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A peated single malt from closed Caperdonich distillery, matured for 18 years in American oak barrels before being bottled as part of the Secret Speyside collection. The result is a bold and smoky dram with notes of orange zest, ginger and aromatic smoke.
Welcome to this week’s episode of the show in which I’ll be reviewing a selection of bottlings from the popular Glengyle distillery, including a blast from the past!
Gordon & MacPhail welcomes Chris Porter, Master of the Worshipful Company of Distillers to Benromach
Ewan & Chris
28th June 2022, Family-owned Scotch whisky specialist, Gordon & MacPhail, welcomed the prestigious Chris Porter, Master of the Worshipful Company of Distillers (WCD) to Benromach Distillery this week.
For generations, the WCD, which holds a royal charter, has been at the heart of the industry, promoting spirits education, contributing to the development of the industry and supporting charities across the country, particularly those involving young people.
To celebrates 350 years of the company, the Master is visiting distilleries the length and breadth of the UK, to raise awareness of the work the WCD does and experience the best companies in the business.
Located in Forres, Moray, Benromach Single Malt Scotch Whisky is handcrafted using traditional methods by a small team of distillers using the finest Scottish barley and the purest spring water from the nearby Romach Hills. This is an important stop on Chris Porter’s tour as he commemorates the significant role Gordon & MacPhail has within the industry.
The Master will also be collecting items for the Distillers One of One auction, an event which Gordon & MacPhail frequently donates to. The last auction raised over £2.5 million which was distributed across a selection of charities to help young people across Scotland.
Gordon & MacPhail also welcomed Lianne Williams, Deputy Director from Enable Works – one of the incredible charities supported by WCD which helps people with barriers to employment obtain and sustain high quality and rewarding careers.
Ewen Mackintosh. Managing Director. Gordon & MacPhail, said: “We were honoured to host the Worshipful Company of Distillers Master Chris Porter and Lianne Williams from Enable Scotland to Benromach. As well as learning first-hand the traditional handcrafted methods at Benromach, we were pleased to share insights into Gordon & MacPhail’s approach to diversity and inclusion, recruitment and training of young people, as well as our work to support local charities and contribute to our community.”
Chris Porter, Master of the Worshipful Company of Distillers, said “We appreciate Gordon & MacPhail’s contribution, not just ‘in kind’ for the most generous donations and support to the One of One Auction, but also their consistent support to the work of the Scottish committee and annual dinner in September.
“It’s why I felt it so important to come here as Master. Not only to say a huge thank you to them, but to also recognise the impact their support, along with our many other generous donors is having on charities like Enable Scotland.
“I am so pleased that they are here today and can tell us, first-hand, of this impact. The three parties here today, Gordon and MacPhail, the Distillers Charity and Enable Scotland really shows what can be done when, together, our industry and our charitable aspirations deliver life-changing opportunities.”
The Grand Whisky Auction Ends Soon!
Lots include this Ben Nevis 1996 cask held at the distillery.
2800+ lots to browse and bid on!
Interested in selling whisky in our next auction?
+44 (0)1463 210 427
It’s that time again!
In July we will be including a trip to Orkney.
Please note our Manchester and East London Collection points have changed.
To register your interest in a collection please complete the form which can be found HERE.
Scotland
Collection Points
Inverness – Tuesday 12th July 2022 – From 11am by appointment
* Request deadline Monday 11th July 2022 at 12 noon
Elgin – Tuesday 12th July 2022 – From 11am by appointment
* Request deadline Monday 11th July 2022 at 12 noon
Aberdeen – Wednesday 13th July 2022 – from 11am by appointment only
* Request deadline Monday 11th July 2022 at 12 noon
Orkney – Wednesday 27th July 2022
* Request deadline Monday 11th July 2022 at 12 noon
Home Collections – for those customers sending 10 or more bottles or bottles to the value of £1000 and above.
