Distillery visit > Glenburgie

Glenburgie (pronounced glen-burg-ee) is a distillery located in the Speyside whisky region of Scotland. It sits just off the main Aberdeen-Inverness road, outside of the town of Forres. The current owners are Chivas Brothers, part of the larger Pernod Ricard group, and they took control of Glenburgie in 2005. The whisky produced at the distillery is one of the major single malts used in their famous Ballantine’s blended whisky range. Ballantine’s is the second best selling whisky brand in the world, behind the Johnnie Walker range, and sells a staggering 70 million bottles a year! Glenburgie has been the ‘signature’ single malt used in Ballantine’s since 1935, when the brands owners purchased the distillery so as to secure a regular and consistent supply.

Glenburgie was founded in 1810 by William Paul and was originally named Kilnflat. However, the production of whisky did not officially start until 1829 when Kilnflat was granted a license. The distillery was renamed Glenburgie-Glenlivet in 1878 by Charles Hay, who had reopened it following a period of closure. Glenburgie has changed ownership a number of times since then, including Hiram Walker and Allied Lyons which were later taken over by the Pernod Ricard group. A major refurbishment of the distillery took place in 2004, with the only original parts remaining being the Old Customs House (which is now a tasting facility) and some of the warehouses.

Our visit to Glenburgie was hosted by Alex Robertson, the International Brand Ambassador for Chivas Brothers. We began on a massive expanse of lush lawn in front of the distillery, where Alex gave us a brief introduction to the distillery including a few facts and figures detailed above. This is followed by a walk over to one of the water sources nearby. In this tranquil spot, Alex explained that the water used at Glenburgie is taken from five sources - it either rises from local springs and flows in a number of small streams to reach the distillery (as pictured, left) or comes via a borehole close by.

Alex then moved us inside the distillery in to a small welcoming hall, which shows the six bottles in the current Ballantine’s range – the Finest and Limited, plus the four age statements of 12, 17, 21 and 30 years old. We have recently written a post detailing the Ballantine's range - click here to read this. He then takes us upstairs, via the Porteus mill which remains from the original distillery, to a large room with impressive views of the surrounding countryside. Here, it is explained to us about the different strains of barley that are used and what they look for to give the required characteristics to their whisky.

On moving back downstairs, we were greeted by Neil Corbett - the Distillery Manager of Glenburgie. Neil is an Englishman from the West Midlands, who learned his trade in the brewing industry. He went on to walk us around the interior of the distillery, which is housed on one level in one massive space, beginning with the mash tun. This is where warm water is added to the milled barley (known as grist) and the soluble sugars are extracted. The final sugary liquid is called wort. At Glenburgie, the copper domed mash tun can hold 7.5 tonnes of barley and after a five hour cycle, this will yield approximately 35,000 litres of sugary wort. This liquid then moves on to the fermentation stage, as do we.

Neil took us through to see the washback tanks - these are the large vessels in which the fermentation process takes place. Glenburgie has 12 such tanks and were all new at the time of the renovation. They are made of stainless steel and each tank is at a different stage of Glenburgie's 52 hour fermentation cycle. Liquid yeast is added to the sugary wort and it then gets to work on turning all of the soluble sugars in to alcohol. This process generates plenty of heat and carbon dioxide, giving this area a slightly unpleasant feel. Once the cycle is complete, the result is a strong beer-like liquid with an alcoholic strength of approximately 8% ABV - this is called 'wash' and it is this which progresses to the distillation stage.

Four of the stills in Glenburgie's impressive still room have been kept from the old distillery, with the addition of two further stills. These six stills produce 2.6 million litres of spirit per year, all of which is destined for blending. The distillation is completed in two parts. The first part is where the wash is heated and distilled in a wash still and produces a final liquid with an alcoholic strength of 28-30% ABV. The second sees this liquid distilled again and the desirable part or 'cut' (at most distilleries this is around the 65-70% ABV mark) is then collected. It is this final 'cut' which is put in to wooden casks and matured to become whisky.

The still room at Glenburgie is very impressive, as indeed is all of the facility, and it has another interesting feature - thermal compressors are attached to the condensers on the lyne arms. This makes Glenburgie one of the most highly energy efficient distilleries in the Scottish industry as much of the heat from the condensation stage of distillation is recycled and put back in to the system.

