Special and Rare - Ghost Distilleries Ken Gargett

SCOTLAND’S GHOST DISTILLERIES

Ghost distilleries; sounds more like something involving Captain Jack Sparrow and barrels of rum, rather than the more genteel and dignified world of fine whisky from Scotland. They are very real and becoming more and more important for a range of reasons. The ever-increasing interest in fine whisky has even seen plans for the re-opening of some of the more famous ghost distilleries, such as Port Ellen and Brora. Be assured Scotland has as many ghosts as any horror movie, but these are ghouls you hope to encounter.

WORDS KEN GARGETT

So what is a ghost distillery? Basically, a once working distillery, sometimes much loved and highly regarded, which, for whatever reasons, has closed its doors.

Now, in most industries, that would be it. Game over. The best it could hope for would be a mention in some nostalgic trivia competition. If a shoe factory shuts, it is unlikely that shoe aficionados (are there such people?) will seek footwear from the closed establishment decades later. Not so with whisky. Remember that it takes at least three years before the glorious nectar in barrel can even be called whisky, and any decent distillery worth the name will have many barrels of much older material. So when business stops, there is still potentially significant quantities of very fine whisky quietly maturing away in barrels.

It can be sold for blending, but often it continues to mature and is eventually bottled as special releases. Or possibly included in something very limited and exciting – the Johnnie Walker Blue Label Ghost and Rare is the perfect example. And of course, there will also have been bottles from the closed distillery which are already on the market. They will immediately become collectors’ items and highly prized. Prices escalate enormously. Search the internet for prices of old bottles from the Brora and Ellen Port distilleries, two ghost distilleries which both closed in 1983 and see if you can find anything under several thousand dollars a bottle – if you can find them at all.

It hardly makes sense. If all this whisky is in such demand and so highly valued, why close? Many reasons, of course. During a period such as this, where there is extensive and intense interest in great whisky, it is hard to imagine that there are times when supply far exceeds demand and many distilleries are simply not economical, let alone profitable. Brora is the perfect example. Its success caused its downfall, as detailed elsewhere. Things were going so well that a second distillery was built nearby (and given its name, the Clynelish Distillery, which was

IN THE 1800’S, IT IS ESTIMATED THAT THERE WERE AROUND 200 DISTILLERIES IN SCOTLAND. BY THE END OF WORLD WAR II, AT LEAST 70 OF THESE HAD CLOSED.

the name of the original distillery, subsequently changed to Brora). Unfortunately, the timing could hardly have been worse. Almost immediately after the new distillery commenced operations, the market took a downturn, and the owners were forced to close one. The older distillery was the obvious choice. However, there were a number of barrels of the proverbial liquid gold sitting in the halls, continuing to mature. They have not gone to waste.

The Johnnie Walker Blue Label Ghost and Rare, a new offering, takes full advantage of the plunder from ghost distilleries. At A$480 a bottle, this new whisky needs to be far more than an overpriced marketing gimmick. And it is. It is the first release in what will be a series of very special whiskies. Each one will be based on a whisky from a longclosed distillery – a ghost distillery – and will include various other components, which may be from distilleries still operating or not. Many of these ‘contributions’ are often part of Blue.

For the first release, five currently operating distilleries made contributions, as did three Ghosts. The ‘heart’ of this whisky is from Brora (interestingly, one of the operating distilleries which contributed is the aforementioned Clynelish). The other ‘ghosts’ in this blend are from the Cambus and Pittyvaich distilleries. In the 1800’s, it is estimated that there were around 200 distilleries in Scotland. By the end of World War II, at least 70 of these had closed. After the War, whisky enjoyed boom times, and new distilleries opened, but things changed in the 1980s and more closed. We’ve mentioned a number of the Ghosts. A few others that are highly regarded and with cult followings are Braeval, Glenglassaugh, St. Magdalene (Linlithgow), Rosebank, Kinclaith, Glenugie and Glenlochy.

There may be ghosts in Scotland, but they are friendly ghosts, and one only wishes that we encountered them more often.

PORT ELLEN DISTILLERY

Recent news will be wonderfully encouraging for lovers of Islay whiskies. The famous Port Ellen Distillery, owned by Diageo, which shut in 1983, will reopen in 2020. This distillery is from the dress circle of Islay, with neighbours like Ardbeg, Bowmore, Lagavulin and Laphroaig – elite names by any standards. Diageo, which also owns not only Lagavulin but also Caol Ila, is in the process of a £35,000 refurbishment.

As is so often the case, when a distillery – especially one of quality – closes, existing bottlings and those remaining stocks of whisky produced on site, gain cult status and prices to match.

The distillery, on the south coast of Islay, originally built by A. K. MacKay & Co, was established in 1825, gaining fame as the first distillery which incorporated the ‘spirit safe design’ by Septimus Fox into the process of distillation. A spirit safe literally has a padlock (or did – perhaps modern technology will provide other methods of security). It allows distillers to observe the spirit as it is produced and hence improve the accuracy of the cuts, but does not allow them access. It was invented by Fox in the early 1820’s and made mandatory from 1823, no doubt because it helped ensure all taxes were paid on the spirits produced, not least because the Customs & Excise officer actually held the key until 1983 (now, usually held by the distiller).

