Forty not out:
Girvan isn’t your normal run of the … er… mill distillery. Ian Buxton paid it a visit
Hereâs a curiosity. This article celebrates a distillery youâve probably never heard of; whose whisky youâve never consciously drunk and which you canât visit. Itâs a mere 40 years old, located in a region without any recognised distilling tradition and itâs very proud of the precision of its computer control systems.
However, itâs also a critical element in the worldwide success story of Scotch whisky and one of the keys to the survival and prosperity of one of the industryâs most ruggedly independent family concerns.
Give up?
This issue weâre at William Grant & Sons grain distillery at Girvan in Ayrshire, just down the coast from that shrine to golf, Turnberry.
Every whisky lover should experience a grain distillery at least once in their lives.
Itâs essential to understanding the modern industry and a very worthwhile and interesting way to spend some time to boot.
Without grain whisky Scotch would never have captured world markets from the middle of the 19th century and, without that, itâs very doubtful indeed if the wide variety of single malts we enjoy so keenly today would have ever survived this far.
So we owe the grain distillers several votes of thanks, not least for their vital contribution to blending and the many subtle and beguiling drams conjured up by the magic of the blenderâs alchemy.
But where does Girvan fit into all this, and why is it located so far from Grantsâ traditional home on Speyside? After all, this companyâs pr.....
To read the rest of this article you can buy this issue
or subscribe to Whisky Magazine to have every issue delivered direct to your door.
You can unlock and read this entire article with 1 of your community tokens by clicking here.
By Ian Buxton
Section : Distillery Focus
Page number : 30
