realthog: (morgan brighteyes)
[personal profile] realthog

The sweet smell of ground grist wafts over the surrounding peat marshland as a one-tonne copper still boils and distils mash into the unmistakable dark liquid that will eventually become whisky.

The first run of single malt, meanwhile, lies maturing in hundreds of specially imported Bourbon barrels from the United States watched over by Molly, Bert, Oscar and Zeb, the distillery's four Labrador dogs.

At first glance nothing in this particular distillery looks out of the ordinary. But to the factory's founders and whisky connoisseurs worldwide what lies in those casks is not just whisky; it is history in the making.

For this is not just another new distillery to add to Scotland or Ireland's already thriving industries. This is the English Whisky Company, the latest attempt to try and cash in on the unprecedented clamour for fine whisky worldwide and, also, the first company to produce an English malt whisky in more than 100 years.

To traditionalists the idea of asking barman for "an English" in the same way that millions of tipplers request "a Scotch" might sound preposterous, but if a retired Norfolk grain farmer and water engineer gets his way, that is precisely what Britain's discerning whisky lovers will be demanding by the end of next year.

The Indy has the full nightmarish story at http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/whisky-galore-an-english-malt-please-793677.html.

All the usual jokes aside, many years ago, for reasons I now no longer remember, I tried some Welsh whisky -- we Scots can be snooty about whisky, so I must have been interested solely in the potential novelty value of Swansea Glen (or whatever it was called). It turned out to be a perfectly decent blend -- not distinguished, but by no means lousy. I looked out for it after that, but sadly never saw it on sale again.

Date: 2008-03-10 10:47 am (UTC)
ext_59010: This looks like the mountains where I live. (Default)
From: [identity profile] quilterbear.livejournal.com
Ahhhh the memories you have evoked! I grew up in a town that had a distillery, and the sweet smell of it wafting over the entire town is a dear memory, though I hated it as a child.

Date: 2008-03-10 02:30 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] realthog.livejournal.com

Before I was born, my parents lived for a number of years in Glenlivet -- yes, indeed, that Glenlivet. Plenty of freebies for the locals from the distillery there were, oh yes.

Date: 2008-03-10 12:15 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] hutch0.livejournal.com
"Swansea Glen - For That Perfect Daiquiri."

Date: 2008-03-10 02:10 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] quietselkie.livejournal.com
*gag*

My tipple of choice lately has been cough syrup.

Date: 2008-03-10 02:11 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] realthog.livejournal.com

Well, Swansea Glen makes an excellent toddy, look you.

Date: 2008-03-10 05:28 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] pds-lit.livejournal.com
At the end of the article it mentions the Welsh Whiskey..."Wales

Since 2000, the small Penderyn Distillery, in the foothills of the Brecon Beacons, has been producing the country's only Welsh whisky at a rate of one barrel a day but has won critical acclaim for its whiskies. Because of the minute yield, however, exports are strictly limited. Wales's first foray in to the whisky market in the 1990s failed when it was sued by the Scottish Whisky Association for falsely marketing a blend of Scotch whiskies as an indigenous Welsh grain.

Date: 2008-03-10 05:44 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] realthog.livejournal.com

"Wales's first foray in to the whisky market in the 1990s failed when it was sued by the Scottish Whisky Association for falsely marketing a blend of Scotch whiskies as an indigenous Welsh grain."

Interesting. (As an aside, I wonder why I didn't notice this. Maybe it was a late addition, or something -- the Indy's headlines came through to me six or eight hours earlier than usual.) The Welsh whisky I came across was on a publicity tour I underwent in the autumn of 1981.

The bit about it really being a blend of Scotches would explain why that was exactly what it tasted like.

Date: 2008-03-10 10:57 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] hutch0.livejournal.com
Years ago, we went skiing in the Czech Republic and we came back with a bottle of Czech rum and a bottle of Czech whisky. Which - no offence to the Czechs - tasted identical. I couldn't drink them, which is unusual for me.

Date: 2008-03-11 03:18 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] realthog.livejournal.com

"I couldn't drink them, which is unusual for me."

Very unusual! Were the corks immovably jammed, or something?

Date: 2008-03-11 09:54 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] hutch0.livejournal.com
Har har.

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