LXXIX

Clynelish Distillery, Brora, Sutherland

May 14th, 1925

No name is better known to the connoisseur than “Clynelish,” recognised as one of the finest and smoothest flavoured of the Highland Malts, and no Whisky is manufactured in more beautiful surroundings.

In bygone centuries the people of Sutherlandshire lived in lonely hamlets scattered among the hills and glens. The majority moved, however, early in the 19th century to the sea coast, where allotments were provided for them by the landed proprietors, and it was to find a ready market for the grain grown in the newly cultivated coastal areas that the Marquis of Stafford, afterwards first Duke of Sutherland, founded, in the year 1820, Clynelish Distillery.

The premises are pleasantly situated in a valley beneath the snow-capped hills of Sutherland, a few miles from Loch Brora, celebrated for its salmon, and within easy distance of the pretty fishing village of Brora. The site was chosen partly on account of its proximity to a local coalfield.

Contrasting conspicuously with the rugged shores of the extreme north of Scotland, the coastline at Brora is broken by a series of sandy bays forming, with the hills and trees in the background, a landscape of unusual beauty. A few miles beyond the village is Dunrobin Castle, the principal seat of the Duke of Sutherland. Erected in the year 1097, this castle, with a handsome entrance tower over fifty feet in height, is a prominent landmark, and Clynelish Whisky – the “Wine of the country” – has doubtless been conspicuous at many a banquet within its palatial walls.

The water supply of Clynelish Distillery originates in the Dhu Loch, hidden among the hills several miles west of Brora, the water ripples alternately over moss and gravel, and thunders through deep glens to a rocky gorge, before being piped into the premises. A secondary source is the Clyne burn, which provides power for the turbine that drives the mashing machinery.

The distillery is entered by a long tree-lined avenue, and the buildings are admirably arranged for efficient production.

Manual labour has been reduced to a minimum by installation of a complete system of screw and band conveyors. The barley, mainly Scotch, Australian, and Danish, – is automatically distributed in the lofts by an overhead trolley fitted with small chutes.

There are two large germinating floors and steeps, and the kiln, heated by peat and coke, is floored by Hermann’s patent wire, with a King’s patent regulator for the furnace. The distillery is one of the many that have replaced the old-fashioned type of mill with the Boby “two-high” model, which seems to give universal satisfaction.

Despite the traditional belief that the “wee sma’ still” has the best Whisky-making properties, one looks in vain among most of the old-established distilleries for signs of the original vessels. At Clynelish the two stills are large and modern, each having a capacity of several thousand gallons. The receivers are proportionate in size, and an enormous spirit safe from the works of Robert Willison, of Alloa – whose name soon becomes familiar to anyone visiting the Scottish distilleries – is worthy of mention.

Some twelve hundred bushels of malt are mashed each week, so that the output of Whisky averages 3,000 gallons. As already indicated, the entire mashing plant is operated by a turbine, reinforced when necessary by a horizontal steam engine built by Messrs. Shanks, of Arbroath and London.

Touring the northern distilleries to-day, one notes almost everywhere a tendency towards expansion of premises. To this rule Clynelish is no exception. Workmen are now engaged in the construction of a first rate power-house which will shortly supply the premises with electricity.

Clynelish has always been popular as a “self” Whisky, and towards the end of the last century the demand from private customers became so great that for several years trade orders were declined. The “Clynelish” produced at that period is singled out for special praise in Professor Saintsbury’s little classic, Notes on a Cellarbook. While it is still eminently suited for consumption as a “self” Whisky, it is now mainly used as a component of several famous brands.