15 Solera Deconstruction

Day three.

I know, it’s been hundreds of days since I updated you on the Scotland trip from May of 2017 but I’ve been busy with a lot of things including new youtube videos and tons of IG content so if you’re not following on YT and IG, you know what to do 😉

Day three in Scotland was Glenfiddich Day lol. A day spent at “Disney world” of distilleries. The pictures will do most of the talking but I’ll try to add as many interesting details as I can remember!

A view from the parking lot.

On the far side of the parking lot there’s a really nifty looking tree created from barrel staves. A lot of distilleries have pieces of art at their entrance but this was pretty unique in terms of size.

This mini-lake is actually warm due to its part in the distilling process…

Where I wanted to be 😉

The hustle and bustle of getting ready for visitors.

The entrance of the visitor center reeks of history and polish.

If every bar looked like this….

Ludo, the King of the Ambassadors, is our tour guide for our first stop at Kinninvie. Kinninvie, Balvenie, and Glenfiddich all sit on the same grounds separated by short distances.

Kinninvie is just a warehouse with stills in it at this time.

Back to the tasting room in Glenfiddich for a special tasting…

A mash tun as seen from the tasting room!

Ludo explaining what we’re tasting and why.

Lunch in the Malt Barn.

I ran over to the gift shop after lunch because I knew it’d be closed if we tried to visit the shop after the tour.

The Glenfiddich handfilling station where you can fill your own or have one of the kind employees fill one for you. This week was a part of the Spirit of Speyside week so Glenfiddich only had peated whisky on tap.

A little video about the distillery to start the tour.

Lorna, our tour guide, was an amazing wealth of knowledge.

There are malt mills… and then there are GIANT malt mills.

You can see the tasting room window on the left. This is just a closer view of the mash tun above.

Piping in real spring water!

Big, beautiful washbacks holding what is soon to be a 9% alcohol “beer”, essentially.

❤

In most still rooms, the blue painted things mean “low wines” or “wash still” or the first distillings of that wash (beer) we spoke about earlier. Low wines clock in around 20-27% alcohol and are distillied a second time in spirit stills. Red painted things tend to mean that they’re coming from the spirit stills at anywhere from 70-80% alcohol. Finding the sweet spot of the spirit still’s output is the goal of every distillery.