DISTILLERY NEWS
We returned to mashing in April after a brief period of maintenance, and we have used the first of the 2022 harvest which was subject to last year’s very dry conditions. This leads to lower starch in the barley and so we are expecting somewhat lower yields.
One of the bigger jobs we have tackled in the meantime is repairs to our heat exchanger. We have just released Casks of Lindores Bourbon #2. Between 40 and 50 casks were vatted together and then diluted to 49.4% ABV. Like the others, this is a No Age Statement bottling (NAS). However, since it’s about 18 months older than our first Bourbon Casks of Lindores, we can confidently expect it to be even better.
Our plan is to release a new Casks of Lindores bottling every six months, rotating between STR, Sherry and Bourbon, and this has been well received by our aficionados.
In more admin related news our new Inventory Management system is under way. Inventory is a complicated process when you recognise that every cask we fill has to be stored for at least three years and a day before we can use it, and during that time we have to be able to say where it is and what’s happening to it. We have now logged every cask, and next have to programme all adjustments in the same system, for full traceability; write procedures; and carry out staff training.
At Lindores we are always trying to reduce our energy consumption and one of the ways we do this is to make sure our barley comes from farms within a five mile radius of the distillery and that we use local firms whenever possible. Our barley is malted at Crisp Maltings in Alloa then transported back here; and then we place orders for malt with Crisp for next year. Meantime Crisp use some of our farmers’ crop for seed for next year, and sell the seed back to them when they are planning their planting. We keep in touch with the farmers and have a daily awareness of how next year’s crop is going; and the cows eat our draff. The team can watch the barley growing from the distillery hall. How many distillery teams could make such a claim?
Slàinte
Dean McDonald
Distillery Operations Assistant Manager