The majority of the spirit produced at Glenburgie is filled to ex-bourbon casks for maturation so as to create that 'signature' malt whisky for the Ballantine's blended range. The site is home to four dunnage warehouses (the traditional type with stone walls and earth floors), plus four other racked/palletised ones. The remainder of the stock is matured at other sites which are owned by Pernod Ricard and are dotted around the Speyside region. After a quick walk around one of the dunnage warehouses with Alex, we are taken to the Old Customs House for a whisky tasting and further information about the Ballantine's brand with Sandy Hyslop - the Master Blender of Ballantine's for Chivas Brothers. Click here to read our recent post covering this session.

We thought that we would share some of the sights and sounds of Glenburgie with you, plus insight and facts from Alex and Neil, in the film below. We hope that you enjoy watching and seeing inside a little known but very important distillery, which is not open to the public. We thank Alex, Neil and Sandy for their hospitality, time, information and for making our visit to Glenburgie so enjoyable and memorable.

The Ballantine's range

Ballantine's is a famous whisky brand that boasts a multi award winning range of blended whiskies. The range consists of the best selling Finest, plus 12, 17, 21 and 30 years old versions. The range is amongst the best selling whiskies in the world and is currently in second place for total volume sales, behind only Johnnie Walker, selling 70 million bottles a year. Ballantine's whisky was first produced in 1869 by a Edinburgh grocer named George Ballantine. He had expanded his grocery business in to the area of wines and spirits, before deciding to start blending his own whiskies. The whisky business was booming at the time and many people began producing their own blends during this period, including the now famous names of William Teacher and Arthur Bell.

Ballantine's whisky became very popular very quickly and he recruited his two sons, Archibald and George Jnr, and set up George Ballantine & Sons Ltd. It remained in the family until his sons sold the company in 1919. The Canadian drinks firm Hiram Walker took control in the 1930s and immediately purchased two Speyside single malt distilleries - Glenburgie and Miltonduff - and built the Dumbarton grain distillery to help with consistency of production. At the time, Dumbarton was the largest whisky distillery in Europe. Between the mid 1960s and mid 1980s, Ballantine's grew in popularity throughout Europe and around the world. In 2005, the Ballantine's brand became part of the large multi-national drinks company Pernod Ricard, who remain the current owners.

We recently visited the Glenburgie distillery in Speyside, which is regarded as providing the 'signature' single malt for the whole Ballantine's range. Within this visit, we were honoured to have a tutored tasting hosted by Sandy Hyslop - the Master Blender for the Ballantine's range. Details of this tasting are below, as is the following short video in which Alex Robertson, the International Ambassador for Chivas Brothers, explained about the history and facts behind the Ballantine's whisky range.



Our tasting with Sandy followed a different and very interesting format - we were presented with six glasses (as shown, left) and within these were some of the constituent whiskies that make up the Ballantine's range. Sandy had set these up in the way that he does his professional analysis, which has them all diluted to the same alcoholic strength. This was 20% ABV, which Sandy explained allows him and his colleagues to extract the maximum aroma and flavour characteristics from each whisky.

The collection of samples were as follows. From left to right, as pictured above >
Strathclyde grain new spirit (this is normally put in to casks at a whopping 94% ABV according to Sandy!) and at 20% this showed a soft, creamy character with plenty of green pear and apple, plus sugary cream soda.
Strathclyde grain 12 years old, which is only ever aged 3rd or 4th fill ex-bourbon casks to give a subtlety of flavour that will compliment to stronger single malts in the blend. This whisky is the grain base used for Ballantine's 12 years old.
Glenburgie new make spirit, which normally comes off the still at 63% ABV. This will become the signature malt whisky for the Ballantine's range and exhibits plenty of fruitiness, especially tangy citrus (lemon and lime) and interesting blackcurrant.
Glenburgie 12 years old. This is matured in first fill ex-bourbon casks to give structure and complexity to the Ballantine's 12 years old. There is not much Glenburgie single malt about, so the chance to try is rare. It was full of honey, vanilla, green apples and lightly spiced fruit cake.
Aberlour 12 years old, which is matured in first fill ex-sherry casks. This gives rich dried fruit (sultanas, raisins and candied orange peel), toffee and spice notes that gives the final blend a higher level of concentration, complexity and flavour.
Ballantine's 30 years old - the premium whisky of the range. Sandy told us that it takes a high level of cask management to get the whisky to the required quality and gave us the interesting statistic that for every bottle of 30 year old that is bottled, then the equivalent of two further bottles have been lost to evaporation during the thirty year maturation period. The whisky had a delicious mix of sweet and rounded notes - vanilla, golden syrup, peaches and tropical fruit.

