Diageo, has today announced that restoration work at its Brora
Distillery, has been completed.
Having closed in 1983, and following a three year restoration,
the 202 year old distillery marked its reawakening by filling its first cask.
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| Brora Master Distiller: Stewart Bowman |
Over the decades this small distillery lay silent, set amidst the dramatic Highland landscape of its remote Highland home of Sutherland on the North East coast of Scotland. But during this time, Brora became renowned for the exceptional quality and character of whisky maturing in its shuttered warehouses.
The process of restoration extended beyond the physical
buildings to the cherished Brora spirit that has made the distillery so
legendary. Using a combination of the tasting notes for the original new make
spirit, stills refurbished to exact historic specifications, material from the
archives and more modern distilling knowledge, the restorers managed to
replicate, as closely as possible, the way the distillery operated in 1983.
Viewed as one of the lost icons of the whisky world, the
distillery and whisky gained legendary status during its closed years. Historic
bottlings of Brora Single Malt Scotch Whisky found great acclaim amongst
collectors with a bottle of Brora 1972 Limited Edition 40-Year-Old sold as part
of Sotheby’s Ultimate Whisky Auction in 2019 for a distillery record of
£54,450.
Brora-local Master Distiller Stewart Bowman, son of the last
exciseman at Brora reopened the Brora wildcat gates and filled the first cask
of Brora spirit in more than 38 years, which was then rolled to Warehouse
Number One to mature.
Commenting on the news, Stewart Bowman, said: “We have gone
to every effort to replicate, as closely as possible, the conditions, equipment
and processes from Brora in 1983 in order to recreate the spirit for which the
distillery is famous. The original pair of Brora stills travelled 200 miles
across Scotland to Diageo Abercrombie Coppersmiths in Alloa where they were
refurbished by hand; we raised up the original pagoda roof to conduct intricate
repairs, and rebuilt the stillhouse brick-by-brick using original Brora stone
to restore this historic Victorian distillery.”
In 2017, Diageo announced that it would restore Brora as a
part of a £35 million investment to bring Brora and the equally iconic lost
distillery of Port Ellen on Islay back to life, as a major commitment to
Scotland and its communities.
Posted by Steve Rush