In this episode of Bourbon With Friends. Paul is on location in Aberfeldy, Scotland at the Dewar's Aberfeldy Distillery. I am joined by Craig Reed. Advocacy Host & Coordinator of the Distillery.
First planned in 1896 by the sons of John Dewar, Dewar’s Aberfeldy Distillery is the onlyScotch whisky distillery built by the Dewar family. Dewar’s was already a highly successful brand of blended whisky, renowned for its quality, and the company needed more single malt whisky to use in its blend.
The Dewar family’s pursuit of whisky perfection continues to this day, and they still produce whisky in a way that they would recognise instantly. In common with most Scotch whisky distilleries, malted Scottish barley to make the whisky is brought to site, with the old Malting House now home to our beautiful Whisky Lounge and Cafe. Due to vastly increased demand, we now mature our spirit elsewhere in Scotland, meaning our former filling station and warehouse have escaped modernisation and serve as a highly atmospheric tour area and home to our Cask Tasting.
This is the ideal backdrop to explain how Dewar’s premium blends are ‘double-aged’, with a secondary resting in oak barrels once the blend is created. The costly process gives an extra smoothness to the final whisky.
The creation of the distinctive Aberfeldy spirit all takes place onsite, with our extra long fermentation in larch washbacks, and distillation in our tall pot stills overlooking the rolling Perthshire hills. These processes create the honeyed-richness for which Aberfeldy whisky is renowned. Now popular in its own right as a single malt, Aberfeldy still makes up the heart of the Dewar’s blend, contributing its heather honey flavour to America’s best selling Scotch whisky.
You can learn more about the distillery here.
www.dewars.com
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@pacmancraig
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