Dundee – Wednesday 13th July 2022
* Request deadline Monday 11th July 2022 at 12 noon
Perth – Wednesday 13th July 2022
* Request deadline Monday 11th July 2022 at 12 noon
Ayrshire – Monday 18th/Tuesday 19th July 2022
* Request deadline Monday 11th July 2022 at 12 noon
Dumfries – Monday 18th/Tuesday 19th July 2022
* Request deadline Monday 11th July 2022 at 12 noon
Fife & Kinross – Thursday 21st July 2022
* Request deadline Monday 11th July 2022 at 12 noon
Stirlingshire – Thursday 21st July 2022
* Request deadline Monday 11th July 2022 at 12 noon
Islay – Thursday 21st July 2022
* Request deadline Monday 11th July 2022 at 12 noon
Campbeltown – Thursday 21st July 2022
* Request deadline Monday 11th July 2022 at 12 noon
Edinburgh – Monday 25th July 2022
* Request deadline Monday 11th July 2022 at 12 noon
England
England – Home Collections – Thursday 14th July 2022 – Monday 19th July 2022
* Request deadline Monday 11th July 2022 at 12 noon
Collection Points
Manchester – M11 – Sunday 17th July 2022 – From 6.30pm by appoiontment only
* Request deadline Monday 11th July 2022 at 12 noon
**Please note new location**
London AM – NW2, SW16, E6 – Sunday 17th July 2022 – from 10am by appointment only
* Request deadline Monday 11th July 2022 at 12 noon
**Please note new East London location**
London Evening – W14 – Sunday 17th July 2022 – from 6pm by appointment only
* Request deadline Monday 11th July 2022 at 12 noon
Wales
Newport – NP18 – Saturday 16th July 2022 from 9am
* Request deadline Monday 11th July 2022 at 12 noon
Collections are limited and by appointment only. If you would like to attend please complete the form which can be found here. Please note deadlines apply for collection requests.
It would be appreciated if bottles could be packed for uplift. In addition a submission form and label should be completed. Submission forms can now be completed via your main accounts page.
A winner in our auction? We are now offering a delivery (to collection point) service to customers who are dropping bottles off for a future auction. This service is charged at £12 (inc VAT), optional loss and breakage cover is available.
As the summer beckons we are having more and more interesting visitors from all four corners of the world. The visitors book continues to be a register of nations with super positive comments about the wonderful experiences guests have enjoyed.
A highlight of the month was the synchronised helicopter landing by three accomplished pilots, who were bringing an intrepid group of adventurers here for a Stag do – pretty impressive!
Talking of visitors, how can I not mention Saturday 4th June? 265 French visitors descended upon us to enjoy axe throwing, archery, laser clays and of course private tours and tastings. The visitors munched their way through 450 servings from a variety of food trucks, enjoyed 265 ice creams and drank 530 drams.
Stay safe and stay well, from our corner of Fife.
Slàinte
Drew & Helen McKenzie Smith
Custodians of Lindores Abbey Distillery
It’s been very much business as usual at Lindores regarding operations. In June we normally see temperatures starting to rise but so far, we have been running below normal temperature, so things are slightly easier but still not without their challenges.
We are continuing to run last year’s harvest of local laureate malted barley, with an eye towards this year’s harvest, which is looking very good. It’s taken us a few months to find the optimum settings for mashing in last year’s harvest; but a good combination of knowledge, experience and luck has brought us to the point of balance between quantity and quality.
As we approach the end of June, we start our preparations for silent season. This is a traditional time in the distilling year where the distillery would be switched off, the workers would get a holiday and the process would get some well-deserved repairs and maintenance. Silent season normally takes place in July / August, because in the height of summer, the rivers, streams, burns, and lochs were all running low with water. Even the water that was available was too warm for cooling purposes. There’s an old story that still circulates up north about a wooden washback being filled with water, to allow the staff to have a summer dunk!
This year our steam boiler reaches the grand age of five, and with that come certain requirements. Each year it has to be stripped down and inspected by the boiler insurance inspector; its pressure relief valve tested; and the main crown valve serviced and maintained. This is very important when it’s generating 7 bar of steam pressure, or 101psi – to illustrate, you normally only blow your car tyre up to 36psi so we are at 3 times this pressure. It would also hold a column of water 70metres vertically into the air, so it’s not to be messed with and we treat it with upmost respect.
