee Andrew and John, respectively the youngest and oldest of the distillery staff. With Robert there too, we basically had three generations working together, with knowledge passed down!

Three generations of Springbank staff.

After the regauging, Ben picked us up and took us to Glengyle for a tour. Active three months a year, Glengyle produces Kilkerran malt (the name Glengyle is owned by another company) and is a modern distillery. It was re-built in 2004 by J&A Mitchell to raise the number of Campbeltown from two to three, so that the Scotch Whisky Association wouldn’t take away the regional status to the town. That was because, at that time, the Lowlands had only three distilleries: Glenkinchie, Auchentoshan and Bladnoch. Now Fife alone (within the Lowlands) has 7 (!), and the whole region almost 30 plus a few grain distilleries: how things change!

Glengyle, a more modern distillery.

Back to Glengyle, the original distillery was built in 1872 by another branch of the Mitchell family, but like many others closed around the mid-1920s. The current one is similar to many others we visited throughout the years, but with a few interesting facts: a Bobby mill donated by Craigellachie when they replaced theirs, a 4.5ton mashtun, four wooden washbacks (filled from the top, as opposed to Springbank’s ones that are filled from the bottom), stills from the silent Ben Wyvis distillery (not to be mistaken with the recent Glen Wyvis). Except for the mill, every piece of equipment is in the same big space. Most of the production is double distilled and lightly peated as per their signature style, but they also produce unpeated and heavily peated expressions, again double distilled. Moreover, they get to fill a few dozens of casks with triple distilled unpeated newmake spirit. Near the stills, Ben made us try the newmake spirit and a dram of an almost 20y old triple distilled (from an ex-bourbon cask), which was a tropical fruit-bomb (and our favourite every time we did the Kilkerran Warehouse tasting…A pity they recently increased the price of for the 35cl bottle from £60 to £80). That was unexpected, such a nice surprise!

Thanks Ben for taking the perfect group picture!

We were already quite happy with the activities of the day, but we still had one to go before dinner: a blend-your-own Springbank experience with Donald, where each of us had to make a 70cl blend from 6 different expressions: a 10y 1^st fill ex-bourbon cask, a 10y refill ex-rum cask, a 13y refill ex-Sherry cask, an 11y 1^st fill Sherry cask, a 8y 1^st fill Madeira cask and finally a 7y 1^st fill Sauternes cask. The rules were at least two expressions and no more than 50cl from one (it was how much we had available of each component).

A challenging job.

Long time ago (in 2019) we had done a similar experience at Strathisla distillery – blending together five whiskies from the Chivas Brothers/Pernod Ricard range. The results were dire: we opened both 20cl bottles in 2020 during the pandemic, we hated them and so we ended up using them for either cooking or for highballs. So, while excited we were also worried about the result…This time, however, we were “less clueless” than last time. We started by looking for a suitable base for the blend. The ex-bourbon (the obvious candidate) was very maritime, the rum was the smokiest one, the refill sherry was very dry, while the 1^st fill sherry was (again) a classic sherried Springbank, akin to the 15y from the core range. The Madeira was the sweetest one, and finally the Sauternes was (as expected) weird. Teresa used four expressions, while Gianluigi ended up using them all for a challenge (which took substantially more trials and time than for the others, to everyone’s amusement), with the Sauternes used like you’d use the fish sauce in a curry, just a dash to enhance the flavour. We won’t give away our recipes (muahahaha!), but we are hoping to use both bottles in a tasting with the Edinburgh Whisky Group at some point (keep an eye on our social media, Instagram and Substack).

Let’s hope for the best!

It was a great day of “work”, which ended with another tasty meal (chili con carne and cheese board) and a couple of half pints at one of our favourite pubs in town, the Fiddlers’ Inn.

Stay tuned for (finally) the last post of this long series! Until then, slàinte!

Springbank Whisky School

Link: https://www.springbank.scot/whisky-school/

#74.4 The Springbank Whisky School

Back to shovelling!
(day 3, Wednesday)

TL; DR: Day three at whisky school started with shovelling barley destined for Springbank production into the kiln, followed by helping out packing Kilkerran Heavily Peated on the soon-to-be-moved bottling line. The reward was an incredible Springbank warehouse tasting with David, featuring a 1990 Springbank and gorgeous old Hazelburn and Longrow. Dinner at the guesthouse ended with an unforgettable cheesecake, then a fun Watt Whisky tasting capped off the evening.

(missed Part 3/Part 2/Part 1?)

On Wednesday morning (day 3 of the school) the weather looked “meh” with an overcast sky. Thankfully it improved during the day. Breakfast was again the full Scottish, and again Gianluigi “had” to help Teresa finish it (she’d then ask for a reduced portion for the Friday, Gianluigi didn’t). While preparing for the day, we realised how little it took to get into a new routine. We also realised that our grand plans to go for a run before the school had already gone right “oot the windae”, so our running shoes had come just for a trip.

Morning clouds.

At 8.00am, we went straight to the malting floor, as there was more shovelling for us! First, we shovelled the barley from the floor into wheelbarrows, to then put it down a hatch where, thanks to a conveyor belt, it was moved into the kiln. When we were finished with that, the team took us inside the kiln, where we spread the barley evenly with our shovels, and turned it slightly to make sure air and smoke could pass through. That barley, in fact, was going to be used to produce Springbank – in this case, the kilning starts with 6 hours of peat smoke, followed by 48 hours of hot air (powered with a gas burner). The way the barley is dried up indicates what it’s going to be used for: for example, 30 hours of hot air for Hazelburn, and instead 48 hours of peat smoke for Longrow. Kilkerran is the same as Springbank (so, lightly peated). However, the malt for the unpeated Kilkerran, the base of their blended malt Campbeltown Loch, and the heavily peated Kilkerran are sourced elsewhere.

Climbing the barley mountain in the kiln.

Only the conveyor belt was ready for this picture.

Throughout the year, they start with Hazelburn, followed by Longrow and then Springbank, until they close the distillery to switch to producing Kilkerran at Glengyle for the last 3 months. When we were there, they were malting barley for Springbank, filling Hazelburn newmake spirit into casks, distilling Longrow, and bottling Kilkerran, so in a sense (a veeeeeeery loose sense), we contributed to the production of all four main malts!

After the break, the group divided again. Graham and the two of us went to the bottling hall (next to the parking lot) to assist the team with boxing. At first, Graham was putting protective cardboard squares around the neck of bottles, Gianluigi was putting the bottles inside the box, and Teresa was helping piling the boxes into pallets. They were bottling the next batch of Kilkerran Heavily peated, which is a batch of a few thousand bottles. One cool thing they do with batches (so, excluding single casks) is to marry them in a large vat first, to then re-rack the married whisky into well used casks for 6 months to allow the liquid to settle. These casks are quite recognisable as their end is black, with only a few numbers on them. After the 6 months, these casks are emptied into another vatting tank, which is connected with the bottling line. They have two bottling lines, one automatic (for all the bottles with the classic Springbank/Kilkerran/Campbeltown Loch shape) and the other one semi-automatic, for all the bottles with alternative shapes (Cadenhead’s dumpy square, tall square “olive oil” style, and a couple of different tall round, at least). To make things easier, they told us that they will move soon to another shape of bottle for all Cadenhead’s and Springbank Society bottlings.

