8 DOORS DISTILLERY

JOHN O’GROATS, HIGHLANDS

Our name is inspired by the legend surrounding Jan De Groot - the man
that John O’Groats takes it’s name from. In particular the house he built
on the site which is now marked by a mound near the John O’Groats
house hotel, a short distance from our distillery.
Jan De Groot, the Dutchman from which John O’Groats takes its name,
came to the area during the reign of James IV. He ran the ferry from the
Scottish mainland to Orkney for the price of one Groat (around 2p). He had
seven sons and legend has it that they were arguing about who should sit at
the head of the table during family gatherings.
To avoid family conflict Jan built an octagonal house with each of the eight
sides having a separate door and window, one for each of his sons and
himself. Each door led to the centre of the house where there was an eight
sided table. As no one person could occupy the head of the table this
stopped the arguments and gave us a great name for our distillery!
Billed as mainland Scotland’s most northerly distillery, 8 Doors is building a
distillery, visitor centre and warehouse in John O’Groats, which is due to
open in 2021. They plan to create whiskies from the very edge of Scotland
that reflect their location and the local climate.

Why John O’Groats?

The owners can’t think of anywhere better than John O’Groats to make
whisky, partly thanks to the climate which is perfect for whisky maturation
and also the great people who live in and visit the area.

John O’Groats is the most northerly settlement on the UK mainland and will
soon lay claim to hosting the most northerly distillery too. Famous as part of
the Land’s End to John O’Groats iconic 874 mile journey through the length
of the UK, it is a small coastal village with panoramic views across the
Pentland Firth.

Key Personnel

John Ramsay, the whisky creator. John has a huge legacy in Scotch Whisky
having worked in the industry for over 40 years. The owners are delighted to
be working with and learning from such an expert to produce the first whisky
from 8 Doors Distillery.
The idea of working with a small, independent distillery that’s focussing on
maturation as much as distillation really appealed to John and he’s sharing
his wealth of knowledge with the rest as the 874 Club launch products are
brought to life.

Ian Evans, Distilled Experience Ltd. Ian has a wealth of experience in Scotch
Whisky having worked for William Grant and Sons for 15 years. Ian’s
experience in designing and building new distilleries has been invaluable
consultancy as we work towards launch in 2021.

Ian’s 40+ years in the drinks industry and 15 years as Operations

Development and Quality Director, and then Distilleries Strategic
Development Manager for William Grant and Sons brings a breadth of
additional knowledge and experience to the team. They’re excited to be
working with someone whose all-encompassing focus on quality fits perfectly
with the vision to build a distillery that delivers only the finest Single Malt
whisky.

Kerry & Derek Campbell, the owners.

Whisky + Place = The dream: Its simply put in their words.

We love whisky.

For us it’s more than just having an exceptional liquid in your glass. It’s also
about the stories that go alongside your dram, the memories of special
occasions and get-togethers with friends and family.

We love where we live.

It’s a very special corner of Scotland with endless skies and miles of breath-
taking coastline. We’ve lived here all of our lives and dreamed of one day
opening our own whisky distillery.

We’re making our dream a reality.

In September 2018, on a deserted wet and windy beach, we decided to

bring these two loves together and make our distillery plans more than just
a dream. 8 Doors Distillery was born.

The water: Water is sourced from a dedicated borehole on site. The purest
John O’Groats water drawn from deep inside ancient rock formations and
naturally filtered through layers of sandstone.
The stills: Their bespoke copper pot stills are being made by specialists in
Speyside, Scotland. They are specifically designed to distillery requirements
to create exceptional, small batch, hand crafted whisky.

The climate: Located by the coast in John O’Groats, their warehouses are
perfectly placed for maturing whisky. Sea mist, ocean spray and a cool
climate all contribute to the creation of complex whisky characteristics.

The casks: Their first-fill casks are made from the finest oak, seasoned
specifically for the distillery, the result of working with their partners in
Spain to create the perfect vessel to bring the whisky to maturity.

