Welcome to day 14. Today we bring in a tasty offering from the Deanston distillery. I don’t have much to say about this whisky other than I enjoyed it so tuck in then read the write up below and enjoy
Deanston distillery
Deanston distillery is a Single malt Scotch whisky distillery located on the banks of the River Teith, eight miles from the historic town of Stirling, at the gateway to the dramatic Loch Lomond & Trossachs National Park. It is the largest distillery owned by Scotch whisky producer Distell Group Limited, who also own Bunnahabhain Distillery on the Isle of Islay and Tobermory distillery on the Isle of Mull.
Deanston Distillery started life in 1785 as a cotton mill designed by Sir Richard Arkwright, and remained as such for 180 years until it was transformed into a distillery in 1966. The constant supply of pure water from the River Teith contributed to the decision to turn the mill into a distillery and Deanston is now the only distillery in Scotland to be self-sufficient in electricity, with power generated by an on-site hydro-energy facility. Deanston sits in the Highland single malt region of Scotland and produces whisky which is handmade by ten local craftsmen, un-chill filtered, natural colour and bottled at a strength of 46.3% ABV.
DEANSTON HISTORY
There are many distilleries in Scotland which started life as mills, but none of them had quite the scale of Deanston. This huge plant was constructed on the banks of the fast-flowing River Teith in 1785 by Richard Arkwright who used it as one of the sites for the development of the Spinning Jenny. It also had what was claimed to be the largest water wheel in Europe.
Weaving continued here until 1964 when the buildings were bought by Brodie Hepburn. Production started in 1969, but its original owners only had it for three years before the company was bought by private label specialist Invergordon. It ran for a decade before the 80s whisky slump forced its owner to shut it down. Eight years later, it was bought for £2.1m by Burn Stewart.
It can claim to be one of the greenest distilleries in Scotland. All of its power is generated by a turbine house which processes 20 million litres of water an hour. The excess electricity is then sold to the National Grid.
Although single malt bottlings started relatively early – in 1974 – it is only recently that Deanston has been elevated to a front-line single malt brand.
Tasting Notes
Nose: baked apple pie with a healthy dose of cinnamon, dried apricots, mango salsa, Midori melon liqueur.
Taste: fruity, floral and malty; waxy and honeyed with loads of vanilla, more dried apricots and baked apple and cinnamon pie in a very buttery crust
FInish: honeyed, fruity and toasty
Purchase Links
Can be purchased here from Legacy Liquor
or