The automatic bottling line.

Work on the bottling line was briefly interrupted at 10.50am, when we went back to the maltings to see the kiln being lit: almost like the crossing of the wildebeests in the Serengeti!

And the peat is on.

At noon we walked back to the Still Guesthouse, where Donald had prepared us a chicken burger with potato wedges and salad, again very much appreciated (how many favourites can we have??). Back to the bottling line, we assisted the staff on the line for a wee while, until Chris showed us around the bottling hall. We were the last school term to “work” in the old bottling line, as the works for the new one were almost complete, and the lines were going to be moved to the new building at the end of the week. The old building is going back to be a maturation warehouse. We could sense the bottling team felt both emotional and excited about the move.

Chris also showed us where they store labels, boxes and bottles, and how the whisky is filtered three times before going into the bottles. Once the pallets are done and full with boxes, they are transported with a forklift to the dispatch point, which is also going to be moved to the new bottling hall. Like the old bottling hall, this building (between Springbank and Glengyle distilleries) is also going to become a warehouse – you can tell they are in need of warehousing space.

At some point, Chris very kindly allowed us to grab some drams, leftovers from previous bottlings. We were also given the chance to disgorge a vatting cask of the Kilkerran Heavily Peated into the larger vat and, while we were at it, try a sip of the whisky. So nice of them!

Where casks are disgorged.

The last activity of the day was a great reward for the shovelling (we guess), a Springbank warehouse tasting, reserved for attendees of either the Whisky School or the Barley to Bottle long-day premium tour (£250.00). We walked into Warehouse #3 together with David, the sales director, who hosted the tasting. The first three drams were quite spectacular, first a 2001 Hazelburn, matured in a refill cask (natural abv ~48-49%), followed by a 1990 (!!!) Springbank from a refill ex-bourbon hogshead (41.6%), and finally a 2001 Longrow from a 3^rd fill ex-bourbon hogshead (we missed the abv). Finally, a younger Longrow, only 4-year-old, from a Virgin oak octave cask: definitely punchier compared to the three balanced and soft tropical drams we had before. During the tasting, David talked about the challenges of selling Springbank in an ever-hungry market, so to maintain it available for fans while also trying to slowly expand. All this while making sure that supplies are used as intended (for drinking) and not hoarded by collectors, as much as possible at least. In the current market this is probably a good problem to have, but we can definitely see how it must require a lot of effort, and we cheer them for doing so!

A superb dram.

After the tasting we had some spare time before dinner, so we went to the Cadenhead’s Tasting Room to use the extra dram voucher we’d gotten the day before at the warehouse tasting. Dinner was salmon fillet, followed by another incredible dessert: one of the best cheesecakes we ever had! So, good that Gianluigi had two (!!), which Sandra took as a compliment (and indeed it was, still dreaming about that cake!). (Side note, Teresa is no longer amazed at how much Gianluigi can eat, but it was funny to see the others genuinely impressed by the performance.)

The unforgettable.

After dinner, we joined Graham, Andrew and his wife, and other visitors for a Watt Whisky tasting with Mark, at their shop near the Feathers Inn. It was a 6-dram tasting, very much Mark’s style, with a lot of delicious ex-bourbon cask Speysiders, but also a great “tea-spooned” Campbeltown blended malt (i.e. Glen Scotia), and a final peaty-sherry bomb, a 6y Staoisha (from Bunnahabhain distillery).

Great end to a great day.

After the tasting (and an extra dram or two), we briefly stopped at the Feathers Inn and soon went to sleep, amazed again by the quality of whisky you can find in the Wee Toon!

Coming next week, another post about the Springbank Whisky School! Until then, slàinte!

Springbank Whisky School

Link: https://www.springbank.scot/whisky-school/

#74.3 The Springbank Whisky School

Keep rollin’ rollin’ rollin’ rollin’
(day 2, Tuesday)

TL; DR: Day two of the whisky school, filling and rolling casks all morning, watching the mashtun being filled, then more cask-rolling into the dunnage and racked warehouses after lunch. Reward came with a Cadenhead’s Warehouse Tasting of eight drams, standouts being a Palo Cortado Benrinnes 11y and old Laphroaig and Bowmore.

(missed Part 2/Part 1?)

The second day of the school started like the first one: alarm at 6am, breakfast at 7am. That morning we got scrambled eggs and smoked salmon, a favourite of ours! Well fed, we walked to the distillery for the 8am start. It had rained during the night, so everything was wet, however the sun was shining when we arrived. That was pretty much the weather during the whole week, showers here and there, but generally sunny and not too cold…“breezy”, if you want.

Anyway, the first activity of the day was not a heavy one, just watching the steep tank being filled with water while chatting to the staff in the malting floor.

We don’t think this counts as quality control.

After that, it was time to get serious: our next job was rolling casks! (To note, when the Whisky School is on, the filling day is Tuesday instead of the usual Friday.) A number of casks were already aligned in the courtyard, just outside the filling room: our job was to roll them in, pass them on to “wee Andrew” (“wee” because he’s in his 20s, he’s taller than most of us) who would fill them, and once filled, closing them with a bung. Meanwhile, Gavin was keeping the records on the weight and volume of newmake spirit that went in.

The wait before rolling.

Once closed, we rolled the casks back to the courtyard and wrote down the cask number on the cask end with stencil and white paint. That day the casks were filled with Hazelburn, mostly ex-bourbon barrels, but also some sherry hogsheads.

Stencilling away.

It was a hard job, especially to get the casks positioned in the right way (with the writings up), but it took us occupied and time went quickly while rotating tasks between the five of us. We took a break for coffee at 10am, and at 11am we went to production to watch the mashtun getting filled. There, Daniel showed us how they regulate the flow of grist and hot water going into the mashtun, in order to maintain the temperature as close as possible to 63.5°C. The stream is regulated with a mechanism manoeuvred by a chain, and a slight movement can make the balance change quite quickly – not an easy job. At noon we went back to the guesthouse for lunch, this time through a shortcut in the backyard, through a scrapyard: almost romantic. A hearty soup (delicious) and sandwiches were waiting for us.

The mashing-in magic.

