Distillery Spotlight: Crabbie’s

By Gavin D Smith

Back in the 19th century when Edinburgh’s Port of Leith was at the epicentre of the whisky blending universe, one of the best-known names was that of importer, distiller, blender and bottler John Crabbie & Co, also famous for its eponymous Crabbies Green Ginger Wine. Now, a er a long absence, Crabbie’s have returned to Leith, distilling single malt whisky and o ering some ne independent releases while they wait for their own whisky to come of age.

Since 2007 Crabbie’s has been in the ownership of Halewood Artisan Spirits, who have given the brand a new lease of life, courtesy of its high-pro le alcoholic ginger beer. However, the company decided it wanted to reconnect Crabbie’s with whisky and its Edinburgh birthplace and to that end established the pilot Chain Pier distillery in Granton, three miles from Leith, in 2018.

is became the rst distillery to make malt whisky in the city since the closure of Glen Sciennes in 1925, and gave the team the chance to experiment on a small scale with a variety of recipes and cask types.

Bonnington Distillery

All along, however, the plan was to create a full-blown plant in Leith close to where Crabbie’s original Bonnington distillery had been situated, and a site in Graham Street was acquired. e whisky and ginmaking facility created there was duly christened Bonnington distillery.

e rst spirit owed from the pair of copper pot stills in March 2020, and the man charged with overseeing production is distillery manager Jamie Lockhart. “We hope to have our rst release out in about 14 months,” he declares.

“We have a young team of seven distillers and we’re doing 12 mashes per week, meaning we can make half a million litres of spirit per annum. at’s a big amount from a small site. We’re aiming for a style of whisky as it might have been in the time of John Crabbie, and each year we will make heavily peated spirit for two months.”

He explains that “We are at the point of playing around with what we get o the stills and see how it works in di erent woods,” and the on-site warehouse contains Pedro Ximinez and Oloroso sherry casks, and rum, port and Chateau Margeaux wine casks, as well as the more obvious ex-bourbon barrels.

Jamie notes that “We lled cask number 4,000 in October, which was sooner than we’d expected, and I’m very happy now with our ‘newmake.’ e red wine casks are working really well with the unpeated spirit and the port casks with peated spirit.”

For those keen to sample the whisky being made at Bonnington, a tasting room will be open by appointment in 2022, and eventually a visitor centre will be developed.

Master Blender

If Jamie Lockhart is the man tasked with ensuring a plentiful supply of high-quality spirit ows from Bonnington, the person whose responsibility it is to help re-establish the Crabbie’s brand of whisky is master blender Dr Kirstie McCallum.

She points out that: “We wanted more body than in a traditional Lowland single malt – between a Lowland and a Highland. e newmake spirit is quite sweet, with biscuit and honey notes.

“We’re doing more with special editions and limited releases, hopefully, four to six per year, to get something out there to show what Crabbie’s is about. We are an independent bottler, a er all, and I can play about, take whiskies and nish them in di erent casks and so on.

“One experiment we’ve done is to nish a Highland single malt from bourbon wood in a Ramandolo sweet white Italian wine cask. It’s a work in progress at the moment and I’m carefully monitoring it, but all being well, we’d hope to release it around June.”

Kirstie’s rst limited edition is a 22-year-old single malt from an undisclosed Orkney distillery that might just be Highland Park. A er initial maturation in bourbon wood, it has been nished for six months in a Palo Cortado sherry cask.

“We also have 10, 12 and 18-yer-old limited releases to come,” she notes, “with nishing taking place In Barolo and Tokaji dessert wine casks to name but two. And In January, to coincide with Burns’ Night, we’re launching a three-year-old matured in a virgin oak cask from the Chain Pier pilot distillery in Granton – the rst single malt distilled in Edinburgh to be bottled for around 100 years!”

e resurgence of Crabbie’s as a vibrant whisky brand and a return to distilling in its original home of Leith are very welcome aspects of Edinburgh’s ongoing whisky renaissance and de nitely worth raising a glass to!

Tasting Panel

Yardhead Single Malt – 40%abv - £26

Crabbie’s original premises were located at Yardheads in Leith, hence the name of this relatively youthful whisky from an unspeci ed Highland distillery. Ideal for mixing - try it in a Whisky Mac with Crabbie’s Alcoholic Ginger Beer. e nose o ers vanilla, lemon and light oak, with notes of to ee apple and toast, malt and spice on the palate.

Crabbie 12-year-old Speyside Single Malt – 40%abv – £32

Sourced from an undisclosed Speyside distillery, this bourbon caskmatured dram is a classic of its kind, with vanilla, nuts, spice and apple notes on the nose, while the palate is warming, with orchard fruits, cinnamon and vanilla.

Crabbie 22-year-old Orkney Single Malt - 47.5%abv - £TBA

is is a single cask bottling, nished in a Palo Cortado sherry cask, and the result is a delicious, rich, full-bodied whisky, featuring stewed fruits, spice and honey. Mildly smoky and savoury. John Crabbie was born in Edinburgh in December 1806, the son of an upholsterer, and went on to become one of the great pioneers of Scotch whisky blending and a highly respected member of the industry. e company of John Crabbie & Co o ered a variety of blended Scotches under ‘ e Celebrated Elephant Brand’ banner, due to the founder’s fascination with the creatures, and an elephant motif still features on every Crabbie’s bottle.