Also for its fifth birthday, our boiler must get a mandatory NDT Inspection (NonDestructive Testing). This is where the metal and the build integrity of the boiler is checked and that it’s in good order and not hiding any structural faults. We look after our boiler throughout the year, so we are sure that everything will be fine and that it will give us another five years of good health!
In the warehouse, we are extremely busy, filling the last of the sherry butts from Fernandez Gao. After that we will move onto our fresh STRs, followed by our own refills; and as always, Elliot keeps us busy with private cask filling.
Bottling? Well, it never stops here. Definitely maybe, without doubt, we have the smallest and busiest bottling facility in Scotland. It’s pretty amazing what comes out of there. It has its challenges, but it allows us to keep some sort of control and to time with delivering our orders. We have literally just finished and handed over to Jane, the 1494 Custodian, the latest bottling for the 1494; and it’s a quality dram, even better that it’s out of the casks, married and had a little time to breath – as I have said before, it won’t disappoint!
Lastly, with regret and pride we have to say goodbye to Lewis Wilkie our distillery operator. Lewis joined Operations from Front of House and has been a great asset to us. We wish him all the best in his new ventures, which thankfully for the industry is at another distillery – so his skills and experience will stay with making one of Scotland’s greatest products.
Slàinte
Gary Haggart
Distillery Manager
For those of you who may not know, we’ve been very busy over the past few months building a brand new still house which will be used to make our new make spirit. The new distillery will allow us to quadruple our production, which will make us the largest producer of English whisky in the country. It’s been an exciting week so far with our new mash tun and steel washbacks already in place, and our brand new shiny copper stills are due to arrive next week! Be sure to follow us on social media for all of our new distillery updates.
Cotswolds Distillery Phillip’s Field, Whichford Road
Stourton Shipston-on-Stour, Warwickshire CV36 5EX
GLEN GRANT 64 YEAR OLD – 1957
After initially selling out upon release, we’ve managed to secure some extra stock of this phenomenal and historic whisky!
Released in tribute to Mr George Urquhart, second generation of the family that owns Gordon & MacPhail, this is the Second Edition in the ‘Mr George Legacy’ series. A true pioneer within the Scotch whisky industry, Mr George started working in the business in 1933 and created the iconic Connoisseurs Choice in 1968.
Another outstanding malt has been chosen, which was laid down by ‘Mr George’ Urquhart himself. Distilled 10th October 1957 at the Glen Grant distillery and laid to rest in a first-fill Sherry butt for an incredible 64 years, cask #3483 was carefully emptied and filled to bottle, 9th November 2021 at an impressive, 59.4% vol.
Only 298 bottles of this well-aged Glen Grant have been bottled for this very special release.
As ever, if you have any questions, please just get in touch.
Slàinte Mhath
SOLD OUT!
Irish Distillers announces plans for Midleton Distillery to become carbon neutral by 2026, using break-through emissions reducing technology
Cork, 13 June 2022: Irish Distillers has today announced that it will invest €50 million in Midleton Distillery over the next four years to deliver a carbon neutral operation by the end of 2026. This is the largest investment made by an Irish distillery to date in pursuit of this ambition, putting Midleton Distillery on track to become Ireland’s first and largest carbon neutral distillery.
The ambitious plan to eliminate scope 1 and scope 2 carbon emissions by the end of 2026 will involve the execution of a roadmap comprising several ground-breaking projects which will see Midleton Distillery entirely phase out the use of fossil fuels to power its operation.
The carbon neutral roadmap for Midleton Distillery will involve the roll out of several projects aimed firstly at reducing overall energy use by improving on-site energy generation efficiency and recycling waste heat in the distillation process. In time, the distillery’s remaining energy requirements will be fulfilled by generating power from renewable sources.
As part of the initial phases of the roadmap, Irish Distillers has invested in highly efficient boilers which will require less fuel to operate.
To deliver subsequent phases of the roadmap, Irish Distillers is working with global experts and partners on innovative Mechanical Vapor Recompression (MVR) technology which will see a closed looped system capture, compress and recycle waste heat in the distilling process. This the first time this technology has been used across multiple batch processes in distilling.