After lunch and a much needed coffee, it was time to roll casks again: this time from the courtyard to the warehouse where the Kilkerran Warehouse tasting is held nowadays (and where the Cadenhead’s Warehouse tasting used to be held). The staff showed us how to put the casks in the right way, so when you roll them on the staves they end up with the stencils facing up. The warehouse was a two-floor dunnage, and the casks we rolled in were destined to the upper floor, so a winch was needed. Upstairs, we helped put the casks on the manual lift used to position the casks on one of the three levels. We’ll spare you the intricacies of getting the right orientation of the bung depending on the spot assigned to the cask – that was tough!

Then, we moved to the racked warehouse next door, where we rolled casks on to a forklift, which the staff used to put the casks at rest in the free spots, sometimes quite high up.

…but someone has to do it.

Again, manoeuvring full casks is no easy task, and it was a good workout, but in this case being short people helped: Robert and Graham, much taller than us, had definitely a harder time!

Fortunately, this effort was well rewarded with the first tasting of the week: the Cadenhead’s Warehouse Tasting. The brand ambassador Andrew (Graham’s brother-in-law but also well known to us from festivals and tastings) took us to the new warehouse space where the tasting is held, near the Cadenhead’s tasting room.

Thankfully these casks don’t need to be moved…

The lineup was similar to the one we had in December, but with a few key differences. We started off with two known drams, an English single malt – the Spirit of Yorkshire/Filey Bay, fully matured in Madeira, at a low abv of 47% (the cask was almost empty at that point), and a 14y Glen Garioch finished in a rum cask (55%), tropical juiciness. The third dram was a Glenfarclas 15y (56%), that started maturing in a refill ex-bourbon barrel but was then re-racked into a Ruby Port hogshead in 2019 – more a double maturation rather than a finish. This was the first time we tried a Glenfarclas that was not in a sherry or bourbon cask, and it didn’t disappoint. Then, one of the best drams of the lineup for us, a Benrinnes 11y, first matured in refill bourbon and then in a Palo Cortado sherry hogshead for 3 years (54%). We bought a bottle, and strangely the last time we were in Campbeltown we also got a bottle of Benrinnes (but from Watt Whisky). Two is a coincidence, three is a trend…Let’s see next time. The fifth dram was a Tullibardine 11y, re-racked for the last 4 years in a fresh (aka 1^st fill) oloroso hogshead (52.1%). The sixth dram was, as per custom, a peated one, a delicious 11y Caol Ila (58.2%) from a bourbon barrel – the same we’d tried in December, but we’re very happy to go over it again, as it was delicious. We also had two extra drams, a 23y old Laphroaig from a bourbon hogshead – a stunner, one of Gianluigi’s favourite drams of the whole week – and a 28y Bowmore also from a bourbon cask, again a stunner, delicate and tropical. What a tasting!

A much easier job.

After that Graham left, and the four of us went back to the guesthouse for dinner. That night the menu was a tasty steak pie, followed by a delicious Eton mess: Sandra really knocked it out of the park! Tired from all the rolling and dramming, we soon went to bed for a well-deserved rest.

Coming next week, more shovelling! Until then, slàinte!

Springbank Whisky School

Link: https://www.springbank.scot/whisky-school/

#73 Bimber Distillery

London drams are going down!

TL; DR: After years of postponed trips and near misses, we were both in London, which meant we finally visited Bimber distillery! The distillery is in an industrial estate, not far off from the tube: the tour was good, and the tasting great! Definitely, a must do for whisky enthusiasts visiting London.

In recent years, the wave of new craft whisky distilleries didn’t hit Scotland only, but it’s been (or was?) a worldwide phenomenon. During our travels we could get a taste of that in many places: Australia, Wales, Ireland and…England! While there is a cool English whisky map, it is hard to get a precise, fully up to date figure of the actual number of whisky distilleries for two reasons: the first is that new distilleries are still coming up; the second that some of the producers on the map mostly do gin and it is not clear if whisky making is planned or already happening, as we realised during our trip to England and Wales in 2023. Nonetheless, the figure is definitely in the “many tenths”, and it includes some top-notch whiskies, like Spirit of Yorkshire and White Peaks. One the first English whiskies we tried was Bimber, but being in London, it was a bit hard for us to visit (in particular for Gianluigi, who hadn’t been there for almost 8 years).

Not the easiest to find…

This changed last month (March 2026): Gianluigi had to go down south for a conference, so Teresa joined for the weekend. As soon as the trip was confirmed, we booked the tour at Bimber distillery, at noon on the Saturday morning (the only available on the day). We were staying near Shoreditch, so it took a bit to get there – we jumped on the Elizabeth Line and got off at Acton Main Line. We walked about 15-20 minutes to arrive at the distillery, including a short detour to get a delicious coffee and an empanada at Coffeeology, in the same industrial estate. The distillery is in a small warehouse tucked inside a small lane, and it is much smaller than we imagined!

…but here we are!

We were welcomed by Lukasz, former bartender, and member of the Bimber and Dunphail (that we visited in November 2023) sales team. He’s a great entertainer, which made our tour very engaging. We waited a few minutes for the other attendees to show up: a group of three people but very importantly our pal Stephen, friend of the Edinburgh Whisky Group and companion of many whisky adventures! He had already visited the distillery, which he considers his “local”, but not for some time, so he joined us when he knew we were going! As we were all seated, Lukasz started with the history: the distillery was founded in 2015 by Dariusz, a polish guy who moved to the UK initially to work in construction. Indeed, “bimber” means “moonshine” in polish. The aim was to maintain production as traditional as possible, obviously inspired by their peers north of the border. Being in London, obviously it wasn’t possible to have a “farm distillery”, but still, all their malt comes from a farm south-west from the city. Currently the strain they use is Laureate, and in our understanding, it is all floor malted and milled by a local maltster (we couldn’t quite catch the name). They use about 4 tons a week, which translates into a total annual production of about 50,000 litres of alcohol.

Wee display.

The milled malt is added to the mashtun together with water at 65°C, for about two hours. A second water is added at 80°C, but unlike many others distillery they don’t do a third water: while Lukasz said it was for taste, we suspect it has to do with efficiency, energy and water consumption. The wort from mashing is moved to one of the open-top 3,000-litre washbacks. Made of white oak, they were coopered by their in-house cooper and replaced the previous stainless-steel ones. Despite a larger washback capacity, they only fill it with about 2,000 litres, adding a secret recipe yeast (apparently about half baker’s and half brewer’s). Fermentation lasts 160 hours, so about a week, to try to impart fruity and ester-y notes.

Mashtun, where it all starts.

Similar to Scottish distilleries, distillation usually runs in a pair of copper pot stills. Not at the moment though, as the original Portuguese Hoga wash still is being replaced by a Chinese-made 2,000-litre still. This one is already there and plugged, but they are waiting for HMRC to come and make sure everything is alright, so at the moment both distillations happen in the same Hoga still. The wash distillation lasts 6 hours, and with two runs they obtain about 400 litres of low wines. The second distillation lasts about 12 hours: they completely discard the foreshots before the first cut point of 72%. This is unusual, as most producers add them to the low wines and feints for the next distillation. Lucasz told us it’s for taste, but again we suspect it might also be for some practical, efficiency reasons (the foreshots would be re-distilled, after all). They obtain about 240-250 litres of spirit, enough for approximately one cask. They cut the spirit at 65% and, contrary to the foreshots, the tails are added to the low wines for the following batch.

