TASTE WHISKY WORDS MARGUERITE WINTER To celebrate the athletic endeavours at this year’s Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, visit one of Scotland’s hallowed single malt whisky distilleries and discover the diverse methods used to produce this golden nectar. AREARE MADEMADE OFOF THISTHIS Fairy Pools near Glen Brittle on the Isle of Skye, Scotland PHOTOGRAPHY: GETTY IMAGES 150 QANTAS MAY 2014 TASTETASte WHISKYWHISKY Barrels at Highlands distillery Tomatin (left); stillman Mike Casey closes a still inspection hatch at Glenkinchie, East Lothian (below) Lagavulin distillery, Islay has been billed as the “quintessential” Lowland single malt. The distillery has a big range of limited-edition and award-winning expressions produced exclusively for its visitors’ centre. LagaVULIN, ISLAY distillery has the distinction of Celtic monks from Ireland are believed to have brought the art of having a regional denomination all distilling to Scotland, and the Hebridean island of Islay is likely to itself. All three Campbeltown where it all began. Certainly the celebrated smoky, peated whiskies whiskies, Springbank, Longrow and of Islay, which include some of the most intense and distinctive Hazelburn, are made at the Spring- 90 per cent of the expressions of the spirit, suggest long and dedicated practice. There’s bank distillery using different methods of production. The distillery bout whisky produced in evidence of an illicit still on the site at Lagavulin for centuries before has the added charm of being right in town. Scotland goes into blends; the other 10 per a legal distillery was founded in 1816. And if the character of this This remnant of a whisky stronghold is the oldest independent, cent into prized single malts. Glasgow rich, elegant and multi-layered drop couldn’t draw you to this place, family-owned distillery in Scotland, run by the fifth generation of may be some way south of Scotland’s AUCHENTOSHAN, GLASGOW its location surely would. the founding family. The distillery doubles as a museum of the art dominant whisky region of the Highlands, The distinctive white distillery, with its four copper-lined stills (two of whisky production, making it one of the most engaging distillery but some very distinctive single malts are right on its doorstep. Just Just out of town, at Clydebank, off the A82, this is one of only three of them traditionally pear-shaped) sits on a wildly romantic little bay tours around. It is the last whisky operation in Scotland to carry out out of town is Auchentoshan, distinguished by its triple-distillation Lowland distilleries still operating, following the closure of a clutch in the south-eastern corner of the island. Lagavulin overlooks a the full production process on site – from traditional floor malting to mages method and a portfolio of single malts. Further south, at Kennacraig of others that included the celebrated Rosebank. Auchentoshan is I cluster of hunchbacked rocky outcrops, one of which hosts the ruins maturation to bottling – supporting its claim to distil the most hands- on the road to Campbeltown, is the car ferry terminal for the island the sister brand of Bowmore distillery on the island of Islay – both etty of the 13th-century Dunyvaig Castle, a stronghold of the mediaeval on whisky around. Springbank does not chill filter nor does it add : G of Islay, renowned for its smoky, peated single malts. are owned by Suntory Holdings of Japan. Lords of the Isles, which links the site to the beginnings of Celtic caramel colouring to its malts. Australia’s biggest whisky collector, chie n The sweeping ocean drive down the Kintyre peninsula leads to Lowland whisky is distinguished by a light, dry profile, made from I culture in Scotland. It’s a setting that helps swell crowds at the two Shane Kalloglian of Sydney, liked the Springbank so much he nk Campbeltown, once the largest whisky-producing district, now gently kilned and unpeated barley. Unlike the mostly double-distilled E music festivals Lagavulin hosts each year: the Islay Festival of Malts imported it. Kalloglian says Springbank’s typical traits are “saltiness; ; Gl reduced to a trio of labels, all produced at the singular operation that whiskies from other regions, they are triple-distilled. Each distillation ey & Music in May and the Islay Jazz Festival in September. The plant gently smoky, without the earthy medicinal notes; coconut, kitchen nl is the heritage Springbank distillery. increases alcohol volume and that, in turn, affects the character of A tour ends at a tiny pier on the bay that carries the whole working spice and ginger”. The range includes 10-, 12-, 15- and 18-year-olds, H North of Glasgow, the two Highland distilleries in this line-up – not the spirit. Triple distillation is credited with creating a smooth distil- O history of Lagavulin. From its beginnings, whisky-making materials