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Scotch distilleries bring back 1920s distillation techniques
Six whisky distilleries in Scotland have partnered with blender and bottler James Eadie to create a new collection bringing nearly forgotten 1920s distillation techniques back to life.
Project 1927 sees independent distilleries across Scotland revive century-old production methods.
Six distilleries — Ardnamurchan, Dornoch, Holyrood, InchDairnie, Lochlea, and ‘An Unnamed Farm Distillery in the Heart of the Kingdom of Fife’ — were involved in the project.
Each was asked to draw inspiration from The Distillation of Whisky: Notes And Observations On Its Historical And Practical Aspects, 1927-1931, a historic early 20th-century guide to Scotch whisky production. The book, one of the few available practical first-hand resources dating from Scotch whisky’s early history, was republished by James Eadie Ltd in 2023 in collaboration with the British Library, and illuminates lost whisky-making techniques from the interwar years.
Each distillery has drawn its own inspiration from the book to imitate production methods from 100 years ago, with assistance from whisky expert Dave Broom and Alan Winchester, former master distiller of The Glenlivet.
The distilleries had exclusive use of locally grown barley or those varieties that were grown in the 1920s as well as exclusive use of brewer’s yeast for distilling, something which was standard at that time but is now rare. Heritage malts, cloudy worts, Champonnois stills, and floor malting to a full fortnight of fermentation were also used as part of the experimental distillations.
The spirits have then been filled into two types of cask, each paying homage to the wood mentioned in The Distillation of Whisky.
All six new make spirits, plus a seventh ‘blended at birth’ bottling containing spirit from each of the distilleries blended together, have been released together. Each of the new make spirits have been bottled at 63.4% ABV, with an exclusive presale for buyers of The Distillation of Whisky which launched on 4 September.
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