One still does it all, the other one is almost ready to go.

Something we didn’t mention earlier on, is that the distillery focuses on ex-bourbon casks, which represent around 80% of their casks. These mostly come from Woodford Reserve, and are shipped whole, so without breaking them down into staves to fit more of them in the same container. Alternatively, they use virgin American oak casks, but also some sherry, port and madeira. The filling strength is the usual 63.5%, and while they can keep about 100 casks on site, most of them are shipped to warehouses in northern England, with some sent to Scotland at the sister distillery Dunphail – this is mostly done to avoid the unforgiving London’s angel share, 8-9% per year!! Most of their whisky is sold as single cask, or in small batches of, at most, a few thousand bottles. Before bottling (all on site), they let the spirit rest for a couple of weeks. They bottle many market-exclusive whiskies, like the Christmas series for Poland, and some other series: notably, the London’s tube series has been quite popular, with releases usually selling out very quickly.

Such a tiny space, but still room for cask maturation.

It was finally time for the tasting: six drams, starting with the newmake spirit at 63.5%. This first dram is the only constant of the lineup, while the other five are subject to availability and tour guide inspiration. For us, the second dram was the 2023 Chinese Exclusive edition (1,300 bottles), a vatting of ex-bourbon, oloroso and PX sherry casks bottled at 63.3%! It was followed by two 2025 Taiwan exclusive bottlings, a full-bourbon maturation (58.2%) and an oloroso finished expression (57.2%, 292 bottles). The last two drams were the 2025 Christmas Edition, finished in Moscatel casks (58.3%, 318 bottles), and another 2025 Taiwan Exclusive fully matured in PX sherry cask (58.4%). It was a very good tasting, although on the sherry side. Lukasz asked us if we wanted some refill, but we asked for a wee taste of the Apogee 12y instead, a blended whisky they produce with malts and grains coming from Scotland, and finished in ex-bourbon casks that previously held Bimber: a very good dram indeed.

Los tres amigos.

One of six tasty drams.

After a while we left the distillery, and together with Stephen we went for the first time to the Melody whisky bar. Not too far off from the distillery (well, we got an Uber), it is in a lovely building resembling a medieval inn, and is also a hotel and a restaurant. We shared a couple of flights, which were very well priced. Measures were 10ml only, which is really good if you want to try different things without getting hammered. After the drams and some food, our evening continued with some friends (and friends of friends) and a few pints, just to take the edge down a notch.

What a day, and we’re so happy we finally visited Bimber distillery! The tour didn’t disappoint, and while we keep distance from the frenzy of series and limited releases, we can see how this started: the whisky is truly tasty, especially the bourbon cask matured ones. We might go back for another tour, next time we’ll be in London…hopefully, it won’t take another 8 years.

That is all, stay tuned for our next adventure in a couple of weeks time, it’s going to be a big one! Until then, slàinte!

Bimber Distillery Tour

Price: £40.00 pp (March 2026)

Duration: 2hr

Tasting: 6 drams, newmake spirit (63.5%), Chinese Exclusive 2023 (63.3%), Taiwan Exclusive 2025 (ex-bourbon, 58.2%), Taiwan Exclusive 2025 (oloroso finish, 57.2%), 2025 Christmas Edition (58.3%), 2025 Taiwan Exclusive (full maturation PX casks, 58.4%)

Target: whisky enthusiasts and curious

Value for money: good

Highlights: some unique production features

Recommended: yes

Link: https://www.bimberdistillery.co.uk/home

#70.2 A weekend in Campbeltown

Ending the whisky year with a bang (Part II)

TL; DR: After Glen Scotia and Kilkerran, we had two more whisky tastings lined up for the weekend. An unmissable Cadenhead’s Warehouse tasting, always interesting for its variety, and an excellent Watt Whisky tasting at the shop with Mark. Campbeltwon, we’ll be back.

(missed Part 1?)

The Saturday morning was much quieter, helped by a gloomy weather: we cooked ourselves a big breakfast with eggs, bacon, and some bread. We then went for a (short) stroll, before going straight to the Cadenhead’s shop for our third tasting of the weekend: the Cadenhead’s Warehouse Tasting. We are almost veterans, having done it four (Teresa) and six (Gianluigi) times. Our host was Craig, and joining the tasting there were the two German guys we’d met the day before, and a group of five people (four guys and a lady) who were a tad too noisy, some clearly in hangover since the day before.

The casks lineup at Cadenhead’s!

The only decent picture of us at Cadenhead’s. Oh well.

The tasting started with an…English whisky! It was a 2019 Filey Bay from a Madeira cask, surprisingly naturally at a 47%abv. It was followed by a 14y Glen Garioch finished in rum cask (55%), very tropical as you can expect. Next, a 16y Glenallachie from a refill sherry butt, at a whooping abv of 63.5%. It was very pale, so probably a third fill? Fourth dram was a 15y Burnside(™) from a sherry hogshead (65.7%), before moving into the peat realm: a 15y Ledaig (51.8%) and an 11y Caol Ila (58.2%), both from bourbon casks, both delicious. Overall, a very interesting tasting, with a lot of different drams, and Craig did a great job despite the noisy crowd.

Ready to dram.

Unfortunately, we couldn’t stay and enjoy the 7^th dram at the tasting room, because they were closing at 12.30 for the J&A Mitchell Christmas party. So, we took our drams “to go”, and went to the flat to cook ourselves the “pisarei e fasö”…We had a good portion, eating the whole half-kilo pack.

A big lunch, a taste of home.

After some rest, and a much needed coffee, we went out again for the final tasting of the weekend at the Watt Whisky shop, very kindly scheduled by Mark. We started with a couple of ex-bourbon cask Speysiders, one of Mark’s favourite styles, a 13y Inchgower (58.3%) and a 10y Aultmore (56.9%). Both delicious, and very different from each other: the first funkier and heavier, the latter more delicate. Then it was time for a 9y Campbeltown blended malt (57%), which may or may not be a tea-spooned Glen Scotia (for a deeper review of the dram check out Dramface). After that we got a pair: a 13y Benrinnes finished in an Armagnac cask (58%), paired with the 17y Chateau Laubade Armagnac (54.8%) that was in the cask before the whisky. This confirmed our taste for Armagnac casks in general (this Benrinnes in particular was delicious!), and that Armagnac itself is a spirit worth exploring more.

The tasting came to a close with a young and sherried 6y Staoisha (peated Bunnahabhain, 57%), a dram that always delivers. We could have listened to Mark talking about whisky for hours, but it was time to close the shop and so we left, happy.

