Traditional cereals

Orkney bere for Arran whisky

Next month, a single malt Orkney Left: Harvesting bere in Orkney with a bere whisky will be released by horse-drawn reaper in the early 1900s. Below: Threshing bere in Orkney in the Isle of Arran Distillers. This has 1930s. been produced in collaboration Inset: Ears of bere close to harvest. with the Agronomy Institute (AI) at Orkney College (University of the Highlands and Islands) and was made with bere, Scotland’s oldest cultivated barley (Hordeum vulgare), supplied by the AI. Even in 1842, about 26% of the barley used by Campbel- by Peter Martin town’s 25 University of the Highlands and Islands distilleries own surplus of bere and after was bere and funding assistance had been his whisky will be of particular interest to Orkney’s obtained from the Leader+ T collectors because of bere’s connection Highland programme. After malting the with the early distilling industry and because it Park still bere at the Bairds plant in is now only grown commercially on a few of purchased Inverness, it was distilled at Scotland’s remoter islands. small quantities Lochranza on the Isle of Arran and Historically, bere was the most important until 1926. put into fresh bourbon casks. barley grown in Scotland’s Highlands and In recent years, Throughout its maturation, it has shown Islands because it was well-suited to the area’s bere continues to be a quicker development than Arran whiskies difficult growing conditions. In particular, it is cultivated in islands off made from modern barley varieties and this is early maturing and can usually be harvested Scotland’s north and west coasts (Orkney, why it is being released as an 8-year-old. Prior before the start of autumn gales. In addition to Shetland and parts of the Western Isles). In the to bottling, it was characterised by a malty, providing malt for beer and whisky, it was also Western Isles, it is mainly grown in a crop herbal aroma, a taste of apples, oak and spice milled into beremeal for baking and provided mixture with two other old types (landraces) and a finish of malt mingling with spices. straw for animal bedding and thatch. It was of cereal (small oat, Avena strigosa and a rye, The artwork for the whisky’s label and box probably the main barley used by the many Secale cereale). In Orkney and Shetland, bere incorporates photographs, from the Orkney legal and not so legal distillers in the is grown as a sole crop and there are currently Archives, of local growers of bere during the Highlands and Islands until the early 1800s just a couple of hectares grown in Shetland early 1900s and have been used as a reminder and may, therefore, have contributed to the and about 25ha in Orkney. of the crop’s historical importance. high quality of whiskies from this region The Orkney crop is grown for the There is controversy about the extent to which which made them particularly sought after. production of beremeal by Barony Mill and differences in the taste of whisky are for specialist markets, like attributable to the use of barleys from different distilling and brewing, which origins, but there are several reasons to expect the Institute has developed Arran’s Orkney bere whisky to be distinctive. since 2004. Bere grain yields Firstly, there is the antiquity of bere and the are low, about 3-4 t/ha (at fact that it is not a conventional malting 14% moisture), which is variety. Then, there are Orkney’s growing about half that of locally- conditions – at 59°N, this is the most northerly grown modern barley location where Scottish malting barley is varieties and varies with grown. Here, the growing season is short and factors like wind and rain cool, and although day length is long in mid- damage. In the Western Isles, summer, the maritime influence is just as loss of crop as a result of likely to bring storms, wind and rain as warm, grazing and trampling by sunny weather! Apart from creating a geese is a major problem. challenge for growers, this unique The AI developed the combination of crop and climate, together concept of a 21st century bere with distillation and maturation on an island whisky to create a new off Scotland’s West coast, must surely create a market for bere so that distinctive product. Orkney growers could Good Health! I continue to grow it commercially, thereby helping to conserve this old I The author crop. In collaboration with Peter Martin is Director of the Agronomy Institute at Isle of Arran Distiller’s Orkney bere whisky. The bottle label Isle of Arran Distillers, Orkney College (University of the Highlands and shows an Orkney farmer harvesting bere with a scythe around testing of the concept started Islands). You can reach him at 1905. in 2004, once the AI had its [email protected].

Brewer & Distiller International • October 2012 • www.ibd.org.uk 41