Following the tasting, Sandy challenged us to try and reproduce a copy of Ballantine's 12 years old using various bottles on the table in front of us. This is much harder than you can ever imagine and we have written about the blending process recently, as we have created our own whisky for the Master of Malt - click here to read about that. Throughout the whole tasting Sandy gave us a fascinating insight in to the world of blending whisky, what happens on a day-to-day basis in his work and how he maintains the highest standards of his final product. We have put some of his comment together in another video. We hope that you enjoy listening and find it as interesting as we did. We would like to thank Sandy for his time and hospitality towards us both.

Have just tried > The Chivas Regal range

Chivas Regal is one of the most famous and best selling whisky brands in the world. The premium whiskies that appear under the Chivas Regal name are blends and the core range consists of a 12, 18 and 25 years old. The age statement refers to the age of the youngest whisky that is included in the blend - this is true of any blended whisky that carries an age statement. The range is multi award winning and has approximately 5% of the total world market share for blended whisky, which comfortable puts it in the top five* - this equates to the fact that for every 20 bottles of blended whisky purchased in the world, then one is Chivas Regal. That's a lot of whisky! Most is exported from the UK, with the main markets being Europe, south east Asia and the USA.

The Chivas Brothers company was set up in the early 1800s by James and John Chivas. They owned a luxury grocery store in Aberdeen that imported highly desirable products such as brandy, rum, port, spices, tea and coffee, which they sold to wealthy customers. They began blending their own whiskies, as was the trend at the time. Chivas Brothers' whiskies became so popular in late Victorian times that Queen Victoria issued them with a Royal Warrant and they supplied the royal household for a period of time, hence the name of Chivas Regal was born. Chivas Brothers and the Chivas Regal brand is currently owned by drinks company Pernod Ricard, who purchased it in 2001, and they have helped to grow the stature and sales of the whisky around the world.

The single malt at the heart of the Chivas Regal blends is produced at Strathisla in the Speyside region of Scotland. As part of our recent visit to Strathisla, we were treated to a tutored tasting of the range by Alex Robertson - the International Ambassador for Chivas Brothers. Interestingly, the tasting included not only the three Chivas Regal blends, but also some of the constituent parts of these blends to begin with. This included a sample of the new make spirit from Strathisla, the Strathisla 12 years old single malt and an aged grain whisky from Chivas' Strathclyde grain distillery in Glasgow (these are the first three glasses respectively from left to right, pictured above).

The Strathisla new make spirit was presented to us at 63.5% ABV and was rich and oily in the mouth, with some distinct cereal grains and fresh green fruit (think of pears and apples). There were also hints of vanilla and white pepper. The Strathisla 12 years old (pictured, left) is the only single malt regularly released from the distillery. This has a lovely mix of notes - toffee, wood spices (cinnamon and nutmeg), cereal grains, dried fruits (raisins, currants and candied orange peel) and dark chocolate. It is rich and full bodied with a slight oily feeling on the palate. To read our previous full review and tasting notes of Strathisla 12 years old - click here. The Strathclyde grain whisky was robust and creamy with plenty of vanilla, gristy oat-like cereals, nuts (especially almonds and coconut) and bittersweet wood spice.

