Strathmill

Strathmill Distillery

Founded: 1891
Stills: 2 Wash 2 Spirit
Water Source: Local Springs
Capacity: 1.7 Million Litres
Owners: Diageo

1968-Present: Fruit, Cereal, Honey & Peace and Quiet.

In 1968 Strathmill was expanded with a second pair of stills, all the stills also had new purifiers fitted to the lyne arms. This is a fascinating addition as a purifier will effectively add anywhere between an extra quarter or half distillation to your spirit. The market was demanding softer style distillates at the time and Strathmill was evidently happy to oblige.

There are very few examples of Strthmill that hail from before 1968, one notable example is a Duncan Taylor 39yo 1962, however, while this is an excellent, rich and unctuous aged malt, any distillery character is largely obscured by a pretty active sherry cask I suspect. This means that the only Strathmills we can, realistically, hope to try are modern ones distilled after the 68 refit. Thankfully there are several excellent ones. Namely an uber fruity 1976 by Dewar Rattray, an oddball but excellent 1976 by Adelphi and a real surprise in the shape of the recent 1996 Manager’s Choice release.

There are not many bottlings of Strathmill but from time to time they do appear, despite the obscurity factor of the distillery I would say it is well worth checking them out as they can be excellent drams when they want to be.

Close profile