The Glenlivet is a place of whisky legend: the most perfect secluded Scottish glen for the distillation of illegal whisky for centuries before the whole operation legitimised in 1823-4.
Stories abound of wily excise men pitted against cunning men and women distillers who traded wits in the pursuit of their individual goals related to the illegal distillate. These legends have been told and retold in towns and villages around Speyside, and have been told the world over for as long as the Scotch industry has had brand ambassadors travelling the globe touting their specific unique combination of purest water, barley, yeast, pure air, and slow time.
Such is the repetition of these stories that every whisky distillery tour will inevitably cover illicit distilling; most will have a replica of an illicit still getting dusty in the corner, or polished up in the shop. It’s so ubiquitous that it could be added to a distillery tour bingo card. It’s such an overused trope that it is easy to roll one’s eyes and forget about it, consigned to the mental rubbish bin along with most of the other tour guide mistruths and mistakes. However, as usual: all good stories are based on truth.
The National Trust has commissioned research on illicit distilling across its properties around Scotland and have discovered evidence far beyond Speyside including Angus and Aberdeenshire. There have been many archeological explorations of small stoney scrapes which are supposed to be the site of illicit stills, and have found some old artifacts of those stills that remain in their collection. Perhaps most exciting about these investigations is that the forgotten roots of whisky production can be experienced to this day juxtaposed against the huge scale of The Glenlivet distilling factory down the hill.
On a recent trip to Speyside organised and hosted by East Coast Whisky there were many incredible experiences, which I am beginning to find some time to write about. A particular highlight was a tour run by Glenlivet Hill Trek, which took their incredible Illicit Whisky Tour and injected a little extra East Coast Whisky magic. The trip really captured the mystery and intrigue of the bygone era, whilst also delivering spades of authenticity and integrity. This was not Disney or “See-you-Jimmy” but really a deeply touching and emotional connection with the old times.
Our whisky adventure began when we were collected from our hotel in Land Rover Defenders and made our way slowly south towards Aberlour. We had a brief interlude due to the inevitable about turn to pick-up two bleary eyed stragglers we had left behind (sorry John and Paul), one of the hazards of an early start on a Sunday morning.
Once at the full complement, we headed for a drive around the humongous modern Glenlivet distilleries site to see for ourselves the scale of what became of the most iconic name in Scotch, so iconic that many local distilleries claimed it for their hyphenated-own. We nipped around the back and saw the second distillery built very much as a factory, with virtually no architectural merit, whose additional production brings the entire complex to 21,000,000 litres of alcohol per year. After this modern monster, it was very much back in time from there.
We continued down the hill in our convoy of Land Rovers to the old packhorse bridge, a real tourist attraction built around the time that local Blairfindy Castle was constructed in 1586. Two spans remain of the original bridge. Our first dram was tasted here – a soft gentle Glenlivet 12, 40% and coloured and chill filtered, it was remarkably fruity and a fair hair-of-the-dog at 10:45 AM. From there we headed up and over the hill to view Glenlivet distillery from above, before heading to a genuine Illicit still site.
The illicit still site was by far the highlight for me. Accessed from the road along a rough track, it was built into the gently sloping hillside of the valley approximately 200m from the river. The site, discovered in the 1960s by a ploughman, is now a scheduled ancient monument and protected by law.
You can still get in about the overgrown site and get a sense for the location. In the 1800s, when the still may have been built, the site could have been better concealed by woodland or shrub. There is also speculation that grain drying and storage within the souterrain structure pre-existed the illicit still, and may date as far back as the iron age. The site itself highlights how much of the old world of illicit whisky distillation is still shrouded in mystery, and that anyone speaking with authority on it is relying on quite bit of speculation.
Participants on our tour got a deep sense of place, imagining our forbears skulking about on the hillside, preparing the still, concealing the smoke from the fire, and slowly distilling the usquebae. We listened to the sound of the hills, felt the crisp morning air, and imagined times past and people forgotten.
It seems certain that the spirit was drunk largely unaged, as the idea of storing the whisky would create far too great a risk of discovery. Small casks were probably used for smuggling and would have added a little flavour, depending on the length of time the whisky was there. But very well aged whisky is a fairly modern phenomenon. It was not until 1915 that whisky was required to age for two years, later three.
