Knockando & Ballindalloch: Barley and Castles

Knockando is rural, situated smack in the middle of Speyside’s farming region, this is barley country. For a relatively small town it is pretty well stocked on the distillery front. Not only this but it has a renowned woolen mill which has been producing fine material since the mid eighteenth century. When you are in this area its extremely easy to visualise the historic illicit still trade. Imagine local folk hiding small stills in and around the hills and glens that nurtured the birth of Scotch whisky. At the same time these enterprising distillers would have been running their stills, the Grant family would have been living in Ballindaloch Castle. The castle has been inhabited by the same family for over 450 years, known as the ‘Pearl of the North’ and even has a couple of distilleries on the grounds.

One of these distilleries is the famed Cragganmore, which takes its rock face of a name from the mountain in whose shadow it sits, and was created using a pioneering flat-top pot still design to create the sweetest, most complex of malt whiskies. This truly exceptional vintage 48 year old from 1973 comes from the oldest casks we have, filled soon after the coal-heated stills turned to steam. This milestone in distilling gave birth to a new age in which craft and vision could walk hand in hand. A pathfinder for the smooth whiskies of the modern-day, the nose is more complex than usual with a palate that is sweet but pleasantly tart and is a true representation of liquid history.