Whiskeyindex - Auchroisk

Auchroisk

Scotland Banffshire - Highland - Speyside Mulben, Banffshire. Grampian Region - Highland. On the north side of the A95 between Keith and Aberlour.

Distillery: SINGLETON of AUCHROISH, The Singleton Auchroisk Distillery
Mulben, Banffshire AB55 3XS
Phone: +44 01542-860333
Fax: +44 01542-860265
International Distillers & Vintners Ltd.
Visitors are welcome by appointment on weekdays. (Call)

Founded: 1974

Owner: International distillers and Vintners

Producer: Justerini & Brooks.

More Info:
From Collins Pocket reference : Whisky
The Singleton of Auchroisk is one of the newest Scotch whisky distilleries. Auchroisk was built by The International Distillers and Vintners and is licensed to Justerini & Brooks. The Auchroisk Distillery building has won several awards including one from the Angling Foundation for not interfering with the progress of local salmon as they swim upriver.
The company has been marketing its single malt since 1987 but it is already a winner of twelve major awards.

From : The complete guide to Whiskey (By Jim Murray)
Auchroisk (Arth-rusk) - The aspect of the distillery is a curious hybrid of futurism and functionalism, with traditionalism in the shape of a small, useless turret thrown in for good measure.
Set amid manicured lawns, its presents a slightly sanitized figure.
Inside, however, the distillery shows little willingness to comply with the Victorian determination to save space and the feel is sumptuous. However, with the stainless-steel washbacks and eight bulbous, highly polished stills, you cannot help thinking that, if you are looking for a rich-textured, oily, heavy kind of malt, you have come to the wrong place.
Indeed, the malt is absolutely perfect blending whisky, its lightness ensuring that you can bulk up with it whithout any fear of disturbing the main characteristics provided by the distillaties from elsewhere. This posed a problem for IDV when they wanted to bottle it as a single malt. Frankly, it was too light. So their then blender, Jim Milne, hit upon the ingenious idea of allowing it to "round off" for 12 months in sherry cask.
The result was a heaviness and fruitiness that the original malt, maturing in ex-bourbon cask, came nowhere near matching. This was first launched, as a 12 years old in 1896 under the name "The Singleton of Auchroisk".
The idea of calling it the Singleton was to avoid putting people off with the name Auchroisk (pronounced "Arthrusk"). At the time one or two experts made a great son and dance about it, claiming in their drinks columns that is was one of the greatest malts ever.
Jim Murray did not see what all the fuss was about, and he still do not, even though it has won various awards. It is a soft, gentle dram, inclined these days towared an attractive spiciness in the finish and one now brought out as a 10 years old rather than in vintage bottlings. Even in this younger mode it is a fine, enjoyable malt, but not a classic. Its appeal is to those who enjoy a cherry-like dram, but Jim Murray think he prefer it natural, direct from bourbon cask where the undeniably sweet, crystal-clear waters of Dorrie's Well seem to hang on the lips. It was the discovery of this exceptional water source, vollowed by successful test runs at Glen Spey, which led to Justirini & Brooks buying the lands including the waters and the site on which the building of the distillery took place. And just as well they did.

From : Michael Jackson's Malt Whisky companion :
A designer whisky said the cynics when The Singleton was launcehd as a bottled malt in 1986. The brand name, seeking to imply a certain sigularity, was (and is) contrived, ostensibly because the producers felt that the name of the distillery, Auchroisk (pronounced "othroysk") was too difficult for the prospective consumer. In Gaelic it means "ford across the red stream", and lies on the Mulben burn, which flows into the Spey.
A spring, producing very soft water was the reason the site was chosen. The whisky is sweet, with a hint of aniseed, as evidenced by some Cadenhead bottlings from plain wood under the Auchroisk name.
Vintage such as The Singleton are released at more than 10 years, and at 12 plus, with a substantial degree of sherry ageing.

From : The Malt Whisky File : By Robin Tucek and John Lamond.
The Singleton of Auchroisk, to give the whisky its full name, is produced at the Aucheroisk distillery. That name being rather a mouthful, the company's own bottlings are marketed as "The Singleton".
Independent bottlings are under the name Auchroisk. The distillery is managed by Justirini & Brooks (Scotland) Ltd, a subsidiary of IDV, which is itself part of Grand Metropolitan. Eight stills.
Notes : A new distillery producing its first make in 1975. Despite being a modern complex, the buildings are in the Scots vernacular style and the distillery received a Saltire Awared (for aoutstanding architectural achievement in a traditional Scottish style).
Sherry Cask are used predominantly. Auchroisk is a showpiece distillery and has an old steam engine from Strathmill preserved in its entrance hall.

From : Malt Whisky - A contemporary guide : Bu Graham Moore
As is the case with most of the century's new distilleries Auchroisk was built to satisfy a need for malt whisky for blending, and in particular the needs of the International distillers & Vintnes Group (IDV), and it is an important cog in the machinery which produces J & B Rare. However, many of the new distilleries bottle single malts which are more than a match for those from some of their much longer-established competitors, and Auchroisk is the best example of this phenomenon.
The distillery is striking in appearance and its hill-top site is visible from Rothes. It was built in 1973 to a design by Westminster Desigh Associates, and from the air looks like a very elaborate model.
The key to its location is Dorie's Well, a source of pure spring water previously untapped by distillers due to its pasition halfway down a deep gully.
Today, the well is protected inside a small stone building and it is surprising how such a tiny spring can supply egough water for a distillery whith an annual production of over 1,5 million proof gallons.
Auchroisk commenced distilling in January 1974. It is a spacious distilley, perhaps built a little larger than absolutely necessary, but then this allows for future expansion and provides for a relaxed working environment. It is also extremely clean, a fact which prompted one visitor to comment to the effect that you could eat a meal off the stillhouse floor. Ever since, large visiting groups have been entertained there with a buffet laid out in the open area between the two banks of stills!
All four of IDV's distilleries use stills of similar design and Auchroisk's four pairs are larger-sized replicas of those at Glen Spey. Other than the stills themselves, all the process equipment is stainless steel.
The lauter tun produces a wort which generates less lather in fermentation so the washbacks need no switchers. The distillery consumes 230 tons of lightly peated malt every week.
Auchroisk's prime claim to fame is The Singleton. The name comes from an expression used by whisky brokers earlier this century. If a broker had only one cask of a special malt whisky in stock, he would describe it as being 'a singleton'. It also has the advantage of being easier to say than the name of the distillery, which is one of those Gaelic-derived words whose appearance bears little resemblance to its pronunciation.
Introduced in 1987, The Singleton had won eight major awards by 1992, the year in which it also became the Malt Whisky Association's number one seller. A substantial part of the malt spends its final year or so prior to bottling in sherry butts, a method which gives the spirit body and completeness whitout letting the sherry dominate. The distillers make much of the whisky's smoothness, and well they might. Through the smoke, fruit and hint of mint, comes the unmistakable feel of Dorie's silky water.

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