Originally founded in 1819 by the Duke of Sutherland, the distillery produces a unique waxy textured single malt. The majority of the whisky produced here is used in the company's blended whiskies such as Johnnie Walker Gold Reserve.
The original distillery operated until 1967, when a new facility was built just a few hundred yards to the south.
In 1969, the old distillery reopened, and produced whisky as the Brora distillery, until closing again in 1983. The whisky produced as Brora is quite rare and now very valuable. There was a bottle for sale in the visitor centre for £1000.
Due to the alcohol fumes, photography and mobile phones were not permitted in the production areas. This shot shows one of the six massive copper stills. We were quite fortunate to be shown around at a time when production was occurring, and to see the processes in action was very interesting. The different smells produced at various stages of the process were unbelievable. At one stage the smell was of pineapples!
We were shown around by the Brand Home Manager, Clair, who was great in explaining all things Clynelish, and the processes involved. The shot above shows some of the whisky being aged in barrels in the ancient warehouse. The small barrel at the front right of the picture houses some of the rare Brora whisky, and has done so since 1977. In that time, approximately 25% of the volume has been lost through evaporation.
At the end of the tour, members were able to sample some whiskies, and were shown the differences between three whiskies from Clynelish. It was 5pm somewhere in the world, and Alan Pritchard's sore throat was soothed nicely!
After the tour, we made our way back to Dornoch, ready for golf.
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