After two years restoring the Blackness Bay Distillery we have now bottled our first six-month barrel of New Make Spirit.
Here at Blackness we are keen to avoid the modern processes used in large-scale distilling mashing our barley by hand and use the time-honoured methods used by my distiller grandfather, but without the bit that blew him up.
We hone our craft by feel and taste and even sound and even vibration keeping the distilling gentle and even to avoid the heavy oils and vapours rising over the lyne arm leading from the witch’s hat copper dome, but refluxing back down into the still.
We operate traditional style Alembic twin Copper Stills used for centuries but which now have a porthole window to observe the activity. In the olden days grandad would have a wooden ball floating in the still the knocking sound of which, would gauge the volatility of the boil as the worth vaporises.
The initial distillation spirits are called foreshots or heads, which contain toxins including Methanol which can make you go blind, but not for long, as it also kills you. We carefully separate these off and dispose of them before we test and go on to the delightful, but miserably named Ethanol, as was my aunt. This is the ”Hearts” the good stuff, and emerges slowly until it becomes of lower strength “Tails” and it begins to smell, and taste, of wet dog.
The notion of New Make Spirit is fascinating as it was the original whisky style for hundreds of years until the introduction of Sherry Casks which brought much of the concept of aged quality to the whisky market.
The blight of the grape vines in France devastated the Brandy market which brought Sherry to popularity in Britain and provided a ready supply of seasoned casks to Scottish distilling and its enhancement of whisky to a quality equal and beyond brandy.
Three years and a day was designated the period to achieve the level of excellence but hold on there, do not adjust your mind, there is a fault in the reality!
Is there not something lost as well as gained in the maturation process? Despite its undoubted magnificent enhancement, there have always been those among us who also appreciate the superb rawness of the spirit as it emerges from the still in its sparkling potent purity which affects the mind and humours in a unique burst of freedom and exhilaration.
Bursting with strong challenging flavours It is a beautiful but different drink from its older self. These characteristics fade after about a year in the barrel. Poteen, or Peatreek is quietly sought out on the moors of Sutherland and the hills of Donegal by those connoisseurs who also like to walk on the wild side.
Our New Make Spirit is called appropriately, Virgin Mary as it is the forerunner of our trademark brand malt whisky now maturing called “Mary Queen of Scotch “ a trademark which was initially contested by the authorities as disrespectful but was conceded on appeal when it was pointed out that chopping a woman’s head off was the disrespectful bit. Now our local Linlithgow girl lives on in spirit.
After six months of settling in oak, Virgin Mary is receiving great reviews and bodes well for the Queen of Scotch to come. The pure Scottish Barley used was malted by Crisp Malt of Alloa and exciting experiments with wild yeasting from the distillery gardens are underway on new batches as we research more ancient distilling practices.