The Garioch (readers of Scottish Field will know that this is pronounced ‘Geery’) is the tract of arable land, 150 square miles in size, beginning 18 miles north-west of Aberdeen and stretching north west to Strathbogie. Rolling, fertile country, it used to be known as ‘the granary of Aberdeenshire’ – even by the 1790s ‘a considerable quantity of grain [was] sent each year from this parish to the Aberdeen market’ – and is well supplied with springs and burns. In other words, perfect whisky country. The oldest distillery in the district is Glengarioch, at Oldmeldrum – curiously, the distillery is ‘Glengarioch’ and its make ‘Glen Garioch’, while ‘Oldmeldrum’ used to be ‘Old Meldrum’ – tucked away on the edge of the town with the narrow public road running through it.

A charming, old-fashioned distillery, it was founded before 1794, and is thus one the oldest operating distilleries in Scotland. The founder was a local worthy, John Manson, and it remained in his family for 90 years. His grandson, Sir Patrick ‘Mosquito’ Manson F.R.S., is recognised as ‘The Father of Tropical Medicine’ and was the first person to make a connection between mosquitos and malaria. In the 1880s ownership went to a Leith firm of wine and spirits merchants, soon joined by the influential blender William Sanderson, creator of VAT 69. Thereafter much of the make from Glengarioch went into the Sanderson whiskies, including S.V.G. (Specially Vatted Glengarioch), O.B.G. (Old Best Glengarioch), O.M. (Oldest Malts), P.M. and A.M. (for drinking before and after lunch). Mr Sanderson was keen on acronyms.

Trading

Difficult trading times during the 1920s led to Sanderson’s combining with Booth’s, the wellknown gin distillers, and then both joining the mighty Distillers Company Limited (DCL) on April Fool’s Day 1937. During World War II, production was at a greatly reduced level (ceasing altogether in 1941) and troops were billeted in the spacious malt barns.

Surprisingly, there were no incidences of pilfering whisky! The DCL was never happy about Glengarioch’s production levels, arising from a shortage of process water, so in 1968 the old distillery was mothballed, and two years later it was sold to the Glasgow whisky broker (and owner of Bowmore Distillery) Stanley P. Morrison for £150,000. Joe Hughes was appointed manager with instructions to ‘find another water source’. He approached a neighbouring farmer, and together with Alec ‘Digger’ Grant, who owned a JCB, they found what came to be called the ‘silent spring of Coutens Farm’. ‘It could neither be seen or heard, but it flowed in sufficient abundance to increase production ten-fold. DCL’s reaction when they heard the news may be imagined’, remarked Alec Grant’s son, Kenny, who now manages the distillery.

Glendronach Distillery

North of Oldmeldrum, towards Fyvie, is the discreet valley of Forgue, and here stands Glendronach Distillery, overlooked by the handsome 18th century mansion of Boynsmill, now named Glen House. In 1826 the owner of the house, James Allardes or Allardyce, built the distillery. He was a plain-spoken farmer, famous for his sense of humour and popular among the local gentry. Once, after dining at Gordon Castle and somewhat the worse for drink, he was over-effusive in his praise of the Duchess of Gordon’s piano playing. Next day the Duke informed him that Her Grace was not amused, to which he replied: ‘Well, it was just that trash of Glenlivet you gave me that did not agree wi’me. If it had been my ain guid Glendronach, I would have not been ony the warr’. The distillery was almost destroyed by fire in 1837, and poor Allardyce was declared bankrupt. He died soon after, shunned by his former friends.

The distillery changed hands and was rebuilt; most of the existing buildings date from this period, which gives Glendronach considerable period charm and architectural coherence – only slightly spoiled by the new still-house, added during the 1960s. Whisky making here is also very traditional. The distillery still has its own maltings, although they have not been used since 1996; it employs an old-fashioned cast-iron rake-andplough mash tun with a copper dome; until 2005 the stills were direct fired by coal, the last distillery in Scotland to do this. By 1920, when Glendronach was bought by Captain Charles Grant, son of the founder of Glenfiddich Distillery, it was described by a local newspaper as: ‘One of the oldest business enterprises of the kind in the North of Scotland, and its product has enjoyed for many years an exceedingly high reputation, both in this country and abroad’. According to tradition this reputation was fostered by London Society, to which Allardyce had been introduced by the Duke of Gordon, but it was begun among the ‘ladies of the night’ in Edinburgh…

Garioch Distillery

It was Glasgow, not Edinburgh, that made the product of our third Garioch distillery famous, and it was as the key component of a blend, rather than as a single malt – indeed, it was only bottled occasionally by its owner until 2007. The blend was Teacher’s Highland Cream, the distillery Ardmore at Kennethmount, 18 miles due west of Oldmeldrum. It was built in 1897/98 by Adam Teacher, son of the founder of the company, and was the family’s fi rst venture into distilling (they would later buy Glendronach Distillery). Like the other distilleries in The Garioch,Ardmore is traditional in its methods. The stills were only converted to indirect fi ring, by steamheated coils and pans, rather than directly by coal, in 2002, and it operated its own maltings until 1976. Uniquely among Highland distilleries, Ardmore specifi es a high level of peating in its malt, with the result that the whisky itself is distinctly smoky – indeed it is easy to mistake for an Islay malt in a blind tasting. Teacher’s Highland Cream was the fi rst whisky to use a replaceable, stopper cork, rather than a driven cork (as used in wine bottles).

Now universal, this clever device was invented by Adam Teacher’s nephew, William Manera Bergius, in 1913. The fi rm advertised under the slogan ‘Bury the Corkscrew’, and Highland Cream was described as ‘The Self-Opening Bottle (Patented)’! Both the brand and the distillery are now owned by the American company Beam Global (owner of Jim Beam bourbon), but the company’s Director of Scotch, Douglas Reid, whose father worked at Ardmore for many years and who was raised in one of the distillery cottages, pursues a policy ‘that provides continuity and builds on local knowledge, skill and experience gained over many years and generations’.

How wise! Indeed, thinking about what unites these Aberdeenshire distilleries, I was impressed by the fact that all have this sense of historical continuity, many of the people working there are following in the footsteps of their fathers, uncles, grandfathers; all play a central role in their communities. And all make very good malt whisky!

FIELD FACTS

Glen Garioch Distillery Visitor Centre, Inverurie, Aberdeenshire AB51 0ES. Open Mon-Fri 10am-3.30pm Tel: 01651 873 450 www. glengarioch.co.uk