The first three phases of the roadmap alone are expected to reduce emissions by up to 70 per cent[1].
The final phases will see the introduction of renewable sources of energy, including green hydrogen and biogas to power the distillery and close the door on natural gas usage. To achieve this, Irish Distillers has partnered with local experts at EI-H2 to explore opportunities to source green hydrogen.
Irish Distillers has also carried out extensive research in partnership with MaREI, the SFI Research Centre for Energy, Climate and Marine, hosted by University College Cork, to determine the biomethane potential of the by-products of distillation and design the required anaerobic digestion process necessary to produce biogas.
Regarding its wider value and supply chain, Irish Distillers has recently completed a mapping exercise of its entire carbon footprint. Based on this data and insights gathered, Irish Distillers has committed to working with suppliers on projects and initiatives to reduce scope 3 emissions across all areas of its business including raw materials, dry goods, transportation, logistics and freight.
Speaking about the launch of the project at Midleton Distillery, An Tánaiste, Leo Varadkar TD, said: “Congratulations to the entire Irish Distillers team for blazing a trail, investing an incredible €50m to become Ireland’s first carbon neutral distillery by 2026. We need to take better care of our planet. Enterprise has a role to play, not just in reducing emissions that come directly from their operations, but by innovating and creating new products and ways of doing things that will help us make the changes that are needed. Companies, like Irish Distillers, who are committing to such bold and transformational change, will lead the way for many other similar businesses and I commend the team for their ambition and commitment.”
Commenting on the announcement, Conor McQuaid, CEO and Chairman said: “Today is a hugely significant day for Irish Distillers as we announce our ambition for Midleton Distillery to become the first and largest carbon neutral distillery in Ireland by 2026. This announcement is reflective of our commitment and ambition to reduce our environmental impact. We understand that our long-term future depends on reducing our reliance on fossil fuels. This plan was many years in the making, and we understand that there are many more years ahead to reach our goal. However, we are confident that by making this bold and brave move into the future, we will leave fossil fuels behind for good. Through the delivery of this plan, we hope to play our part in supporting Ireland’s decarbonising strategy while also aligning with Pernod Ricard’s commitment to follow a Net Zero trajectory by 2050.”
Leo Clancy, Enterprise Ireland CEO, said: “Supporting Irish companies to reduce their carbon footprint is a key strategic priority for Enterprise Ireland. Enterprise Ireland is proud to partner with Irish Distillers to support the roll out of an ambitious roadmap which will see Midleton Distillery become the first and largest carbon neutral distillery in Ireland by 2026. Distilling is an energy intensive process and Irish Distillers is committed to significantly reducing emissions and making a positive environmental impact across all areas of their business. Their plans to leverage break-through emissions reducing technologies will in turn provide a blueprint for the industry and other distilleries in Ireland.”
Commenting on the announcement, Tommy Keane, Operations Director at Irish Distillers, said: “With the climate crisis at a critical juncture, Irish Distillers is committed to reducing our environmental impact across our entire value chain and an area that we cannot ignore is how we power our distillery. While the technical challenges the team face in transforming our operations at Midleton Distillery to become carbon neutral are considerable, we believe that with the help and support of our partners at home and across the globe, this is possible. We are committed to doing the right thing for our industry, people, and communities. Together, we can make a real impact.”
About Irish Distillers
Irish Distillers is Ireland’s leading supplier of spirits and wines, and producer of some of the world’s most well-known and successful Irish whiskeys. Led by Jameson, our brands are driving the global renaissance of Irish whiskey. Jameson is the world’s bestselling Irish whiskey, experiencing 30 years of consecutive growth up to 2019 and hitting sales of 8.6m cases in 2021. Our brands are exported to 130+ markets.
Irish Distillers was formed in 1966, when a merger took place between John Power & Son, John Jameson & Son and Cork Distilleries Company. In 1988 Irish Distillers joined Pernod Ricard, gaining access to unprecedented levels of investment and an extensive global distribution network. Since 2012, we have invested over €400 million to double our production and bottling capacity to meet global demand for our products.
We employ over 600 people across our operations in Cork and Dublin.