At this point in the tour, we shared a dram of the Glenlivet Illicit Still release, now discontinued, it was richer and more punchy than the 12, and was just enough to keep the wolf from the door, having had an indulgent evening the night before. Taking in the overall landscape via this tour was enhanced by the incredible display of Fall colours on the ancient woodland that forms a patchwork around the hillsides.
We headed next to the original Glenlivet distillery, discovered and excavated in a collaboration between the National Trust for Scotland and The Glenlivet. This was the exact site of the farm which George Smith converted to a distillery in 1824, following the passing of the 1823 Excise Act. Only the floor and low walls exist, but the site of the stills can be seen along with some pits that may have housed washbacks within the building. Standing next to this unassuming site covered with protective tarpaulin looking down toward the “new” and “newer still” distilleries on the hillside below, it is fascinating to consider how much whisky production has evolved in 200 years. It’s hard to imagine the site 199 years ago, but the babbling brook (the original, original Glenlivet water source) and the apricity of the autumnal morning gave the most romantic sense of times gone by. Perhaps we missed the harsh reality of life evolving from subsistence living into modern profitable business footing. I clambered over a stile and down to that Glenlivet burn to gather a few authentic water samples to dilute our whisky later in the day.
An almost reverent mood had fallen on the whisky enthusiasts of the group; I sensed a reluctance to step away from the site. We got back into the Land Rovers to continue over to a distant bothy for another dram or three. A bumpy cross-country drive took us slightly higher into the hill and offered incredible views of the glen.
The bothy itself, a tiny rubble building – artfully and craftily extended using the wood from a scrapped washback – had something of the feel of Scott’s hut at Cape Evans. In the winter, that feeling would be unshakable. The upturned floor of the washback had creatively been converted to a decking area. Inside the bothy was the paraphernalia of whisky making and local historic curios which would appear twee inside a £30m distillery visitor centre… but in the bothy on the hillside, there was a fitting synergy between construction and contents.
I can imagine real warmth to be found here on a dreich day. For our visit, however, we were blessed with sun, and drams were enjoyed taking in the view. The East Coast Whisky magic here was additional whisky to taste over and above those standard drams offered on the Glenlivet Hill Trek tour. We tasted an incredible single distillery blend of all of the bottle ends from four years of outstanding tastings, along with two incredible vintage Glenlivet whiskies that tasted of another time. The flavours mingled with the thoughts of times gone by and the sensory experience of the tour.
From the rustic charm of the hillside whisky bothy we were transported in the Land Rovers by our guides to the nearbyDowan’s Hotel in Aberlour for a refined lunch, sharing our thoughts on the morning adventures whilst overlooking the beauty of the Speyside woodland in full fall colours. An added bonus was selecting drams from the generously stocked whisky menu. Although this trip was resoundingly about the whisky, the experience was enhanced by the company.
Typically with the drams from the trip I have chosen not to score or give detailed notes, as too many environmental factors could influence the score during these experiences. To conclude this article, I have selected an independent bottling of Glenlivet, something that is fairly rare, but which is presented by Signatory Vintage at a higher bottling strength, without chill filtration and natural colour.
Signatory Vintage Glenlivet 14 Years Old (2006) – Review
1st Fill Sherry Butt. Cask 901279. Distilled 12/12/2006, bottled 26/04/2021. 62.6% ABV.
Colour: Copper.
On the nose: Fruity initially, bright punchy spirit, prunes, raisins, dates, and Christmas spices, toffee, caramel cups, ripe apple and baked pears, spun sugar.
On the palate: Thick spicy spirit, sweet rum baba, falling away to a more savoury spice drawer, woody notes, cocoa nibs, with water HP sauce, soy, chipotle chilli and dark chocolate. Sticky toffee sauce. The spice and pepper continue into the finish with pipe tobacco.
Conclusions:
This took lots of water to tame, and not too much more to wash out. It might be a good reason that standard official releases are kept down as low as 40%. The cask is interesting and offers layers of flavour and read depth better than average.
Score: 6/10