Festive vibes at Watt Whisky shop.

The evening continued with a pint and a take-away from the Bangladesh Tandoori that we ate at the flat (great food, and abundant portions too). We went out for the evening, first at the Fiddler’s Inn and then at the Burnside: there were many Christmas parties around, so in both bars the atmosphere was fun and joyful. We had some nice chat with locals, who often looked at our drinks and guessed why we were in town: they must be used to whisky enthusiasts, we felt very welcomed. Campbeltown is such a cosy place!

Finally, Sunday came, time to leave and go back to reality. It was one of those miserable rainy days that you’d want to spend inside, maybe in front of a chimney with a book and a dram. Unfortunately, we had to drive a few hours, but in the end we got home safely (albeit without one of the wheel trim covers, a loss possibly caused by one of the many puddles we found on the road).

An excellent lineup, thanks Mark!

It was another great and very interesting whisky adventure, we had so many flavoursome drams! The Glen Scotia tasting went beyond our expectations, and potentially they might still have the same casks available at the time of writing (January 2026): since they only sell 20cl bottles, the turnover might be slow. It was also the case for the Kilkerran tasting, as some of the casks were the same as in April, despite the Campbeltown Malt Festival in between. Nonetheless, as even the new casks were very similar to the previous ones, so we might wait a bit before doing this tasting again. As expected, the two independent bottlers range was various and interesting. At Cadenhead’s, only one cask was still there since April, the Glenallachie, but while the abv hadn’t changed much, it was definitely more mellow the second time around. Because it was only the two of us, Mark could tailor the tasting around that, avoiding expressions we’d tried at a tasting at the Belfry (Edinburgh) back in March 2025. This latter was definitely a winner, something we’d repeat next time we’re in town. About our next time in Campbeltown, we might have big news for this year, but no spoilers just now.

Stay tuned to know about our next adventures, this time around about the other side of Scotland. Until then, slàinte mhath!

Cadenhead’s Warehouse Tasting

Price: £45.00 pp (December 2025)

Duration: 1hr (more like 1hr 30min)

Tasting: 6 drams from the cask, plus a dram at the Cadenhead’s Tasting Room, and a complimentary glass (high-stem copita)

Target: whisky enthusiasts

Value for money: very good

Highlights: the drams

Recommended: yes

Link: https://www.cadenhead.scot/

Watt Whisky Tasting

Price: £25.00 pp (December 2025)

Duration: 1hr (more like 1hr 30min)

Tasting: 6 drams

Target: whisky enthusiasts

Value for money: great

Highlights: Mark’s banter

Recommended: yes

Link: https://wattwhisky.com/

#70.1 A weekend in Campbeltown

Ending the whisky year with a bang (Part I)

TL; DR: Just before Christmas, we planned a relaxing long weekend in Campbeltown, where we did a few tastings. First off: Glen Scotia and Kilkerran, followed by a great walk on the hills behind the toon! It might become a fixed appointment…

Happy new year! To all our readers, we hope your 2026 started in the best way possible. Ours did. As we write, we are back to work after a very relaxing 3-week break from the blog. That was needed, as the months preceding Christmas were particularly challenging, with work deadlines, etc. In that busy period, we only managed to fit a few quick escapes, nothing more than a weekend. This was until mid-December, when we set a few days aside for a proper long weekend away, and where better to go if not the Wee Toon itself, Campbeltown?

While Gianluigi visited the town last April with his pal Roberto, Teresa hadn’t been there since early July 2024…And even then, we only spent half a day there, leaving right after a cheeky Cadenhead’s tasting and lunch. So, a trip back was definitely due, at this point! We prepared Mr Vantastic a day or two in advance, and on the Thursday morning we left early, aiming to get there after lunch after the 4-and-a-half hours drive. This was to give us enough time to park the van and check in at our accommodation: being December, we didn’t want to take chances to stay in the van only to find terrible weather, so we got ourselves a small flat for the weekend. And besides, the two nearest campsites are about 4.5 miles from the town, one in Machrihanish and one in Peninver, too far to walk the distance after a tasting (or two). Along the way, we only had a break in Inveraray to get the usual morning roll at the George Hotel (this time not as good as usual), and to meet our pal Ivan: because of the wind, his seafood shack was closed, but we found him helping out a local stalker to process some venison. There we bought mince, fillets and square sausages that we ate back in Leith a few days later: everything was delicious! Back on the road, we arrived just past 2pm, in time to settle in the rented flat and go to our first tasting of the weekend. The flat was in a great location, right in between Cadenhead’s shop and Springbank, what could we ask more? Other than being a tad damp, it was perfect for our needs.

Ready to start the long weekend.

Our first tasting was at Glen Scotia distillery, and was the Warehouse Selection Tasting (but not in the warehouse, which at first we found odd). As we checked in, Greg told us we were the only ones attending, and the table was almost ready for us: the good thing of not doing the tasting in the warehouse is that we had one glass per dram, so we could take our time. After a cheeky browse of the shop, the tasting started. Greg took out the bottles one by one, so we couldn’t even guess “with our eyes” what was going to come. It was a great exploration of what Glen Scotia can do: from a purely ex-bourbon cask (10y, tropical bomb!) to a young Oloroso cask finished dram (6y), and another finish but in a refill PX cask (9y). We then moved on to a Port cask matured whisky (11y) and finished (you might guess) with a peated Glen Scotia, again matured only in an ex-bourbon cask (and again 11y): while the first dram was from a Heaven Hill barrel, this one was from a Jim Beam’s one. Overall, it was an excellent tasting, the drams were one better than the other, but the ex-bourbon cask duo won it for us. You can only buy one 20cl bottle per person, and we got one of these two (both £33, not cheap).

Our weekend started strong, great tasting!

Greg was a great host, very knowledgeable and nice: as we told him that we had visited the distillery all the way back in 2018, he briefly walked us in the distillery to show us the new mash tun. And we also met Archie, the distiller who had given us a super geeky tour in 2018.

The new mashtun!

Back from the tasting, we briefly stopped at the Springbank distillery shop: we needed to buy two cage bottles to complete the lineup of our next Edinburgh Whisky Group online tasting (6 bottles, all from the cage!). Cage bottles can be considered an equivalent of the “bottle-your-own” or “distillery cask” at other distilleries (without the crazy pricing of some), but they come up more randomly and you can only buy one per week (per person, so two in our case). For some reason (and the reason is “auctions”), the Springbank bottles tend to disappear quite quickly from the cage, while Hazelburn, Longrow (both produced at Springbank!) and Kilkerran (from Glengyle distillery) tend to stick around a bit more. Usually we don’t care, we like them all, but in this case we wanted to get a Springbank for the tasting. We weren’t lucky that day, but we got the other bottle at least. We stopped at the Washback bar for a cheeky dram before it closed (at 6pm), and we found Aly, always great to chat with. Next, we got something to eat (a very bad take-away on Longrow…the street) and went back to the flat for an early night. We woke up well rested, and after a big breakfast, we went to the Springbank shop again to get the second cage bottle: we got the last one available after queueing just before the shop opened: crazy! However, we were happy with the outcome, and now we cannot wait to share these drams with our pals!

