Our In Focus series offers you a deep dive into some of the distilleries featured across our store. This instalment comes courtesy of Geraldo's Whisky Ambassador, James Gillies.
After a wait of eight years, we’re delighted that our closest distillery is now in full production and, therefore, we take an in-focus look at Ardgowan Distillery.
Following on from the first cask being filled on 17th June, and the official opening of the distillery on the 20th, Visitor Centre Manager, Barbara Campbell, is now offering guided walkthroughs of the ‘Cathedral of Whisky’ and warehouse, running twice per day [at 10:30 and 14:00] on Tuesday – Saturday.
Built with a commitment to sustainability, this ultra-modern distillery is moving towards achieving Net Zero production by introducing cutting-edge solutions such as Methanation and TVR (Thermal Vapour Recompression).
The six stainless-steel washbacks are enclosed for precise temperature control and for the capture of CO2, which when combined with green Hydrogen, creates biomethane – thereby not only reducing harmful emissions, but actually resulting in a beneficial byproduct.
The wash still employs TVR, which recovers the heat from the low-wines vapour, passes it through a steam ejector (to recompress it) and re-uses it to heat the still.
The stills have been named for some key figures in Ardgowan’s history and present. The wash still has been named “Octavia”, after the famous Lady Octavia whom married the 7th Baronet of Ardgowan in 1852, and the spirit still is named “Sarah”, after the CEO’s daughter.
Post-distillation, much of the new-make is filled into a new cask category, the Infinity Cask, which [just] meets the Scotch Whisky Regulations stipulation that the oak cask must have a capacity not exceeding 700 litres. These enormous casks, created exclusively by Bodegas Miguel Martín, are sourced from forests in Galicia, air-dried for two years, and following toasting, are soaked with organic Oloroso or Pedro Ximénez sherry for between twenty-seven months to three years at coastal warehouses in Sanlúcar de Barrameda.
These Infinity Casks are designed for ultra-long maturation of 18+ years, so the distillery is also filling sherry-seasoned hogsheads, which will allow them to release their future single malt without having to wait for eighteen years [phew!]
As the much-anticipated Ardgowan Single Malt will be sherry-led, whilst we wait, Distillery Manager, Laura Davies, has added a batch of 12-year-old sherry-forward single malts to the Clydebuilt series.
If you’re interested in the new Clydebuilt single malts, the original Clydebuilt blended malts or the 15-year-old single grain, please take a look at our Ardgowan Distillery page here.
