Aberargie

SCOTCH SINGLE MALT WHISKIES > A

ABERARGIE DISTILLERY

LOWLAND SINGLE MALT SCOTCH WHISKY

The Perth Distilling Co.

Founded by John Murray & Co the company was taken overin 2005 by Kenny Mackay and Brian Morrison.

Technically a Lowland distillery (it misses the Highland line by a few miles), Aberargie eschews regional style with its rich and fruity whisky. Its sole use of Golden Promise barley – grown entirely on its own farms – gives an inherent waxiness to the new make spirit, while the distillery is set up to nurture a fruity quality, with a smoky characteristic from the occasional peated run.

Maturation will take place in a mixture of first-fill ex-Sherry butts, first-fill ex-Bourbon barrels from Woodford Reserve, and second-fill Sherry/Bourbon casks, further enhancing the rich Aberargie whisky style.

Situated ‘a football kick’ from Morrison & Mackay’s new blending and bottling facility, Aberargie is designed as a ‘barley to bottle’ operation – every process bar the malting (courtesy of Simpsons) will take place on-site.

Every drop of spirit produced at the distillery is destined for Aberargie single malt, although some may be commandeered as fillings for Morrison & Mackay’s Bruadar whisky liqueur.

Aberargie marks a return to distilling for the Morrison family. Whisky broker Stanley P. Morrison had owned Bowmore during the 1960s, his distilling, blending and brokering business forming the basis for Morrison Bowmore, now owned by Beam Suntory.

In 2005 the Morrison family – led by Stanley’s son Brian, and grandson Jamie – secured a majority stake in the Scottish Liqueur Centre in Bankfoot, Perth, where it nurtured the Bruadar and Columba Cream liqueur brands. The group – later renamed Morrison & Mackay – moved into blending and bottling Scotch whiskies under the Carn Mor range, and re-established the Old Perth brand in 2014, bought from Whyte & Macaky

At the time of Old Perth’s creation, the business had sought to move its operation to larger premises. The Morrison family owned a 300-acre farm in the nearby village of Aberargie, where they had been growing barley for maltsters for a number of years.

In early 2014 Morrison & Mackay’s plans to build a blending and bottling hall on the farm were approved. Along with the designs were plans for an adjacent, yet separate distillery to be owned and operated solely by the Morrison family under The Perth Distilling Company. Due to the Morrisons’ majority stake in Morrison & Mackay, they were able to proceed with both builds simultaneously.

Ground broke on the project in June 2016, and following distilling trials in October 2017, Aberargie distillery’s first cask was filled on 1 November.

CAPACITY (MLPA) i

750.000 Ltrs

CONDENSER TYPE i

Shell and tube

FERMENTATION TIME i

72 hours

FILLING STRENGTH i

63.5%

GRIST WEIGHT (T) i

HEAT SOURCE i

Steam

MALT SPECIFICATION i

Golden Promise

MALT SUPPLIER i

Simpsons

MASH TUN TYPE i

Semi-lauter 2 tonnes

Fermentation time 72 hours

NEW-MAKE STRENGTH i

67%

SINGLE MALT PERCENTAGE i

100%

SPIRIT STILL CHARGE (L) i

7,200

SPIRIT STILL SHAPE i

Onion, with boil ball and descending lyne arm

SPIRIT STILL SIZE (L) i

10,000

STILLS i

2 made by Forsyth

WAREHOUSING i

Dunnage and palletised

WASH STILL CHARGE (L) i

10,000

WASH STILL SHAPE i

Classic Onion

WASH STILL SIZE (L) i

15,000

WASHBACK CHARGE (L) i

10,000

WASHBACK SIZE (L) i

15,000

WASHBACK TYPE i

Stainless steel

WASHBACKS i

Barley Diffrent and Golden Promise

Grown in 300 acres of filed owned

by the Morrison family

WATER SOURCE i

Private farm well

WORT CLARITY i

Clear

YEAST TYPE i

Mauri

The Perth Distilling Company

2014 - present

In 2017, we started distilling a new single malt in Aberargie, Perthshire.

Aptly named Aberargie Distillery, it is located on our family’s 300 acre farm just outside of Perth.

Our Lowlands distillery is a “barley to bottle” operation set up to produce a rich, fruity and waxy style of whisky with the occasional peated run. Aberargie predominately uses Golden Promise, a heritage variety of barley that has not been widely used by the whisky industry for several years and is grown on our own farm.