Glengoyne is one of those rare distilleries that has been in continuous operation since its founding in 1833. Where other distilleries paused for wars or were bought and sold on the winds of economic change, Glengoyne persisted. The distillery focuses on six elements that comprise their current spirit: unpeated, patience, oak casks, maturation, natural color, and tradition. Some of those are more tactile than others but all can impact the final product. Glengoyne is also unique in its geography, sitting right on the border between scotch regions. The whisky is made in the Highlands region but then transported across the road and ages in the Lowlands region. The Glengoyne 15 Year is one of several age statement expressions comprising the distillery’s core range and made from a blend matured in either ex-bourbon or ex-sherry casks.
M Whiskey
Twin Spirits was founded in 2014 by Michelle Winchester and began production in 2016. The distillery has a cocktail room and coffee shop on site, and is often a place where local music can be found. The 100 gallon copper pot stills were made in Kentucky and the distillery uses a grain-to-glass approach for most of their products. The M Whiskey is the distillery’s only sourced product, finished in ex-red wine casks from local Alexis Bailly Vineyards. The desire was to produce a port cask finish, and the dessert wines were the closest approximation available. The M Whiskey, along with the other spirits from the distillery, are available in 375 ml bottles.
Royal Brackla 12 Year
The Royal Brackla holds a claim to fame that few Scottish distilleries can match, which is the royal warrant it was granted in 1835 by King William IV that allowed the distillery to use the “royal” adjective as part of the name (the other two are Royal Lochnagar in 1848 and the now closed Glenury Royal). Founded in 1817, Royal Brackla has run mostly uninterrupted for over 200 years. Like many distilleries, it shut down briefly due to world wars or market surpluses and has gone through several changes in ownership but has never been dormant for long. Its output has long gone into blends and thus not received much individual attention. That changed in 2015, however, when current owner Dewar’s released a range of single malts. This Royal Brackla 12 is from the spring of 2020, when the core range was relaunched to comprise a 12, 18 and 21 year age statements.