After accomplishing this mission, we took advantage of the sunny morning to go on a hike. We went up to the hill behind the town, first to the Crosshill reserve, and then to a panoramic view, before getting lost in the woodland, but somehow managing to get back in time for lunch at the flat. We also prepared a sauce for the next day meal: pisarei e fasö, typical from Gianluigi’s hometown, which he brought back after a recent trip to Italy. We properly did it by preparing the sauce a day in advance to let it simmer.

Davaar island over there.

Almost at the top of the hill, before we got a bit lost in the woods.

We then went back to attend the Kilkerran Warehouse tasting, this time in the warehouse. It was the two of us and two younger German guys, other than the host Joyce, whom Gianluigi knew from his tasting with Roberto in April. We started with a 2006 vintage triple distilled followed by a 2005 (respectively from refill ex-bourbon barrel and hogshead) and a 2010 from a 1^st fill barrel. The second half of the tasting consisted of two 2013 vintage drams, one from a Port pipe and one from a sherry hogshead, and a heavily peated expression, 2015 again from a 1^st fill ex-bourbon barrel.

Beauties in the warehouse.

The type of lineup was exactly the same as the one in April (even if some of the casks changed in the meantime), which was a tad boring. Nonetheless, the drams were all very tasty, and it is always great to explore one of our favourite distilleries in such depth. The winner for us was the triple distilled, a tropical bomb! Just a shame they increased the price from £60 to £80 for a half-bottle (35cl), which is a bit pricey. After the tasting, we went back to the Washback bar for an extra dram, and then back to the flat. We got ready for our dinner at the Ardshiel Hotel: not only a great whisky bar, they do amazing food as well. We got ourselves a two courses festive menu (plus a cheeky dessert for Gianluigi) and then called it a night.

Stay tuned for the second part of our whisky trip in Campbeltown, coming next week. Until then, slàinte!

Glen Scotia Warehouse Selection Tasting

Price: £40.00 pp + £2 fee (December 2025)

Duration: 1hr

Tasting: 5 Glen Scotia cask samples drams, 2015 1st fill ex-bourbon barrel Jim Beam (10y, 58.7%), 2019 Oloroso sherry finish (6y, 56.5%), 2016 refill PX sherry (9y, 59.9%), 2014 Ruby port finish (11y, 57.1%), 2014 Heavily peated 1st fill ex-bourbon Heaven Hill (11y, 57.6%)

Target: whisky enthusiasts

Value for money: very good

Highlights: the drams and the cosy shop/tasting room

Recommended: yes

Link: https://www.glenscotia.com/

Kilkerran Warehouse Tasting

Price: £40.00 pp (December 2025)

Duration: 1hr

Tasting: 6 Kilkerran drams from the cask, 2006 triple distilled refill ex-bou brl (56.3), 2005 refill ex-bou hhd (54.4%), 2010 1st fill ex-bou brl (57.5%), 2013 Port pipe (55.8%), 2013 refill sherry hhd (58.5%), 2015 heavily peated 1st fill ex-bou brl (58.1%)

Target: whisky enthusiasts

Value for money: great

Highlights: the drams

Recommended: yes, but do it once

Link: https://kilkerran.scot/

#67 Bonnington distillery

A distillery next door

TL; DR: Back in October, and thanks to our pal Graham, we visited a distillery that is less than one km from our door: not the one you are probably thinking, rather Bonnington distillery. The manager Gregor welcomed and showed us around the premise. A very interesting project, and a surprisingly maritime single malt.

Our first contact with the distillery we’re talking about in this blog post was in April 2024, during the Biscuit Factory Beverage Festival (one of the many ‘drinks’ events in vibrant Leith), when other than the main festival, we attended a Bonnington & Crabbie tasting, in collaboration with Justine from Kask Whisky. There, we met their responsible for marketing, whom we shared contacts with, hoping for an informal tour of the Bonnington distillery. While we lost contact, our whisky pal Graham Fraser managed to keep in touch, got the details of the distillery manager, Gregor, and arranged a visit for early October this year. Persevere.

We run close to these casks almost every week!

Bonnington can be considered our “local” distillery, it’s really not even one km for our place, and it’s next to the Water of Leith Walk, so we often run just next to it. A few times we even smelled either the mash or the wash, which is nice but not a great incentive for a run, eheh! The distillery belongs to the Halewood Artisanal Spirits, together with a sister distillery in England (Bankhall), and our auld acquaintance Aber Falls, in north Wales. The company also owns the popular Whitley Neill gin, and Crabbie, famous for their green alcoholic ginger beer. John Crabbie is a whisky brand with strong ties to Leith, as the man who carried this name, including the now lost Yardheads distillery. For more of the history though, we’d suggest checking out Justine content, in particular her whisky history blogs on Substack. The group also included a smaller and experimental distillery located not too far away, in Granton, called Chain Pier. It was active only for a little while, from 2018 until January 2020, and so far only a handful of bottlings have been released, including by a few independent bottlers. Back to Bonnington distillery, the current site was chosen because it was the largest available in the EH6 postcode area, generally associated with Leith. The site has some history, as it was built as far back as the early 16^th century, including the Bonnington Manor House, while the area was also involved in the 1560 Siege of Leith. This delayed the operations by about 6 months, for the inevitable archaeological assessments. To note, there used to be an unrelated short-lived previous Bonnington distillery not too far away, near the Biscuit Factory.

You wouldn’t say we’re outside a distillery.

The land was bought in 2017 and construction works started the following year. The distillery was completed in 2019, their first mash in December. They didn’t fill their first cask until the 20^th of March 2020: a notable date, as it was the day before the first COVID-19 lockdown. Before starting, they went through the original purchase records to figure the original style of Crabbie’s whisky, finding out that it was a Highland style of whisky – they decided to reproduce it.

Back to the tour, Gregor started describing production in the courtyard, partly occupied by a few tanks, for draff (sent to anaerobic digestion) and pot ale, and two 30-ton malt silos. They employ 6 operators (out of 11 staff) and run 24/5 with four mashes a day, and each mash uses about 2 tons of malt. The output is about of 750,000 litres of pure alcohol per year, if they were to run 24/7 they could reach about 1.1 million lpa, but that’s not in the plans right now.

