July 2010,

Certainly the main news is that Chapter 9 is now bottled and for sale. We have made sure this time that we have plenty of stock for sale; I wouldn’t want to be accused of  not learning from our mistakes. Chapter 9 is a lightly peated single malt that should appeal to most whisky drinkers. Those of you who thrive on the heaviest Islay peat levels will find it perhaps a little low on phenols (not so smokey ) but the objective was to create a whisky that appealed to lots of whisky drinkers not just the few. For those of you who have no idea what I am going on about – peated whisky is a bit like marmite, either you will love it or loathe it. So far  all who have tasted it have been quite impressed. So much so that at the Newcastle Whisky show, with the full array of Scottish competition – we ended up being the biggest seller on the day. I have to say that David (our head distiller) and I are quite proud of this.

If your local stockist says he can’t get any of our products because it is out of stock -  his info is out of date,  if any of you have the time, I’d be delighted if you could inform your whisky supplier that he can now get a consistent supply of stock. Also if you can’t find a stockist near you let us know and we will see what we can do about it.

Other news:
After a break in distilling to get the Chapter 9 & 6 bottled up, we have turned the stills back on. Both distillers are looking a little warm, it has been touching 30deg here and that combined with the stills going makes for a toasty workplace! It is still lovely to be distilling again though; the building has a lovely aroma wafting through it which it should have and certainly adds a dimension to the tours.

I am constantly asked when is the best time to tour the distillery and am constantly stuck for advice. To visit on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday will ensure you find the stills running, this is great if not a little warm. The downside is that everything is hot, so you can’t look inside the stills and mash tun etc. The other days are non-distilling days and whilst you miss the stills running, it does afford you the opportunity to really see in depth how the kit works. So down to you.

A  heads up from me: keep an eye on the website, as later this year we will bottle some single cask whiskies. I am thinking a Rum cask and maybe a Sherry cask. I don’t know the exact dates yet – hence I suggest a regular look at the website.

Thats all for now. I hope you have some lovely summer holidays and that a few of you will take the time to come and visit us.

Andrew