Chivas Regal 12 years old
This is the cornerstone of the Chivas Regal range and is one of the best selling whiskies of any kind in the world. It was first launched in the early 1900s. The nose exhibits many of the characteristics of the Strathisla 12 years old - especially toffee, cereals, candied peel, raisins and dark chocolate - and it is evident that the two whiskies are related. There is also a distinct peachy, possibly apricot, note which adds further depth. The palate is sweet to begin with, although this fades to reveal other characteristics. The whisky feels oily, with the notes mentioned for the nose present. These mix with vanilla, nuts (think of a creamy style of nut like almond or hazelnut) and a pinch of wood spice (like cinnamon). The finish is sweet with the toffee note prominent and is very pleasant, but maybe slightly short.

Chivas Regal 18 years old
This whisky was launched in 1997 and contains a complex mix of over 20 different old single malts and grain whiskies. The nose is fragrant and welcoming with aromas of vanilla, oat cakes, dried fruit (sultanas, apricots, prunes and candied orange peel) and woody spices (cinnamon and nutmeg). On the palate, this is soft, velvety and very smooth. The vanilla and grain notes are present from the nose, as are the sultanas and candied orange. However, the fruitiness is now more reminiscent of stewed/cooked fruits (especially pears and apples) and this combines well with the wood spices notes. There is also an element of toffee adding to the richness. The finish is long, warming and rich with stewed fruit,woody oak and vanilla notes.

Chivas Regal 25 years old
This is the rarest and newest edition to the range, having been introduced in 2007. It has a deep amber colour and the nose is expressive - there are aromas of toasted almond, bittersweet cereal grains, dark dried fruits (raisins, prunes, figs), rich caramel and candied orange peel. On the palate, this is creamy and rich with a lovely combo of vanilla, toffee and caramel to begin with. These notes are joined by the bittersweet grains, dried fruit and peel from the nose plus a pinch of baking spices (think of all spice, cinnamon and nutmeg). It is soft and sweet with a slightly bitter/spicy edge that carries through to the long, pleasant finish. The dried fruit is particularly prominent here. A delicious dram that reveals more and more depth and subtly with time.

All of the Chivas Regal range are bottled at 40% ABV with the 12 years old retailing for around £25 a bottle, the 18 years old for £45 and the 25 years old for approximately £165.

* Source - Euromonitor International report 2009

Distillery visit > Strathisla

Strathisla (pronounced strath-eye-la) is one of the oldest whisky distilleries in Scotland. It was founded in 1786 by Alexander Milne and George Taylor, and was originally named Milltown – it did not become Strathisla until 1870, although this was later changed again to Milton, before reverting to Strathisla in 1951. Despite not being the oldest (both Glenturret and Bowmore were founded before it), Strathisla boasts the longest continuous production of any distillery in Scotland – Bowmore and especially Glenturret have been closed and restarted during their histories.

The distillery is widely regarded as one of the most picturesque in Scotland and is located in the market town of Keith on the eastern side of the Speyside region. It sits on the banks of the River Isla, which runs through the town and it is this that gives the Strathisla its name and some of its water supply. The original water wheel can still be seen at the distillery and this used to power every part of the whisky production process. Strathisla has been owned by Chivas Brothers since 1950 and is one of three distilleries in Keith. The others are Glen Keith, which is almost next door and is also owned by Chivas Brothers but has laid dormant since 2000, and Strathmill, which is owned by Diageo. The facilities at Glen Keith are currently being used as one of Chivas’ main research centres.

Much of Strathisla’s annual production of 2.5million litres is used for the hugely popular Chivas Regal blended whisky range, which is in the top five for total world whisky sales. The whisky from Strathisla is regarded as the ‘heart of Chivas Regal’ and forms an influential part of the blend. The distillery is also marketed as ‘the spiritual home of Chivas Regal’. A relatively small percentage is released as single malt and the current range consists of a 12 years old, plus a limited 15 years old at cask strength. Strathisla can be found through the independent bottlers, although these are also fairly rare.

Our visit to Strathisla was hosted by Alex Robertson, the International Brand Ambassador for Chivas Brothers (pictured, left). When we arrived, it was easy to see why this distillery has the ‘most picturesque’ tag – it looks gorgeous, even on a grey March afternoon. We begin with a walk down the main driveway and in to the entrance of the visitor’s centre. This is largely geared towards promoting Strathisla as ‘The heart of Chivas Regal’, rather than the single malt and everything is labeled as such. Once inside, the interior is plushly furnished and littered with old pieces of memorabilia and nick-nacks from the distillery and Chivas brand.