The Distillery:

Opening 2021. They created a design that reflects their modern ambitions,
to create a home for their whisky, a space for them to take their time and
use traditional methods when hand crafting the perfect spirit. The distillery
delivers breathtaking views across the Pentland Firth, whatever the weather!
Lots of windows to ensure all visitors can enjoy the view from the comfort of
the whisky lounge and visitor centre. The distillery on the 32,670 square feet
site will have the capacity to produce up to 60,000 litres of whisky each
year. The distillery and visitor centre will be housed in one large building and
whisky will be matured in an on-site bonded warehouse.

‘Whisky. From the Edge’. The whisky flavour profile will be influenced by the
local climate and its situation right beside the sea – hence the strapline.

Their Exclusive Club: They have named their exclusive club 874 Club after
one of the greatest journeys in the UK - the 874 miles between Land’s End
and John O’Groats.

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https://www.8doorsdistillery.com/
BRORA DISTILLERY
HIGHLAND SINGLE MALT SCOTCH WHISKY

The bottlings which we now see come from Brora’s last flaring. This was
when the still was run specifically to fill in perceived holes in DCL’s
inventory. As a result you'll see Broras that are vastly oily and smoky, as
also some with the merest exhalation of peat. The waxy, oily, marine/
mineral characters seen in Clynelish are invariably exaggerated. instead of
the waxy oil of Clynelish, here there's a lot of lemon acidity. There was,
sadly, a small run of bottlings with a butyric character.

Diageo releases an annual – and limited – bottling as part of its Special

Release programme. With growing interest in smoky whiskies – and closed
distilleries – Brora has become a cult malt.

Brora – or as it was originally known, Clynelish – is one of Scotland’s

Clearance distilleries. It was built in 1819 by the the Duke of Sutherland
who, with his wife and her estate managers, enacted some of the most
brutal forced evictions in the Highlands, as part of an economic experiment
which saw 15,000 farmers from their estate alone, moved off their land and
resettled either on the coast, or sent to Canada and Australia.

Those who ended up in the new settlement at Brora were put to work in the
Duke’s new business enterprises, one of which was distilling. It took some
time for the distillery to find its feet, passing through a number of lessees
until George Lawson took charge. He and his sons would run the plant from
1846 to 1896 when they sold it to the Glasgow blender James Ainslie and his
business partner John Risk who rebuilt the site that year.

Ainslie himself went bust in 1912 when Risk and DCL took shares in the firm,
John Walker & Sons following in 1916. Risk was bought out in 1925, when
Walker joined DCL and the latter took complete control in 1930. It wasn’t
until after the Second World War that the distillery began to increase
capacity significantly as a result of demand for blends increasing. By 1967,
this had reached such a height that it was decided that it would be easier to
build a new and larger distillery – initially known as Clynelish 2 – alongside
the original buildings than try to expand them.

The old distillery closed for a year, but reopened in 1969 and was in
production, though not always at full capacity, until it closed in 1983.
In 1975, after a change in legislation banning two distilleries from being
called the same, its name was changed to Brora. During 1972 to 1974 when
DCL’s Caol Ila was being rebuilt, production of heavily peated malt was
switched here. Also, during periods of drought on Islay, the production of
DCL’s heavily peated requirements was switched to the far north east. This
could explain why although Brora’s peating levels in general dropped after
1977, there are occasional heavily smoky expressions from the 1980s.

The distillery was closed finally in 1983, and although rumours surfaced
occasionally about it reopening they seemed little more than wishful
thinking. However, in October 2017 Diageo revealed plans to reopen both
Brora and Port Ellen distilleries, which also closed in 1983. Subject to
planning permission, the two sites are expected to be operational once more
in the 2020s.

Given the age of the Brora distillery, a comprehensive survey was carried
out on the building to identity areas that needed work. Sections that needed
repair were dismantled and rebuilt. The distillery’s iconic pagoda roof was
also removed and restored by the engineering team before being reinstalled.

