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"Glengoyne uses the very best ingredients. Coupled with skilled craftsmen and
mother nature, you are guaranteed a quality dram"
Gordon Doctor,
Director of Whisky Operations. |
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The same traditional methods and basic ingredients, barley, water and
yeast, have been used to make scotch whisky for over 500 years and Glengoyne is no
different. However there is one subtle difference which does set Glengoyne apart
from other malt whiskies in a class of its own.
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Like all malt whiskies the barley (Glengoyne uses the
notoriously low yielding, but famously high quality Golden Promise;
the only other whisky to use Golden Promise is Macallan) is soaked in water
and spread out on the floor of the malthouse and turned regularly. Usually once
germination has taken place it is dried using the smoke from peat fires which
imparts an aromatic smoky flavour to the drying malt. However, the Glengoyne distillery
is different as it uses only barley that has been dried using warm air.
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| Once dried the malted barley is ground into 'grist' and
mixed with the crystal clear, soft water off Dumgoyne Hill in a mash tun. The resultant liquid or 'wort'
is then passed into one of six large wooden washbacks made from traditional Oregon pine where yeast is added to convert the malt
sugars into alcohol. Fermentation then takes place for a period of between 40 - 50
hours. When this process is complete the liquid or 'wash' as it is now called is
distilled (we nurse the spirit through our stills more slowly than any other distillery
for a smoother taste) to produce the spirit that will mature slowly in oak casks to become the
high quality Glengoyne Single Malt. |
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The final character of this special malt is affected
by the wood of the cask in which it matures. Glengoyne carefully selects Spanish
and American oak casks (some of which will have been seasoned with Sherry in Spain
before shipping to Scotland) from which this malt slowly extracts unique flavours
during the ten years or more in which it is maturing in the distillery's dark airy
warehouses. The milder climate of the southern Highlands effects the maturing
whisky over time and results in the fresher lighter taste associated with this
special malt. |
| However it is the lack of harsh peat smoke to dry the
barley which has the greatest effect on the final malt . It ensures that the
natural flavours are allowed to freely express themselves and do not get overwhelmed.
Glengoyne could be considered to be at one end of the malt whisky spectrum - clear,
bright, subtle, complex yet delicate a contrast to the rugged malts of the northen
Highlands or the pungent, medicinal heavy malts of Islay. |
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