Dalmunach is one of Scotland’s newest, largest, and more innovative distilleries. But before we delve in too deeply, let’s set the scene and appreciate the contrast…
If you’ve been fortunate enough to visit one of Scotland’s older distilleries – say the likes of Strathisla, Glenkinchie, Ardbeg, Cragganmore, or Cardhu – then you’ve caught a classic glimpse of the Scotch whisky industry’s traditional distillery. With their old, romantic 19th century buildings and quaint (but dormant) kilns and pagodas, these are the distilleries that are typically captured and displayed in whisky’s current literature and promoted by the brand ambassadors.
The common thread that weaves through these distilleries is that they have been renovated, refurbished, and re-worked over the years to accommodate production capacity expansions, and also to keep up with modern distillation techniques and – in many cases – to be brought into line with current work, health, and safety standards! As such, they can be a hotch-potch of disjointed buildings and re-purposed structures. Strathisla and Dalmore are both two good examples.
In stark comparison then, what of the all-new, purpose built, modern and state-of-the-art super distillery? Diageo started the ball rolling with Roseisle in 2009, and Pernod Ricard have followed suit with their own jewel in the crown: Dalmunach.
Commencing production in late 2014, Dalmunach was built on the site of the old Imperial distillery in Speyside. In fact, the Imperial distillery buildings were demolished to make way for the new undertaking. Speaking with Chivas Bros staff, there was evidently no love lost for Imperial. The distillery had been closed/mothballed for long durations in its history, and its spirit was oft-maligned.
Much like Roseisle, it’s unlikely that Dalmunach will feature as a brand or be seen in large quantities as a single malt. Rather, its purpose and function is far more mundane: To produce bulk quantities of good spirit for blending. Pernod Ricard is justly famed for its hugely-selling Chivas and Ballantines blends, but it also produces many other blends that sell in large quantities in various markets around the world. Examples include 100 Pipers, Clan Campbell, and Passport Scotch. With only 13 malt distilleries in its portfolio, Dalmunach will play a large role in ensuring Pernod Ricard has enough malt to meet its blending requirements.
When all is said and done, all of Scotland’s distilleries – regardless of their age, size, and the buildings that house them – feature the same production equipment: There’s a mill, a mashtun, some washbacks, some stills, and the spirits receivers. So what is it about Dalmunach that is worth our attention?
The first aspect is its sheer scale. Dalmunach boasts a maximum annual production capacity of 10M litres. For context and comparison, that’s roughly three times the size of well-known distilleries such as Laphroaig or Talisker, and four times that of Lagavulin! But the important item to appreciate is that this is all housed in one purpose-built facility. Glenlivet and Glenfiddich may boast higher production capacities (21.5M and 13.7M respectively), but these days those distilleries are cheating – they actually have several separately-housed stillhouses operating independently on the one site. (In fact, Glenlivet’s latest expansion actually features an entirely separate facility operating on the other side of the road from the main distillery).
The second aspect is its efficiency – in terms of energy, heat conversion, water usage, and also its physical layout. Producing malt whisky is an expensive enough exercise as it is, but Dalmunach utilises the latest and greatest techniques and technologies to reduce operating costs.
The third aspect is perhaps the most impressive: Despite all of the above, it’s an attractive and aesthetically pleasing facility that subtly and uniquely fits in beautifully to its environment and surrounds. It’s located immediately adjacent to the River Spey, but sits comfortably within the trees and back from the banks. And, on that note, let’s dive in and explore what’s actually going on…
In planning the distillery, one of the more liberating aspects for Chivas Brothers is that they had a clean slate. “Being a new distillery, we didn’t have to replicate a particular style or live up to pre-conceived notions,” explains Ian Logan, International Brand Ambassador for Chivas Brothers. (Compare this to the challenge that Diageo currently faces as they try to resurrect both Port Ellen and Brora).
Production starts with a six-roll Buhler mill. The grist is transferred to the 13 tonne full lauter mashtun which takes just a mere four hours to complete the mash. (For comparison, Glenfarclas’ 16.5 tonne mashtun takes 11 hours to complete a mash, and Glenfiddich’s three 11.2 tonne mashtuns each take six hours to complete their task).
There are 16 stainless steel washbacks housed in the tunroom wing, each with a capacity of 59,500 litres (although charged to 56,000 litres). Each washback receives 320 litres of yeast to kickstart fermentation, which takes between 56 and 62 hours. One washback will supply two charges of the wash still, so – in a welcome contrast to many distilleries – it’s not the brewing that’s the bottleneck in production.
Once at the stillhouse, both the wash and spirit stills (arranged in four pairs around a central spirit safe – see the feature photo at the top) take 7.5 hours for their still runs. Again, showing modern planning and thinking, it’s no accident that the wash and spirit stills work to the same time frame – they’re optimised and synchronised for batch in / batch out. The wash still is charged to 28,000 litres (making it the largest on Speyside, slightly eclipsing Glenfarclas’ long-held record); and the spirit still is charged to 18,000 litres. The final spirit cut collected from each run is 3,500-4,000 litres.
Having been operational now for over four years, Dalmunach’s earliest spirit is now legally able to be called whisky. For all we know, some of it may already have found its way into a young, NAS blend? With time, interest will no doubt grow as to how it tastes as a single malt, and perhaps – once the spirit is around 10 years old or so – we might one day be privileged to taste and discover, should either an official or independent expression be released. If the spirit is as equally matched to the distillery’s beauty and functionality, then it will be one very good whisky.
Cheers,
AD
A nice article, Andrew, but I think Chivas are a bit too dismissive of Imperial, which I visited in 1986 when doing my rewrite of the Alfred Barnard classic. Anyone interested in Imperial can find out more at http://www.mywhiskyjourneys/collections/ghost-distilleries/Imperial. It really was a very serious operation into which much money had been poured and the whisky was bottled as a single malt for a time by its then owners. Let’s hope Dalmunach has a happier history.