Today we rode a couple local busses for about an hour and 20 minutes and ended up at The Glenkinchie distillery. We had a cask and tasting tour booked and it ended up being a private tour (a noon tour on a Thursday on the first day of spring isn't in high demand I guess).
The bus trip took us though beautiful countryside. It wasn't the fastest way to get there but it was enjoyable.
Johnny Walker has been using Glenkinchie Scotch in their blends for over 100 years and now they are owned by the parent company of Johnny Walker like many of the distilleries in the area.
we got to see a scale model of the distilling process. This model actually distilled whiskey during some fair in the 20s IIRC.
Donna inspects the mill of the malted barley. We have been on many distillery and brewery tours and learn a few things each time. Today we learned that how finely the barley is milled affects the final product.
This is where the fermentation happens.
The other thing we learned is that the yeast continues to change the flavor profile even after it is dead. Here, our guide Pascal, discusses the flavor profiles that happen as the yeast breaks down after it's death.
The ageing barrels aren't stored here but they did have a few for display purposes as well as these four for us. Pascal uncorked them and allowed is to smell them. He talked about how Scotch can use all kinds of barrels and they each impart a different flavor. Next we were given a chance to thieve our own dram of whiskey!
At the end of our tour we were able to taste a selection of their whiskeys and a Johnny Walker.
It was a super tour.
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