DuckDrams

Scotland is in a veritable whisky boom. Never before in the history of Scotch whisky production (legal, at least…) has so many new distilleries been founded. Or so I’ve heard. To test such claims I scraped some data from the internet about opening and closing date of Scotch malt distilleries (mostly from wikipedia, whisky.com, lost distilleries) and I made the following graph:

And yes, it is clear that we’re seeing a historically high rate of new distilleries opening. The Lowlands and Islay are seeing a particular relative increase, and Campbeltown is going to explode in the coming years as well (I might do a per-region version of the graph later).

But the current rate is not quate as high as around the turn of the 20th century, when the number of malt distilleries also reached a peak that hasn’t been overtaken since, although in a few years time it may very well be. This boom from 120 years ago was also followed by 25 years of bust. The next, smaller boom in the ’60s was also nullified by the bust in the 80s. When will the current boom turn to bust, and what analysis will be drawn? In my understanding the current boom is much driven by the international trade, with up-and-coming large economies like China and India desiring premium liquor. Makes me think we’re going to see a lot of new distilleries closing when the global recession hits in a few years time. In any case, I’m little qualified for economic analysis, so I’ll leave it at that and get back to the whisky

Today I will sample a few of the new distilleries that are contributing to the current boom. Over the last few months I’ve started to collect samples with the idea to try all of them that I can get my hands on. Since before this I have already tried some without reviewing (Daftmill, Wolfburn, Abhainn Dearg, Nc’Nean, Glasgow, Kingsbarn, Ardnamurchan, Lindores Abbey), and a one I have reviewed, the amazing Dornoch. To this list we now add Hollyrood (Lowland), GlenWyvis (Highland), Roseisle (Speyside), and Torabhaig (Islands, Skye).

Let’s start with Holyrood. For 4 years I lived a minutes walk from this Newington, Edinburgh distillery. I used to jog past it every week. Somehow because of lockdown restrictions I never ended up at their distillery pub before I left. A friend and fellow WOLSer works there now, and another one used to do professional photography for them. In short, I feel some connection to this distillery without ever having entered it or tasted their whisky! (Gin I don’t give a rat’s ass about. I do have some Holyrood newmake that I tried but didn’t review yet). At last, we shall taste what whisky my neighbour’s have been making!

Now, if this tasting is to be viewed as a competition, it’s not a fair fight. Against the other ~4yo younglings at ~46% comes a cask-strength Roseisle already matured to a good 12 years of age. The fact that this whisky is intended as a blend-filler I do not hold against it, as many of my favourite Speysiders are (Linkwood, being a prime example).

Finally, we arrive onto the Isle of Skye. Until Torabhaig opened in 2017, the famed Talisker was the lone whisky distillery on Isle of Skye.

That’s a wrap for this first foray into whisky newbies, or should we call them the ‘boomers’ already? It’s fun to try something really new. But rarely is young whisky, and especially form distilleries still finding their feet, so good that anything but curiosity can motivate the price of a full bottle, which is usually more expensive that well-aged whisky from established distilleries following the hype. The availability of small samples and whisky fair is therefore a real bliss, because the curiosity is definitely there!