We move briefly outside again in order to get to the milling room and this allows us another look at the exterior of this beautiful distillery. The old Porteus mill has been there for decades and still puts in shifts of around five tonnes of malted barley at a time. The mill grinds the barley in to three different gradings - coarse, middles and fines. This is done so as to maximise the amount of soluble sugar that is extracted later in the process and the mix of the three is called grist. Each distillery has its own ratio, but most play within certain parameters - if they have a too high percentages of fines, then when the water is added later the grist will stick together. Conversely, a higher percentage of coarse means that the water will drain through too quickly. Strathisla's grist percentages are around 24% coarse, 65% middles and 11% fines.

As we go upstairs to see the mash tun, which has an impressive copper dome, and it becomes clear that Strathisla is not just quaint from the outside. The interior has the same feel and you get the impression that everything is going to be tight, compact and on top of each other. The mash tun is where warm water is added to the grist so as to dissolve the soluble sugars in the grain. This is done four times at Strathisla, with the temperature of the water being increased each time. This maximises the amount of sugars that are dissolved, with some of the final batch being taken and used to kick start the next first batch. The four temperatures are 65.5°C, then 76°C, 84°C and finally 93°C. The final liquid is called wort.

Next, Alex takes us through to the fermentation area, where the sugary wort from the mash tun is converted in to an alcoholic liquid. This takes place in huge containers called washbacks, which in the case of Strathisla are made out of wood. This is the traditional material for washbacks, although many distilleries now have stainless steel ones. Here, the liquid yeast is added to the wash and the reaction turns the soluble sugars in to alcohol. This takes 48 hours at Strathisla and they have 10 washbacks, all of which are at different stages of the fermentation process. The end product is a beer-like liquid, called wash, that has an alcoholic strength of 7-8% ABV and the whole room is warm and filled with the smell of malty beer with an edge of carbon dioxide, the by-product of fermentation.

We move through to the still room, which has to be one of the most characterful and idiosyncratic in the Scottish whisky industry. The four stills are lined up and they are crammed in to a steep gabled roof, along with all the pipework. This room is the one directly below the chimney in the photo at the start of this post and it is not until you see this exterior that you realise that the still room is slightly below ground level. The claustrophobic feeling is exaggerated by the wooden roof (another rarity, especially given the current health and safety laws!) and the lyne arm of each still are slightly different to the next one, so as to fit within the shape of the roof! The room is warm and humid, as both pairs of stills are in operation and the noise is hard to describe.

After a quick look at the spirit safe, where the final spirit is assessed and collected from the stills, we move outside to the welcome cooler air. We walk passed the old water wheel, which used to power the whole distillery, across the clipped lawn and back in to the visitor's centre. We are taken through to a very impressive wood paneled room, where we take part in a Chivas Regal whisky tasting tutored by Alex. The details and tasting notes of this are in a separate post which you can read by clicking here. It was very interesting to taste not just the Chivas Regal range (aged at 12, 18 and 25 years) but also two of the important constituent parts of the blend - Strathisla (new make spirit straight from the still and the 12 years old) and a grain whisky from Chivas' grain distillery of Strathclyde.

The final stop of our tour contained a real treat. We were shown around one of the warehouses (Warehouse No.3) at the distillery - there are only three warehouses on the site, with the rest of the whisky being matured in other facilities around Scotland. Within this warehouse we were allowed in to the Royal Salute Vault - a double padlocked cage that contains some very special whisky indeed. The Royal Salute is a premium blended whisky that is produced by Chivas and we were amazed to be offered a dram of a highly rare version of this, which was 38 years of age and named Stone of Destiny. This treat was the final act in our tour of Strathisla, a distillery which oozed charm, character and class.

In order for you to see some of the sights and sounds of Strathisla, we have put together a short film in what is our first foray in to the world of video. The camera work is a little shaky, but hopefully that will improve with practice! Hopefully the film will give you an insight to the distillery and give you the chance to listen to Alex Robertson explaining about it. We hope that you enjoy.