Happy 12th Birthday Kilkerran!

I seem to have been writing about J & A Mitchell quite a lot recently, but since last weekend marked the 12th Anniversary of the opening (re-opening?) of Mitchell’s Glengyle distillery, I figured that warranted another post. At least it is about Kilkerran this time rather than Springbank!

Also, I have first hand experience of the birth of Kilkerran so to speak since I pretty much watched the Glengyle distillery being built. You see, I’d started working at Springbank just after all the pigeons had been turfed out of their rather large home and the buildings had been restored and made wind and water (and pigeon) tight. (I remember rightly the stills, and possibly the condensers, were in a lean to out the back, waiting for all the other production equipment to be put in before they could be installed)

At the time, it was quite a novelty - it was one of the forerunners in the wave (now practically a tsunami) of new Scottish Distilleries, and the first distillery to open in Campbeltown in well over 100 years. The original Glengyle distillery had been founded in 1872 by William Mitchell, who ran it until 1919, when it was sold. It closed its doors a few years later in 1925. Although all the distilling equipment was removed, and the stock sold off, the distillery buildings themselves remained pretty much intact over the intervening years, being used first as a rifle range, then as an agricultural depot.  

The story goes that Mr Hedley G Wright, current chairman of J & A Mitchell Co Ltd, during one of his visits to Springbank, had noticed that the buildings were for sale and commented, “Hmm, my great-great uncle used to own Glengyle. I think I should buy it.”  I may be paraphrasing slightly but you get the idea! Buy it he did (in November 2000), and the ambitious plan to create a brand new distillery within the walls of the old one began.

The first time I saw the soon to be new Glengyle distillery, in 2002, it was an empty shell. A very large empty shell!  Over the next couple of years though, I, along with all the other staff at Springbank, gradually watched the new distillery come to life under the direction of Mr Wright and Frank McHardy, who was Springbank Distillery Manager at the time. ​

The stills and mill were sourced second hand - the stills from Ben Wyvis distillery and the mill from Craigellachie - although the shape of the stills was altered somewhat to give the distillery character they wanted. The rest of the equipment was new though - the very large stainless steel mash tun was brought down by road (I’d have hated to be stuck behind that lorry on the way down to the town!) and fitted by Forsyths of Speyside. I vividly remember watching the washbacks be built on site - now that was impressive! If you’ve ever been to a cooperage and watched them building casks, it was like that but on a much, much larger scale. The noise of 5 or 6 guys hammering the huge hoops into place around the newly installed washbacks was something else! I also remember the first time the new washbacks were filled - and the water just poured out the bottom!  They do that apparently, until the giant staves absorb enough water to expand into place and make them watertight. That’ll be why they were filled with water first then, won’t it? (That’s also why wooden washbacks are kept full of water when not in use, so that they don’t dry out and start leaking).

The first spirit flowed from the still in March 2004 with very little fuss or fanfare, although we did have a great party to celebrate Kilkerran’s official coming of age 3 years later. The party was held in an empty warehouse at the distillery and all the guests got given a goodie bag with a miniature of new make and a miniature of the new 3yo whisky - I’ve still got mine somewhere! 
It’s strange to think that the first 12 year old Kilkerran Single Malt will be released later this year cause none of this seems that long ago! (I know, it’s a sign of age, before anyone else points it out). It’s really nice being back in Campbeltown and able to participate in the 12th Birthday celebrations as well; I got my 12th birthday tour, dram and bit of birthday cake last weekend and I’m very much looking forward to trying the 12 year old when it comes out.