In the first of these blogs in our mini-series on grain whisky, we looked at the closed and lost Dumbarton Distillery. This time we are having a wee nosey at the open and thriving Girvan Distillery located in the Scottish Lowlands, on the Ayrshire coast and just north of the town of Girvan, and where grain spirit is well and truly flowing.
In the previous post we outlined how the historic and ‘usual’ use of grain whisky was as a filling in blended scotch. Girvan Distillery opened in 1963 and followed the same path. The well-known and long established whisky distillers William Grant and Sons Ltd, perhaps best known for their expansive and world renowned Glenfiddich, Balvenie and Kininvie brands, opened Girvan to provide a reliable supply of spirit for their range of blended whiskies. Today this remains the case but it has also branched into the production of Hendricks Gin. But hey, let’s stick with the whisky stuff. Within the distillery complex once stood the Ladyburn Distillery which produced malt whisky from 1966 until 1975 for blended scotch but is now one of Scotland’s lost distilleries. Today Ladyburn single malt is in very short supply and commands dizzy prices.
But coming back to Girvan Distillery, it is playing its part as is Dumbarton, in raising awareness and reputation of single grain and single cask grain whiskies. And located just a few hundred metres from the coast of the North Atlantic Ocean it can boast of a stock of spirit that has matured in top quality, select oak casks and breathed in some sea air. The result? – some excellent singe grain whiskies, and as is Dumbarton, there are some well aged and some very well aged ones surfacing from time to time.
Fortunately, we have a couple of these west coast grain gems in stock – and now in low numbers:-
The first is a 20 year old single cask grain whisky distilled in 1993 and bottled in 2013 by the Douglas Laing bottling company under their ‘The Clan Denny’ label. It was bottled from a single refill barrel. Their tasting notes speak of plenty of sweetness on the nose and palate. At 56.7% this is a fine example of grain whisky left to rest and mature patiently for a couple of decades.
Details
Alcohol: 56.7% | Cask No.: 10439 | Bottled by: Douglas Laing & Co | Volume: 70cl
NOSE: Opens sweetly on the nose, superbly vanilla’d, carrying a creamy custard character with toffee.
PALATE: Still sweet on the palate, now with spicy honey & butterscotch, running to more vanilla.
FINISH: The finish is very more’ish, replicating the nose & palate, now with candied orangeBuy online here: £75.46 (£62.88 excl. VAT)
From Hart Brothers Limited, we have another very fine single grain bottle and a different vintage. Distilled in 1994 and bottled in 2014, this is a 20 year old single grain whisky from the Glasgow based bottling company. This 46% offers a sweet nose and palate with hints of oak making an appearance.
Details
Alcohol: 46.3% | Bottled by: Hart Brothers| Volume: 70cl |
NOSE: Pale golden coloured with rich mellow sweet nose – toffee apples & a floral aroma.
PALATE: Smooth, sweet on the palate with crème brulee & apple skins.
FINISH: A long, pleasant dry finish with a slightly sweet aftertaste and a hint of oak.
Buy online here: £90.13 (£75.11 exc. VAT)
And at the home of these rare and limited grain whiskies, and close to where Ladyburn once stood, another chapter in whisky production has opened at the Girvan distillery complex. For Ailsa Bay malt whisky distillery opened there in 2007 to produce extra malt whisky for William Grant’s blends… perhaps we will have the opportunity to enjoy Ailsa Bay single malt in the future?…we shall have to wait patiently!
