At this time of year, making spirit becomes a little easier: the ambient temperature has dropped and the water is cooler, so the running of the process becomes smoother and more efficient. In the last few months a lot has been going on. Each day brings new challenges.
You will have noticed that our industry and the Scotch Whisky Association had a presence at COP26; the industry has been working towards being sustainable and carbon neutral. That should be at the front of every distillery’s action plan – whether they are making 1,000 or 10 million litres per annum.
At Lindores, we have reduced bottle packaging, and our malted barley to draff goes full circle. We have other projects on the go looking at re -using all the available heat that we generate. It’s a challenge, but one that nobody can ignore.
For the moment we are doing what we do best – making our core spirit and filling our core casks. It’s encouraging to see our Whisky being received and enjoyed all around the world, with new markets emerging all the time. For example, Canada has just received and put our whisky up for sale. Getting into Canada is difficult, as most of its liquor is government controlled; I cannot begin to tell you the hoops we had to jump through to make this happen, but it’s there so well done to everyone involved.
Upcoming casks: We have some wonderful Oloroso and PX Hoggies and Butts heading our way from a well established Bodegas in Jerez, Spain and will receive a further 20 butts from Toro Albala in Montilla, Spain; these casks, our second shipment, are just unbelievable—a mixture of Pedro Ximinez, Amontillado , Palo Cortado and Oloroso, many butts dating from the 1950’s – one has been in use since 1922— it’s almost 100 years old! When you see the thickness of the staves, and the craftmanship, you can see why it still holds liquid after 100 years. As for the nose, nothing can describe it. We have held four butts back, to empty some of our currently maturing bourbon-casked single malt and re-rack. Have I piqued your interest ?
Lastly, I must make a mention of the operations team as none of the above happens without them. We have mashed, fermented, distilled, matured, disgorged, bottled, packaged, transported and distributed our whisky all over the UK and the world, and each of you deserves thanks and praise for making that happen. All of you have at some time had to hit the ground running, learn new skills, make decisions on the run, put in extra hours and use your best judgement. To many this has been new, and whilst having to contend with everything above we also had to deal with COVID, Brexit and transport issues, not easy. We are by no means out of the woods but I have confidence that the team will keep pulling together to make sure that we satisfy the requirements of our many friends, consumers and pilgrims of Lindores Single Malt Scotch Whisky!
Slainte’
Gary Haggart
Distillery Manager
