As a cask comes to maturity, Finn curates sampling sessions in interesting and relaxing environments, with friends, whisky experts and trusted partners to discover the personality of each cask and gauge the experience each dram evokes.
All the best distillers pride themselves on crafting whisky with a distinctive flavour, which is determined by the water source, grain and barley, the peat and malting, and their distilling processes. High quality original spirit is integral to every cask we bottle.
The cask itself interacts with the whisky over time. The type of wood plays a big role, as do treatments such as the whiskies are aged in a variety of types of casks. The whiskies are aged in former sherry or bourbon casks, augmenting the cask influence. External conditions such as air temperature, pressure and humidity also interact with the cask producing a knock-on effect that makes the spirit inside unique.
Finn uses these factors to balance each FT whisky experience. He may sample a cask and decide to leave it on the rack, allowing age to further develop its personality. He might decide to re-rack a whisky in a new cask to add a finishing touch. Or, he might simply deem it ready. When Finn decides the flavour is perfectly balanced, it’s time to bottle the whisky.
Less than two miles away from where my ancestors were producing whisky at Grandtully Distillery,
the Pitilie Distillery, on the outskirts of Aberfeldy, was using water from the very same
hillside to create their own style of malt as long ago as 1825. The late 1800s saw the eventual
closure of both Grandtully and Pitilie distilleries - the liquid being lost to time but the stories
living on. With my own family’s roots so ingrained in the Perthshire region, it is always special for me to
bottle a cask produced from one of the wonderful distilleries in the area. Famed for its fruity and
sweet spirit, Aberfeldy distillery produces the modern day ‘Pitilie’ single malt in tribute to the
eponymous burn that is the water source for the distillery.
Famed for its sweet, honeyed style, Aberfeldy distillery produces the modern day ‘Pitilie’ single malt in tribute to the eponymous burn that is the water source for the distillery.
The natural apple character of the Aberfeldy spirit provided an idea for re-racking that would
emphasise those already present orchard fruit notes. A Calvados cask - elevating the apple notes
to new levels.
This is apple juice for adults and a wonderfully fun example of the joys that cask
finishing can bring.
Less than two miles away from where my ancestors were producing whisky at Grandtully Distillery,
the Pitilie Distillery, on the outskirts of Aberfeldy, was using water from the very same
hillside to create their own style of malt as long ago as 1825. The late 1800s saw the eventual
closure of both Grandtully and Pitilie distilleries - the liquid being lost to time but the stories
living on. With my own family’s roots so ingrained in the Perthshire region, it is always special for me to
bottle a cask produced from one of the wonderful distilleries in the area. Famed for its fruity and
sweet spirit, Aberfeldy distillery produces the modern day ‘Pitilie’ single malt in tribute to the
eponymous burn that is the water source for the distillery.
Famed for its sweet, honeyed style, Aberfeldy distillery produces the modern day ‘Pitilie’ single malt in tribute to the eponymous burn that is the water source for the distillery.
The natural apple character of the Aberfeldy spirit provided an idea for re-racking that would
emphasise those already present orchard fruit notes. A Calvados cask - elevating the apple notes
to new levels.
This is apple juice for adults and a wonderfully fun example of the joys that cask
finishing can bring.