A Look at Scotch Whisky’s (Growing?) Coastal Style
I suppose it’s probably best to come clean right out of the gate and say, “Yes I was 1000% attempting for the title of this piece to make a play on the line from that popular Bruce Willis Christmas movie we know as Die Hard.” And yes, Die Hard is a Christmas movie in my book. But, for now, I digress back to the whisky.
Scotland has many whisky distilleries scattered throughout its 30k square miles of land. It should certainly be no surprise to most that some of the most noteworthy distilleries, both already well-established and newly-founded, are situated right on the country’s mostly craggy coastline. Where they soak up all that the mighty North Atlantic spray wants to bestow on them. And with the growing popularity and understanding of terroir within the spirit world, there’s a good reason these distilleries and their whisky stand apart from so many others built further into the mainland. So, what makes these whiskies so unique?
One of the best examples for one of these distilleries, Talisker, located on the Isle of Skye proudly uses its slogan “Made By The Sea.” It attracts thousands of visitors every year to tour and taste. Skye is a popular travel destination. With Talisker until recently being the only distillery on the island for nearly 200 years, it’s easy to imagine how popular those tours and tastings would become with those visiting. Add in its Diageo ownership, providing world-wide sales and availability, and you have the recipe for an extremely massive fanbase following the brand and all its special releases. The iconic and classic 10-year expression is a pure and next-to-perfect example of a maritime malt with a rich amount of salt and pepper spice and sweet citrus fruits, all under a healthy amount of peat-smoke and earth to tie it all together.
Let’s move further south, not too far from Talisker as the crow flies, but still about 3-3.5 hours away by car and ferry crossing. Here you’ll find the Ardnarmurchan Distillery, conveniently located on the Ardnamurchan Pensinsula in the town of Glenbeg. This distillery, though relatively new compared to Talisker’s 1830 founding, has already gained a massive cult-like status with enthusiasts since it began to release whisky in late-2020. The AD Small Batch series takes an interesting approach in that it is a marriage of both peated and unpeated spirits, separately matured in a combination of American oak ex-bourbon barrels and ex-sherry wine casks. The result is another salt and pepper, ocean-seasoned single malt with notes of dark citrus and hints of a sherry influenced funkiness akin to a number of the Campbeltown whiskies like Springbank, Killkerran, and Glen Scotia. For me, this is a whisky that just checks all of the right boxes between sweet, spice, and peat and can be a perfect bridge to the more heavily peated styles of whisky like those from Islay.
On the other side of the country, just outside of Speyside in the Northeast of Scotland, Glenglassaugh is now re-launching itself with brand new packaging and flavor profiles, all while shining a spotlight on the picturesque sea-side town of Portsoy. An updated tagline of “Coastal Single Malt Whisky” has proudly been added to the fresh makeover as well.
The brand’s website says, “There’s a place where the land meets the sea. Where the senses are awakened, and sweet air mingles with a crack of sea salt. Where luscious waves of tropical fruit are carried on an ocean breeze. Until they come to rest, in a place of perfect harmony.”
Having been lucky enough to stand on the roof of this distillery many years ago and look out over the bay, all the way over the North Sea, I am excited to see where this re-launch takes the brand and its whisky.
Of course, there are still plenty of coastal options. But there are too many worthy producers to mention when it comes to this brief ocean-inspired tour. Take nearly the entire island of Islay, for example, with its nine (and soon to be more) operating distilleries all located around a piece of ocean-locked land roughly the size of Chicago. Or other mainland-ish distilleries like Old Pulteney, Torabhaig, Isle of Raasay, and Tobermory that each have delicious offerings that bring in the brine. The list goes on and will almost certainly continue to grow as new distilleries are founded all over the country. There’s bound to be more distilleries seeking out some ocean-front property and the influence of the salt air and sea will shape their whisky, one wave and gust at a time.
So pour a glass, hang ten and enjoy the surf.
