Silent Scotch Whisky Stills Coming Back to Life (Episode 663: October 15, 2017)

Christmas came a couple of months early for some Scotch Whisky lovers with word that the iconic Port Ellen, Brora, and Rosebank distilleries will be reopened over the next couple of years. Diageo will invest $46 million to bring Port Ellen and Brora back to life, while Ian Macleod Distillers has acquired not only the old Rosebank site, but the rights to the Rosebank name and its remaining whisky inventory. We’ll talk with Diageo’s Dr. Nick Morgan and Gordon Doctor of Ian Macleod about the work that’s ahead before the spirit starts flowing from the stills. Scott Watson of The Lost Distillery Company has been reviving historic distillery legacies in Scotland for the last decade, with extensive research to recreate the whiskies those long-lost distilleries might be making today, and he’ll share some of that process with us as well. In the news, Heaven Hill completes a massive $25 million expansion at its Bernheim Distillery, while a Sonoma County craft distiller has managed to dodge the Northern California wildfires so far. We’ll also have the week’s tasting notes and some of your ideas on which heritage distillery should be revived next.

Links: Diageo | The Lost Distillery Company | Ian Macleod Distillers | Chateau Montelena | Sonoma County Distilling Company | Heaven Hill | Scotch Whisky Association | The Whisky Bible | Glen Grant | Douglas Laing & Co. | Michter’s | Yellowstone Bourbon | Sugarlands Distilling | Sagamore Spirit | Wiser’s | The Way of Whisky: A Journey Around Japanese Whisky | Victoria Whisky Festival | Classic Malts