and a limited-edition 21-year-old was introduced last year. high-profile names, but celebrated by connoisseurs and collectors late able to absorb every characteristic it is exposed to in-cask. n: J arrived by boat and the finished product departed the same way. The J&A Mitchell business that owns Springbank is the sister – are handy to Inverness. Very fine whisky apart, their location and Auchentoshan is said to be unique in using triple distillation for Premium expressions include the celebrated 16-year-old and the company of the Campbeltown-based William Cadenhead Ltd, an omati histories make them a worthy detour. every drop produced. This Clydebank distillery also eschews the Lagavulin Distillers Edition, finished in Pedro Ximenez Cask Wood. independent bottler dating from 1842 and well-known to collectors. Every whisky fancier will have their favourite from Speyside, consistency offered by stainless-steel washbacks in the fermentation Both are consistent international gold-medal winners alongside Scotland’s most concentrated distilleries region, boasting notable process, preferring the varied result offered by traditional Oregon : CORBIS; T limited-edition releases of 12-, 21- and 25-year-old expressions. brands such as The Macallan and top-selling Glenfiddich, so the pine. Maturation is in bourbon, sherry and fine-wine oak casks used TOMATIN, HIGHLANDS selection here concludes in the Lowlands, at Glenkinchie, an option across the many different expressions produced here. for those routing their Games visit through Edinburgh. If visiting The range opens with the Classic 10- and 12-year-old and contin- One of Scotland’s “most accessible” distilleries is, in another sense, its photography Springbank, Campbeltown n the capital, the landmark Balmoral Hotel’s whisky bar features more ues with more complex offerings. The rich Three Wood won double I most remote. Though Tomatin is only 25km south of Inverness, its than 400 varieties, each with a specially selected snack, such as wild gold at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition last year (and vul It was once the thriving centre of the Scottish whisky industry, position 315m above sea level in the upland plateaus and rounded grey aga boar salami, chosen by the hotel’s Michelin-starred executive chef. in 2012); there’s a long and lingering 18-year-old; while the 21-year-old l now Campbeltown is a sleepy loch-side fishing port, whose one hills of the Monadhliath Mountains gives it an air of isolation. 152 QANTAS MAY 2014 MAy 2014 QANTAS 153 TASTE WHISKY XX Commonwealth Games, Glasgow, July 23-August 3. glasgow2014.com Lagavulin, Islay The brand’s multi-award-winning range of single malts is blessed commentators say it was difficult to locate a Clynelish malt, even in by the clear waters of the ­Alt-na-Frith (Free) Burn that flow through the 1990s. The distillery has a strong association with the Johnnie peat and heather over granite hills to help create a distinctive style Walker label and, despite its spirit being sought-after for blending, of whisky, traditionally at the light and delicate end of the spectrum. the original distillery was twice closed over the course of the 20th A visit to its four-star-rated visitors’ centre is a chance to witness century, a fate it shared with many others. a distillery that created a village. Tomatin is among the last to Clynelish is now one of 28 Scottish distilleries owned by British provide accommodation for its workforce, a practice that dates from multinational Diageo, which included it in its Classic Malts Selection its 1897 licensing. Today, a small community of 25 families lives and in 2005. Jim Murray’s Whisky Bible describes one limited-edition works on the 57ha estate, many of them the fifth generation to do so. Clynelish as a “disarming malt that exudes sheer class”. One of Scotland’s largest producers during the 1970s whisky boom, when it it produced 12 million litres annually from 23 stills, Tomatin still ranks in the top 10 with an output capacity from 12 stills of about GLENKINCHIE, LOWLANDS five million litres a year. Its core range consists of 12-, 15- and 18-year- olds; and there’s a new lightly peated expression, the Cù Bòcan. The distillery that produces “The Edinburgh Malt” stands amid Limited editions include a 30-year-old, launched in 2011 (91/100 in barley fields in East Lothian farmland to the south-east of the capital, this year’s Jim Murray’s Whisky Bible). Limited-release bottlings 32km out of the city. Proximity to Edinburgh brings lots of visitors, include a 1999 Tempranillo Cask Finish. A 1997 single-cask release but they also come for the reputation of the whisky and its impressive from a first-fill bourbon barrel is said to finish with “uplifting domain. This is a model Victorian distillery founded by a group of eucalyptus”, which may register with Antipodean palates.