Ok, maybe these silos give it away…

The production water is sourced from a 120-meter-deep borehole, while the malt is sourced from either Beard or Crisp, with 3 deliveries every fortnight. When we visited, they’d just finished their peated run, which lasts a month and uses 190 tons of malt peated to 50 ppm. The mill is a modern AR2000, coloured bright red, which produces a grist with approximately the “usual” husk/grit/flour split (20%/70%/10%). They mash in a 2.5-ton semi-lauter mashtun with 3 waters at increasing temperature starting at around 63°C, obtaining a partially cloudy worth. They are equipped with 15 washbacks, 9 of which are in the next part of the building, past the stills, and they were added recently to increase capacity. They use MG+ yeast and, depending on the time of the week, fermentation can last either 150 or 80 hours. Gregor told us that the spirit obtained with the two fermentations is matured separately, and while the long distillation produces more stewed fruit notes, the short one enhances the biscuity notes: very interesting.

All stainless steel here.

A man and the newly added washbacks.

They have two gas boilers to get the steam for distillation, the wash still is 10,500 litres, while the spirit still “only” 7,500. Distillation is fast, to match the same time as mashing and, thus, facilitating the pipeline. The wash is preheated to about 60°C by a heat exchanger used to very cleverly cool down the pot ale in about 25 minutes, saving one hour of distillation time and gas consumption. The wash still produces about 20%abv low wines, which are then mixed with the head and tail of the previous run, which are obtained discarding the liquid above 75% and 62/61.5% abv of the second distillation. From each run, they obtain 1,100-1,200l of newmake spirit, at about 72% abv, which translates into about 130-140 casks per week. These are stored in their warehouses in Kirkaldy, as there isn’t much capacity on site. Casks are stored mainly palletised, as they have limited dunnage space, and are sourced from the Speyside Cooperage, unless they want something more special. Interestingly, they also have a spare gin still, but it hasn’t been used since March 2021, probably to avoid competition with their other gin brands.

Classic picture.

A less classic one. Always nice to see the stills from beneath.

After that, we went to a meeting room underneath the offices, where Gregor gave us a few sips of their products. We tried the John Crabbie and Johnny Cree (both non-age statement, NAS, 40%), which are fully matured in virgin oak and ex-bourbon casks, respectively. The former is not bad at all, just a bit watery due to the low abv. Currently the non-age statement expressions of both brands (the second named after John Crabbie’s business partner) are produced at the distillery, while in the future the aim is also to produced the aged Crabbie (12y and 15y, currently sourced whisky). Then we tried a few Bonnington single malts, a range which is reserved for small batches or single casks: the peated Muscat cask (NAS, 51%) was very tasty, while the unpeated Muscat was good too (NAS, 47%). The other available we didn’t try was the PX casks (NAS, 47%). In general, their whisky has a striking maritime character, which makes sense as we’re not that far away from the Forth, but it is something not usually associated with Lowlands malts.

An interesting selection.

An interesting selection (continued).

After these drams it was time to go back home, so we first greeted Gregor, and once outside the distillery, our pal Graham. It was not our first time visiting a distillery with him, but the first in such an intimate tour: it was good that for once we weren’t the only ones asking for nerdy details, which Gregor patiently explained us with competence and knowledge. He said that, when he has time and if asked nicely, he likes showing people around. But he also said that random showups are a strong ‘nope’: it is still a production plant (something some whisky people don’t quite get…). As we walked home, we passed by the massive bonded warehouses built by the Pattison brothers just before their demise, and subsequently acquired by DCL. We are very happy that the whisky industry is returning to Leith, such a pivotal place for the history of our favourite drink.

Stay tuned for our next trip! Until then, slàinte!

Bonnington Distillery Bespoke Visit

Price: free (October 2025)

Duration: 1hr 30min

Tasting: a few sips from currently bottled single malts (see description above)

Target: anyone

Value for money: well…it was free

Highlights: the location and the compact production

Recommended: yes, but do get in touch with them first!

Link: https://crabbiewhisky.com/bonnington-distillery/

#63.4 As north as you can get (on the mainland)

Pointing north to the bunker

TL; DR: Our final distillery visit in this North Highland trip was to another new distillery: North Point! The location is very fascinating, and during the engaging tour, Alex walked us through their process in a distinctive visit that left us excited. After the visit, we visited peat bogs, beaches, and waterfalls, an ended the trip with a cheeky visit at Tomatin.

(missed Part 3/Part 2/Part 1?)

The Forss Technology Business and Energy Park is only a few minutes driving from Thurso, the access road is on the right side of the A836, if you’re driving westward. As we approached it, the site looked more like a wind farm, as it’s surrounded by turbines. We’d done our homework before, and we learned that the site, built in the early 1960s, used to be a U.S. Navy radio station active during the Cold War. Not only that, but after the closure of NAVCOMMSTA Londonderry in 1977, it became crucial to monitor the North Atlantic and the North Sea until November 1992, when it ceased operation and the Americans left. The site maintained some activity because of some of the existing facilities (basketball court, bowling alley, swimming pool, baseball diamond), but then in 2003 it was transformed into a business park. And in 2020, North Point Distillery moved in!

The barrels told us the way to the distillery, thankfully.

We learned about North Point because of their other spirits (more on this later), but their inclusion in the 2025 Malt Whisky Yearbook meant that they started distilling newmake spirit for whisky, sparking our curiosity. The visit almost didn’t happen, because the Founders’ tour (the in-depth one, but they also have a shorter option for £12) was not scheduled on Saturdays. However, we’d noticed that the shop was open, so we got in contact and they agreed to give us a tour! This kindness is not a given, as other distilleries would have just turned us away, so many thanks to them! As we arrived Alex MacDonald, one of the founders and our guide for the afternoon, spotted us right away, and introduced himself while we entered the Murkle building. This is where their offices, shop and part of production are. Despite his surname, Alex is Canadian, and came to Scotland to play rugby. After getting an MSc in Business, he founded the distillery with Struan Mackie (native of the North Coast). The company is independently owned, and they recently obtained the B Corp Certification, to testify their effort in sustainability.

Yes, we got to the right place.

The part of production near the offices is mostly dedicated to the other spirits, although one of the whisky stills is also there. The stills are all named after members of their families (some still alive, who apparently complained) and they are custom made by a Serbian company. They are all electric, not very common in Scotland. Right in front of the stills, we could check out their massive collection of botanicals, while tasting three spirit samples each (excluding Gianluigi, the driver). They started in 2020 with one 500-litre still, Sandy Stroma, to produce their Highland Rum and their gin, and they later added Audrey, a small experimental one (for smaller batches as well, including for clients).

The first still, Sandy Stroma.

For the rum they buy molasses from Barbados, and they ferment them with Kviek Norwegian ale yeast for a week, before running it through the still. Their main product, delicate and sweet, is the Pilot Rum (aged for 1-year in ex-whisky casks), named after the pilots of the Pentland Firth, who used to guide bigger ships through those dangerous waters. They later added the Spice Rum (43%): for this, they found a recipe (including cocoa, orange, vanilla pods, and other 18 botanicals) that tries to replicate the experience of drinking rum while eating a Terry’s Orange. In the same stills, they also produce the Crosskirk Bay Gin, made with juniper imported from Tuscany (because of a higher concentration in oils), Szechuan and pink peppers, and other botanicals. Edoardo particularly appreciated the gin and its oiliness, the last of the three-spirit flight.

