Archive For November 19, 2015

A Surprising Old Convalmore – Silent Distilleries IV

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A Surprising Old Convalmore – Silent Distilleries IV

Convalmore is a fascinating distillery, albeit one you don’t hear much about. The distillery never had its own bottlings, although Gordon and MacPhail regularly bottled whisky from the distillery in the Connoisseur’s Choice series. There’s a saying that “Rome was built on seven hills, and Dufftown built on seven stills”. Two of the seven are no…

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A Brora for the Ages – Silent Distilleries III

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A Brora for the Ages – Silent Distilleries III

The Brora was the only peated whisky in the Gone But Never Forgotten tasting, and was the anchor against which all other whiskies were nosed. Diageo’s Colin Dunn is not one to do things by the book, and his tastings leap all over the place between the whiskies in the glasses. There’s method to the…

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Lost Distilleries Part II – What Happened to Glenesk?

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Lost Distilleries Part II – What Happened to Glenesk?

Glenesk Distillery was known by five names over the eight decades it was in operation: Highland Esk (1897), North Esk (1899), Montrose (1938), Hillside (1964) and finally Glenesk (1980). This is one of the many distilleries that were born out of the late 19th century boom in whisky, and drowned in the great whisky loch of the…

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Lost Distilleries and Extinct Whisky – The Last Millburn

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Lost Distilleries and Extinct Whisky – The Last Millburn

There are quite a few lost distilleries, and I’m not talking about the lost distilleries of yesteryear, Like Towiemore, Scarnish or Glendarroch, rather of those distilleries that were lost in my own lifetime, in the big whisky loch of the 1980s. Some distilleries are household names and are still regularly bottled today, like Port Ellen and Brora, while…

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2015 SWA Scotch Export Figures – The Industry May Be a Lot Worse Off Than You Think!!

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2015 SWA Scotch Export Figures – The Industry May Be a Lot Worse Off Than You Think!!

“We have reached the summit. A flood on the market will follow, prices will be cut, and this is going to affect smaller companies as well.” These are the words of George Forsyth, Ardmore’s assistant distillery manager in a recent interview on The Spirit Receiver. According to him, we’ve reached the hilltop, and from here it’s all downhill. On…

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