Aberdeenshire-based distillery Burnobennie has announced a first collaboration with Fierce Brewery, adopting a beer-driven approach to distilling its single malt whisky. The two companies are said to be looking to continue revolutionizing the process for producing spirit, with the beer-centric production also said to be an industry first.
All proceeds of the cask sales will be donated to the River Dee Trusts’ #milliontees campaign, with two thirds of the casks already sold out through pre-orders.
Burnobennie have developed the beer wash with a concentrated alcohol content of 14%, having been distilled twice before being used to create the single malt whisky available as limited-edition casks.
Co-founder of Burnobennie Distillery, Liam Pennycook, said: “We are incredibly excited to work with Fierce to create a truly unique whisky in aid of the #milliontreest initiative. By sacrificing the industry standard yield, our super concentrated wash uses 50% less water, less energy and a reduced carbon footprint – this is allowing us to work towards being fully sustainable in our distilling process. We believe the core of whisky making should be developed from the mashtun and our amplified wash - this is where the true magic happens. There is a common industry perception that up to 85% of the flavour comes from the cask; we want to showcase that flavour should begin in the spirit and can be balanced by the ageing process in the cask. We are delighted to have Fierce work with us – we match their ethos of focusing on new techniques and flavours so it was a natural collaboration for both of us.”
The team at Burnobennie have been experimenting with dark roasted malts in the past, with whisky writer and former Whisky Magazine editor Charles MacLean allegedly describing their 18-month-old single malt as tasting like an 18-20 year old spirit.
Dave McHardy, Operations Director at Fierce Brewery added, “When we had the chance to work with the folks at Burnobennie Distillery we jumped at it – it’s great to see another local business who thinks the way we do. They are looking to be innovative in the way they deal with a traditional process, which is the way we look at things in brewing. And to be involved in taking a modern brewery perspective on the mash and implementing that into a whisky, it’s a very exciting project.”
All proceeds of the cask sales will be donated to the River Dee Trusts’ #milliontees campaign, with two thirds of the casks already sold out through pre-orders.
Burnobennie have developed the beer wash with a concentrated alcohol content of 14%, having been distilled twice before being used to create the single malt whisky available as limited-edition casks.
Co-founder of Burnobennie Distillery, Liam Pennycook, said: “We are incredibly excited to work with Fierce to create a truly unique whisky in aid of the #milliontreest initiative. By sacrificing the industry standard yield, our super concentrated wash uses 50% less water, less energy and a reduced carbon footprint – this is allowing us to work towards being fully sustainable in our distilling process. We believe the core of whisky making should be developed from the mashtun and our amplified wash - this is where the true magic happens. There is a common industry perception that up to 85% of the flavour comes from the cask; we want to showcase that flavour should begin in the spirit and can be balanced by the ageing process in the cask. We are delighted to have Fierce work with us – we match their ethos of focusing on new techniques and flavours so it was a natural collaboration for both of us.”
The team at Burnobennie have been experimenting with dark roasted malts in the past, with whisky writer and former Whisky Magazine editor Charles MacLean allegedly describing their 18-month-old single malt as tasting like an 18-20 year old spirit.
Dave McHardy, Operations Director at Fierce Brewery added, “When we had the chance to work with the folks at Burnobennie Distillery we jumped at it – it’s great to see another local business who thinks the way we do. They are looking to be innovative in the way they deal with a traditional process, which is the way we look at things in brewing. And to be involved in taking a modern brewery perspective on the mash and implementing that into a whisky, it’s a very exciting project.”