Plenty of botanicals here.

As we were saying, one of the whisky stills is also in the same building: Gertie, the 1000-litre spirit still. While Alex explained that they obtained the license for whisky in 2021, he gave us a newmake spirit sample of what will become Dalclagie Single malt. Until 2023 they mostly did research and development, including 40+ mashbills before finding the one they wanted for their malt.

Newmake, malternatives, and beautiful stills in the background.

Alex then walked us to where the rest of whisky production is, inside an adjacent, much bigger building. They get pre-milled malted barley from Crisp, mostly Maris Otter, processing 4 tons every two weeks. They are still experimenting a lot, in particular around Christmas, with both barley and yeast: a fun time for their distiller Greg. They also have plans to trial some heritage “bourbon-style” mash recipes. Mashing is carried out in a 2000-litre mashtun for 9 hours, while they have six wooden washbacks: two Wilhelm Elder, and four former vatting used by Diageo for the Johnny Walker Blue label (one of them is called Angus). We wondered if they were still haunted by the whisky of the ghost distilleries that went into that. After 7 to 10 days of fermentation with Kviek yeast, they finally run the first distillation in the 2000-litre wash still, Nettie.

Quite a unique setting for production.

Nettie and us.

Then it is moved into the building we were in before, for the final distillation, with Gertie: cut points are always made based on aroma and taste. At the moment they store most casks (palletised) in the same main production building. Among the casks, a small cabinet with some bottles: in fact, the Founders’ experience included a sample of three aging malt spirits, one chosen by each of the co-founders, and one chosen by the distiller. Two of them were an 11-month-old Chateau Talbot red wine cask (at ~65%), and a 12-month-old ex-Jim Beam bourbon cask (~64%). Despite the young age they were very different, the first one richer, the latter carrying a lot of hints of newmake spirit. The third cask sample was not available on the day, so instead Alex treated us with a delicious E.H. Taylor Bottle-in-bond bourbon (50%abv).

Promising experiments.

Then, before the tour ended, it was time for a surprise: a trip to the bunker. Being former military buildings, most of them come with a bunker, and they didn’t let go the opportunity to use it for cask maturation (stored horizontally there). We’d never been to a bunker before, so it was a great experience, and we’re very curious to see how the whisky will mature there, compared to the main warehouse.

As we left the production/warehouse to go back where we started, Alex pointed us to some buildings they are trying to acquire for potential expansion: exciting times for them. Back at the shop we had a rugby chit chat: despite Alex used to be a hooker, Edoardo a fullback, and Gianluigi a referee, they seem to have (surprisingly) gotten along, eheh. Overall, we really enjoyed the time spent there, and Alex gave us a great tour. The project is interesting and considering how well they are doing with the current spirits, their single malt will be one to keep an eye out for. The tasting in the warehouse and the visit to the bunker were the cherry on the top, which made this tour a bit different and innovative.

A bunker as a warehouse, that’s a first.

We soon left the site, under an overcast sky, driving towards the Forsinard RSPB in the Flow Country. This is a truly majestic landscape, one of the biggest peatlands in Western Europe, now a conservation area: peat bogs are more efficient than forests to capture carbon dioxide. We also got soaked by a storm, so we rested a bit inside the RSPB visitor centre, getting some warm drinks in exchange for donations, and watching the full half-hour video. Back on the road, we drove south inland, and then north-west towards Tongue. We looked for a place to stay trying to avoid the midges: we failed.

Amazing peatland.

The day after we continued on the North Coast 500, stopping at the Smoo Cave and in Durness for some shopping, and then for a fantastic seafood late lunch at the Kylesku Hotel, in the namesake village. We finally stayed in a quite pricey (£50 for one night!) but scenic campsite just north of Ullapool. We managed to have dinner outside, but as soon as the wind calmed, midges came back, so we had to retreat in the campervan where we spent the night sipping some Springbank samples: one of Edoardo’s favourite, so we’re always sure to have some for when he comes over.

Brothers in water.

The final day, after a hot breakfast in Ullapool, we drove straight back to Edinburgh, with a stop for a walk at the Corrieshalloch Gorge (very scenic, just a shame for the…midges!), and a final last stop at Tomatin distillery. There, Edoardo and Gianluigi shared a flight of their bottle-your-own drams (pricey, but generally good) and one of Cu Bocan (their lightly peated malt), plus a couple of sherry expressions: the Manzanilla and the PX finished ones were particularly delicious. After that, we slowly drove back to Leith, where we arrived in time for a quiet dinner and a final dram.

Unplanned but welcomed stop to finish off the weekend.

First, we loved this trip, and we had a fantastic time up in the Highlands. Landscapes are fantastic, and although we had been there before, this time we really appreciated why it became so popular. It’s really a magic place. Second, the distilleries: we had a very good time up north. Apart from Pulteney, which was a bit too corporate and impersonal (not the guide’s fault), Wolfburn, which was the other one well established, was just fantastic. The two new distilleries, 8 Doors and North Point, were both great as well – we were walked through the detail of their projects, and people’s passion was contagious. During both visits we could try their newmake spirit, and although someone might think that it is a given for new distilleries, after visiting a number we can say that it really isn’t. Kudos to them, and we’ll patiently wait for their single malt whiskies.

After a pause, we’ll be back with a Fife experience! Until then, slàinte!

North Point Founders’ Tour

Price: £30.00 pp (July 2025)

Duration: 1hr (in theory, but it was longer)

Tasting: Pilot Rum (40%), Crosskirk Bay Gin (45.1%), Spiced Rum (43%), Dalclagie Newmake spirit (63,5%), 11m spirit ex-wine cask (~65%), 12m spirirt ex-bourbon cask (~65%), and we had a dram to replace the third spirit sample (not available on the day, see text)

Highlights: the bunker and the warehouse tasting

Target: whisky and spirits enthusiasts, and Cold War nerds

Value for money: good

Recommended: absolutely

Link: https://www.northpointdistillery.com/

Tasting tots at J. Gow

Everything comes to an end(day 5, Friday, and epilogue)

From production to the blending lab(day 4, Thursday)

Back to shovelling!(day 3, Wednesday)

Keep rollin’ rollin’ rollin’ rollin’(day 2, Tuesday)

London drams are going down!

Ending the whisky year with a bang (Part II)

Ending the whisky year with a bang (Part I)

A distillery next door

Pointing north to the bunker

Everything comes to an end
(day 5, Friday, and epilogue)

From production to
the blending lab
(day 4, Thursday)

Back to shovelling!
(day 3, Wednesday)

Keep rollin’ rollin’ rollin’ rollin’
(day 2, Tuesday)