I recently went on a tour of Glen Scotia Distillery which has had a big revamp and it shows.  The distillery itself is quite compact which makes it easy to follow the process so makes this tour ideal for beginners and their are plenty of quirks for the certified anoraks like me.

While a lot of money has been spent on the premises you will not see a computer screen or digital read-out.  This is a hands-on manual distillery which now makes 500,000 litres of pure alcohol per year.

The technical stuff:

• Two types of whisky are made: unpeated and lightly peated.
• The barley is Concerto.
• The malting is done in Aberdeenshire
• The used peat for the lightly peated version is also from Aberdeen.
• The mill is one of the few non Porteus

• The mash tun is cast iron and out of a different era.

• Condensors – 9 x shell and tube (3 outside)

• The Cut – The heads are 78% to 71% with the heart at 71% to 63% and tail 63% to 1%.
• Wash Still – 1 x Plain (7500 litres)
• Spirit Still – 1 x Plain (8400 litres)

• All new make is filled in ex-Bourbon casks and some of that is finished in ex-PX casks for around 6 months.

With now 3 distilleries in Campebltown to visit it is now well worth the long and beautiful drive.