The distillery’s original copper pot stills have also been refurbished by
Diageo’s coppersmiths at Abercrombie. It was lucky that the stills were in a
good enough position to be refurbished for reuse. The refurbished stills will
produce around 800,000 litres of whisky per year; a volume that pays
homage to the distillery’s small-batch production of the past.

The Diageo archive holds comprehensive and historic information on the

previous distillation regimes of Brora, which have been used to guide work in
the new distillery. Many of Brora’s original buildings will remain on the site,
with the addition of a new still house to house Brora’s two stills.

The use of these stills is due to the fact that Brora aims to distil the same
style of whisky that was produced at the distillery prior to its closure.
Detailed records kept by Diageo in its distilling days will help the distillers of
today to reproduce the famed whisky.

The transportation of the stills for refurbishment marked a huge milestone in

the revival of the distillery. Brora was meant to be fully-functioning by
Summer 2020, but Covid-19 related delays mean that the site should now
be up and running some time in 2021. Let us hope that it is worth the wait!
The newly-restored Brora Distillery is right next door to Clynelish Distillery
and is scheduled to start production again in summer 2021. The resurrected
distillery will not be open for distillery tours, but visitors will be able to learn
more about it on a tour of Clynelish Distillery.

As in the original distillery, a seawater cooling system will channel cooling

water to the condenser, with greater efficiency than its predecessor. Spent
lees will be disposed of to the sea through an existing effluent line to a long
sea outfall, and solid by-products will be sold as animal feed.

Diageo, however, is mum about whether Brora will continue to roll out its
coveted Special Releases after the new distillery opens its doors. The first
Brora to be released from the reopened distillery will be a 12 Year Old –
subsequent releases will be older expressions. The folks at Diageo remain
coy about the style of the new 12 Year Old, noting that they will “produce
whisky that will match the character and quality of its illustrious
predecessors”.

But there are clues. Diageo mentioned in its media release that the new
distillery will most likely get its malt from the maltings at Glen Ord distillery,
which already makes peated malt for Talisker and thus “has the capability to
make peated malt for Brora”. We’d wager that the 12 Year Old will be peaty
but with a slightly toned down smokiness to appeal to a wider range of
drinkers.

New Distillery At Grantown-on-Spey GORDON &

MACPHAIL READY TO BUILD NEW DISTILLERY: CAIRNS?

The family owned Speymalt Whisky Distributors Ltd, who trade as Gordon &
MacPhail, is set to build a new whisky distillery on the banks of the River
Spey at Craggan, near Grantown-on-Spey. The Cairngorms National Park
Authority granted approval for the design on 11 October 2019.

Gordon & MacPhail is a family owned business which has built its unrivalled
knowledge and expertise in the Scotch whisky industry over a 124-year
history. In 1993, they acquired Benromach Distillery and reopened it, after
extensive refurbishment, in 1998. Local response to their plans has been a
healthy positive.
The building has been designed to take full advantage of the outstanding
views across the River Spey to the Cairngorms. The eye-catching modern
design includes the distillery and warehousing, as well as tasting rooms, a
visitor centre with retail space and a coffee shop. The circular nature of the
building will disguise much of the day to day working area within the service
yard and sedum roofs will allow the buildings to blend into the surrounding
environment.

They aim to build on the success of Benromach, with the second distillery
forming an important part of the company’s ambitious plans for growth.

Their story begins, as do most old timers in the industry, with a grocery,
established in 1895 in the heart of Scotland’s Speyside region. They
originally curated all manner of groceries from around the world such as
teas, coffees, wines and whisky. Their appreciation of the rich tapestry of
flavours they encountered led the founders, James Gordon and John
Alexander MacPhail, to seek out and complement this varied stock with
equally fine produce in the form of Speyside’s many and varied single malt
Scotch whiskies.