The lease for the distillery was obtained by the 21-year-old John Ramsay in 1836. By 1848, he was trading with North America. Ramsey was a local powerhouse. He was involved with the development of continuous stills, assisting Robert Stein and Aeneas Coffey. He also established a steamboat service to the Islay, imported wines, was a local MP and the chairman of the Glasgow Chamber of Commerce. DCL, which later morphed into Diageo, took over Port Ellen in 1925. They soon closed the distiller, other than for the maltings and bonded warehouses. It re-opened in 1967, after the number of stills had been doubled from two to four the previous year, but was closed again in 1983 thanks to the downturn in interest in whisky at that time. It might seem unbelievable today, but distillers felt that there was simply little market for single malt whiskies in the peated style which Islay offers. The maltings facility at Port Ellen, built in 1972, has been used by other distilleries in the Diageo portfolio and subsequently others from the region. The malting drums are the largest in the UK.

The whisky produced during the period from its reopening to ultimate closure is considered to be some of the greatest Islay whisky ever made. Diageo has taken advantage of this with various bottlings, annually since 2001. Other producers, including Signatory and Douglas Laing, have released independent bottlings though, needless to say, stocks are diminishing, pushing prices even higher. The whiskies are seen as having a strong peatiness and considerable complexity.

Indications are that once the doors open again, the intention will be to replicate the earlier style – something all lovers of that wonderful Islay style will appreciate.

BRORA

Cigar aficionados howl at the moon whenever one of their preferred cigars is discontinued. So too, lovers of great malt whiskies, when a favoured distillery closes its doors. In both cases, the remaining cigars and whiskies very quickly increase in value, and often legend, becoming cult favourites.

That is certainly the case with Brora, a Highlands distillery which closed its doors in 1983, after so many years of producing fine malts. It originally begun production back in 1819, built by the Marquess of Stafford, possibly in order to send local bootleggers broke. The Marquess was not a popular man in the district, having evicted 15,000 crofters from his property in order to run sheep at the time of the Highland Clearances – some were resettled as far away as Canada and Australia.

The distillery had been called ‘Clynelish’, until 1968, when the Clynelish Distillery, a near neighbour, was opened. One theory suggests that the adoption of the name was so as the new distillery, same owners, could trade on the good name and reputation that Brora had established. However, like so

much of what went on in that era, exact details are a little sketchy. The name of the original distillery was changed to Brora.

The style of whisky produced from 1968 was heavily peated, to assist shortfalls of Islay thanks to drought in that region. From 1973, the style reverted to a more lightly peated Highlands style. If evidence of its fame was needed, in 2014, Diageo (owners of the old distillery) released a 1972 malt at £14,500/bottle.

Malts from this distillery had enjoyed considerable success from the very early days, so much so that production was originally sold only to private customers and not to blenders. Things were not always rosy. The distillery had closed down for periods on two earlier occasions – 1931 to 1938, thanks largely to Prohibition; and 1941 to 1945, thanks to the War. Accounts vary considerably, and there are actually numerous other suggestions of breaks in production for any number of reasons, but it seems these two periods were the most likely closures.

Afterwards, demand from blenders for heavily peated malts soon ensured full recovery and, subsequently, the new distillery. Not all of the malts produced here were heavily peated, as the distillery performed a valuable role, producing whatever style of malt was needed. Why then was it permanently closed? It seems that the Clynelish Distillery was built to handle increased demand, as a result of the success of Brora. But with changing tastes, it was not long before two distilleries were one too many and the old one was the obvious choice for closure.

Any bottles remaining are now very much collectors’ items and very valuable. So too, the occasional bottlings from the dwindling stocks held by Diageo.

Last year, Diageo announced that this famous distillery would emerge from mothballs and begin production again in 2020. It is welcome news for all lovers of great malts.

CONVALMORE

Convalmore is not simply a ghost distillery. Sadly, it is now effectively a demolished one, making the rare, very limited releases from its ever-diminishing stocks a momentous event for whisky lovers. If you ever see a bottle from this famous Speyside distillery, do not hesitate, though small quantities are more likely to be included as part of a blend.

Built in 1894 (some suggest 1983), at the behest of a group of businessmen from Glasgow and under the design of local architect, Donald MacKay, it was one of the famous ‘seven stills of Dufftown’. Ten years later, it was sold for £6,000 and years later, ended up as part of the Diageo empire. The fruitiness it offered was much prized by blenders, and it often contributed to the famous Black & White whisky. Along the way, it suffered badly from a fire in 1909. It reopened a year later, with matching pot stills and a new and experimental continuous column still, working with malt. Plans and details of this still, which only ran for five years, have been lost in the mists of time. The column still produced what is known as a ‘silent malt’ – potentially 2,273 litres per hour. ‘Silent malt’ is simply the name given to malt whisky from column stills rather than the pot stills. After the dismantling of this still in 1916, the distillery returned to pot stills. Glentauchers at Speyside and the Lochruan distillery at Campbelltown were two others which made ‘silent malts’.

Subsequent expansions, after a period in limbo during WWII, saw another pair of stills installed, as well as a dark grains plant. By 1985, the distillery was surplus to requirements. It sits contiguous to other distilleries in the empire, Balvenie and Glenfiddich, and the shells of the buildings still exist, but all equipment is long gone and its role today is simply that of a warehouse.

Those who have sampled malt from this distillery speak highly of it, noting a rich fruitiness. Some suggest it was similar in quality to Clynelish but with ‘an extra fruity heart’.

Diageo released a 28-Year-Old from Convalmore in 2005 and, more recently, a Convalmore 32-Year-Old was part of their ‘Special Releases’ in 2017, though only 3,972 bottles were ever available. Distilled in 1984, it was aged in refill American oak casks and bottled with a natural cask strength of 48.2% ABV. Though its price is over $2,000 a bottle, that won’t stop those keen to sample part of history.