The next day was very windy and driving rain. We decided it was a good day to tour the distilleries. We started with Glenfiddich, as it was the closest to town.
The Glenfiddich was founded in 1886 by William Grant. He had worked at another distillery for 20 years dreaming of building his own distillery. He bought some second hand equipment and along with a single stone mason, his 7 sons and two daughters, they placed 750,000 stones in just under a year to build the Glenfiddich, Gaelic for Valley of the Deer. The first drop fell from the copper still on Christmas Day 1887.
In 1909, Grant's son-in-law embarked on a year long, round the world journey to find new markets for the single malt whiskey. When prohibition hit, they remained in business due to their overseas customers. The Grant family bought 1200 surrounding acres to ensure that no cattle polluted the pure rivers and streams and thereby ensuring the finest quality whiskey. Never underestimating the importance of the cask, they built an on-site cooperage.
The copper stills are also hand crafted on-site, as the stills are uniquely shaped and sized at each distillery.
The Glenfiddich has been family owned for 5 generations.
We learned how the barley is made to sprout for 5 days, then heated to stop the germination (this used to be by heating the peat, but anymore it is by high quality coal). The germination causes the sugar content to rise within the grain. It is then ground up and the sugar is washed from mash. The mash is then sold as cattle feed. The sugary water then has yeast added to it and left to ferment.
It then goes to the stills to be made into whiskey. The oak casks are mellowed by years of previous use, holding either bourbon or sherry. They are charred on the inside to caramelize the wood sugars and open up the oak's flavor giving properties, allowing the whiskey its flavor as it matures.
The filled casks are then stored in a dark, damp warehouse for at least 12 years before it reaches a bottle. The whiskey evaporates by about 2% per year, called the Angel's Share. They had casks with glass bottoms to show us how much evaporates through the years. 5 years old had a few inches missing, from the top. 10 years had several more inches missing. 20 years had about only a half barrel remaining. The 50 year old Scotch had only a couple inches left on the bottom. Our eyes actually burned from the alcohol while we were in the warehouse. The gift shop had a bottle of 50 year old for only 20,000 British Sterling (about $36,500).
We were given 4 samples each of various ages of whiskey. Since Irene does not like Scotch, Ed got 8 samples.
We then went to the Glenlivet Distillery, Ed's favorite whiskey brand. The tour was similar, although not as in depth nor informative. Ed got to sample two ages of whiskey, then purchased a 50 year old dram, as well.
A side note: The Glenfiddich had the fanciest bathrooms I have ever seen, nicer than most home's living rooms.