In 1915, a young John Urquhart joined the business to serve as an

apprentice under the two founding partners. Urquhart quickly established
himself as a valuable associate for James Gordon in selecting, purchasing,
and maturing whiskies from local distilleries. John also assisted with the
creation of house blends for the shop’s customers across the Speyside area.
Over his long career dedicated to sourcing flavour both from home and
abroad, John Urquhart developed his skills as a master of malt whisky
maturation, building an impressive portfolio of maturing whisky casks. He
was able to pass on this deep knowledge and passion for single malt Scotch
whisky to his family.

Under the expert tutelage of his father, George Urquhart joined the business
in 1933. Like his father before him, young George began at the very bottom:
cleaning, sweeping, and stacking. Through carefully nurtured relationships
with local single malt distillers and a deep understanding of the spirit that
they produced, John and George Urquhart were able to focus on the
importance of maturation. They matched spirit to the highest quality oak
casks, before lovingly maturing the whisky, often over many decades.
On 03 February 1940, 15 First Fill Sherry Butts were filled at Glenlivet and
left to mature in warehouse number 6 at the distillery. Over the years some
of the casks were used and on the 10th January 1980, the remaining 8
casks, including cask 339, were moved to Gordon & MacPhail’s own bonded
warehouse in Elgin.

With excellent stocks of whisky, the business survived the ravages of the
Second World War, releasing large quantities of our stocks of mature
whiskies for shipment to the United States. These whiskies brought in
needed funds that were applied towards the war effort. During those bleak
years, when barley rationing reduced distilling almost to a standstill, they
continued to fill their casks. Owing to the prudent stewardship of John and
George, the future was secured during these turbulent times. Indeed their
foresight in filling large amounts of whisky in the late 1930s and early 1940s
meant we had healthy stocks when peace was finally declared in 1945. This
is when they made their killing!

Connoisseurs Choice Launches

In the late 1960s, George took the unprecedented step of launching a range
of single malts from across Scot distilleries bottling them under the banner
of 'Connoisseurs Choice'. Aimed at the emerging markets of France, USA,
Italy, and The Netherlands, all having developed a love for well-matured
single malt Scotch whisky, this range set the trend for single malts around
the world. Future generations of Urquhart were to follow.

In the 1970s and ‘80s the business expanded significantly. Led by UK Sales
Director at the time David Urquhart, the company grew its wholesale
business throughout Scotland, then further afield in the United Kingdom. To
support this rapid growth, operations were shifted from the offices above the
South Street shop, to custom-built offices and duty paid warehouses –
named George House – at Boroughbriggs Road in 1991.

Family Dream Realised

Alongside an unrivalled knowledge of Scottish single malts and passion for

matching spirit with oak, the Urquhart family held a long-standing ambition
to own a distillery. This desire became a reality in 1993 with the purchase of
the Benromach Distillery on the outskirts of Forres, just twelve miles from
the shop in Elgin. After five years of careful and deliberate re-equipping,
Benromach Distillery was officially reopened by HRH Prince Charles in 1998.
In 1995, they celebrated our centenary. One hundred years had been
witness to three generations of the Urquhart family learn and grow the
business. The dawn of the new millennium welcomed the first member of the
fourth generation, Stephen Rankin, John Urquhart’s great grandson. In
2007, brothers David and Michael took over the reigns as Joint Managing
Directors.

Generations Series Launched

On 11 March 2010, Gordon & MacPhail made history by launching

Generations Mortlach 70 Years Old, the world’s oldest bottled Single Malt
Scotch Whisky. Unveiled at an exclusive event at Edinburgh Castle, the
release sparked international media interest, and all large decanters were
either sold or reserved within two weeks by collectors and whisky
enthusiasts worldwide.

On the 08 March 2011, Gordon & MacPhail released the 2nd in the
Generations series, Glenlivet 1940 70 Years Old.

On 20 September 2012, Gordon & MacPhail released Generations Glenlivet

1940 70 Years Old (Release 2), the second and final release from cask 339.

On 02 September 2015, Gordon & MacPhail released the next in the

Generations range, Mortlach 75 Years Old. The curtain was raised on what is
believed to be the world’s most exclusive single malt Scotch whisky.