When I booked the tour and tasting at Inchgower distillery as part of the Spirit of Speyside 2025, I was envisaging cycling over on a relaxed balmy summer day then after a pleasant visit, cruising along the coast to Cullen to lie back on the beach and enjoy the waves. However this is Scotland so I was in fact very lucky to escape without getting wet. It rained all morning and it was cold and windy up on the hill. Despite initial misgivings it was a great day oot and shows that you shouldn’t always listen to the voice saying to stay in bed.
Inchgower is on the edge of Buckie, beside the A98. I’ve driven past it frequently so it was cool to have a chance to see inside, especially since it is usually not open to the rabble. They produce 2 to 3 million litres a year on about 18 mashes a week, so it’s a pretty big operation.
It began in 1871 after the move from Tochieneal, where the tasty waters of the Burn of Deskford supplied the original ingredient. The Seafield estate had put up the rent so the owner moved operations to Buckie, where the water comes from the Menduff Hills and the cooling water from the Burn of Buckie! The original distillery is still there, derelict and forlorn, just past Lintmill. It was interesting to see a copper pot and an old clock (made locally in Portsoy) that had made the journey over from Tochieneal.
Manager Gary gave us a quick introductory talk then we went off to climb to the top of the malt hoppers for a wonderful view of the distillery one way and Buckie the other, with the sea beyond. We then toured the distillery seeing the mill which is reputed to be the oldest owned by Diageo. The stills looked prety old too and two of them will be replaced this year! Afterwards we moved on to the real attraction of the day, a guided tasting in a storehouse, run by Dave from Dalwhinnie.
We first tried a 14 year old Inchgower single malt from bourbon casks, which lived up to the hype of being complex taste. Our second dram was a 15 year old unreleased Inchgower, also bourbon casked, which was even a little more complex! Then we were fortunate enough to have a 28 year old sherry casked unreleased Inchgower whihc was DAMN NICE at 53.7%, very smooth. The last of the four drams was a 35 year old Inchgower, which I have to say tasted a bit strange to my uneducated palate. I liked the 28 year old the best!
Then with the power of these four whiskies and the happiness which comes from meeting nice people doing good things, I cycled home – up the enormous blooming hill 🙂
My drink of choice when I got home? A Lagavulin 8.