The Highland Whisky Festival, the only one that takes place in the Highlands, kicks off today (22 September) and runs until end of the month.
Covering 300 miles of coastline it’s a festival that is celebrated by some of Scotland’s best known distilleries with each offering something special. Over the 9 days of the festival, 9 distilleries are featured and each is offering tastings, food and exclusive tours.
In Wick, Old Pulteney, established in 1826 when the town was home to a thriving fishing port, is distilled and matured by the North Sea coast line. It means Old Pulteney can honestly say that it captures the taste of the sea in every drop.
The distillery gates of Brora closed in 1983, opened again in 2021 after three years of a brick by brick restoration as part of a major investment. For the first time since its revival, Brora Distillery is opening its wildcat gates to visitors to give festival goers the opportunity to discover its legendary spirit from its precious stocks.
Clynelish in Sutherland, an anglicised version of the Gaelic for green pasture, is a brand name that predates the distillery we know today, but which has featured on the labels of whisky bottles for two hundred years. Serving as one of the Four Corners distilleries of Johnnie Walker, Clynelish distills the Highland Malt that is enjoyed around the world on its own and as component of Johnnie Walker whiskies.
Moving to the Black Isle we have The Singleton and the new Singleton whisky visitor experience which is “inspired by a passion for making perfectly balanced whisky”. It is based within the Glen Ord Distillery, one of three storied distilleries that make The Singleton brand.
Balblair Distillery sits on a remote hillside overlooking the Dornoch Firth. They say that their whiskies use only the finest ingredients and traditional processes “to craft our distinctive, characterful whisky with the most exceptional flavour, defined by rich, sweet fruity, yet spicy and delicate flavours.”
Also on the Dornoch Firth, the festival includes Glenmorangie, founded in 1843 by William Matheson who had a vision for a pioneering single malt whisky, made from three natural ingredients – water, barley and yeast. Distilled in Scotland’s tallest stills, and perfected by The Men of Tain. Perhaps one of the festivals best know distilleries.
In the Cromarty Firth, and founded in 1830, the Dalmore has been making whisky for over 180 years. This leg of the festival will be hosted in Inverness, not at the distillery itself. Of note, is the 12-point silver stag which became the whisky’s emblem. It was bestowed upon the first chieftain of Clan Mackenzie in 1263 by King Alexander III of Scotland and became the whisky’s emblem when descendants of the clan took over the distillery in 1878.
The Dalmore distillery describes it’s collection of idiosyncratic stills as creating “a New Make spirit of unique character and depth – robust and fruity, particularly well-suited to longer and more complex maturation”. They say that it allows Master Whisky Maker Gregg Glass and his team “to develop spirit over longer periods, continuing a tradition of visionary whisky-making as they fully express their art using rare casks from some of the world’s finest wineries and bodegas.”
One of the ‘younger’ distilleries, Knockdhu Distillery in Banffshire, opened its doors in 1894. Its founder, John Morrison, brought the story of anCnoc to life in the discovery of pure water springs on nearby Knock Hill and coupled it with peat and barley (and the nearby Great North of Scotland railway line). The brand name anCnoc (Gaelic for ‘the hill’) lends it the unusual distinction of not being named after the distillery which produces it.
At the end of month, Tomatin Distillery takes centre stage. Another ‘younger’ distillery which began in 1897 on the peaks of the Monadhliath Mountains, where legend has it, “patience, a gentle hand and a passion for purity ruled the day”. Tomatin Distillery own and distribute a full brand portfolio of single malt and blended whisky as well as Cù Bòcan single malt, an experimental Highland Single Malt.
The Highland Whisky Festival schedule can be found here
