Pernod Ricard acquires Rabbit Hole Distillery in Louisville, Kentucky

Ian
29 June 2019

Pernod Ricard recently announced the acquisition of a majority share of Rabbit Hole Distillery in Louisville, Kentucky.

Rabbit Hole produced an an award-winning range of Kentucky spirits and is recognised for its “iconic, state-of-the-art distillery” in the heart of Louisville, Kentucky. The brand’s Straight Bourbon and Rye whiskeys are crafted with a mix of carefully selected grains, distilled in copper Vendome column stills and aged in native oak barrels by Louisville’s hot summers and cold winters.

Rabbit Hole Distillery Spirits

Pernod Ricard is one of the large global drinks companies and already has a strong presence in Scotland, where it owns Aberlour, Strathisla (under the Chivas Brothers brand), The Glenlivet and Scapa, and in Ireland where it owns Jamesons (Midleton) as part of the Irish Distillers subsidiary.

Rabbit Hole is currently open for tours which I would not expect to change as the Scottish and Irish distilleries mentioned above are also all open for tours. Pernod Ricard has a wealth of experience to draw on so I expect to see Rabbit Hole continue to progress under the new ownership.

Scotch Whisky tourism has best year ever

Ian
26 June 2019

The Scotch Whisky Association last week reported that Scotch whisky tourism had reached an all-time high of 2 million visitors in 2018.

The Balvenie Distillery

The Scotch Whisky Association (SWA) conducted it’s annual survey which revealed visits were up 6.1% year on year and 56% more than in 2010; spending at visitor centres was up by 12.2% to £68.3m with an additional £7.4m compared with 2017 and 154% more than in 2010. This is put down to the continued industry investment in world-class tourist centres.

Over 20 different nationalities visited distilleries last year, with Germany and the USA providing the largest number of Scotch Whisky tourists with increased visits from France, Spain, and the Netherlands were also reported, as well as India and China.

I’ve been visiting distilleries since 2012 and it is noticeable that there are both more distilleries with visitor centres and that the general standard of distillery tours has improved. I’ve been doing my part with continued visits too; I toured 22 Scotch Whisky distilleries last year.

The full story from the Scotch Whisky Association can be read here.

68 Scotch whisky visitor centres open to the public

Ian
21 June 2019

According to a recent infographic posted by the Scotch Whisky Association, there are 68 whisky distillery visitor centres open to the public:

Scotch Whisky Tourism 2018

I’ve been to a, current total, of 68 Scotch whisky distilleries, but not all of them (thinking Knockdhu, amongst others, have a visitor centre). Tours at these distilleries need to be prebooked.

Visiting distilleries has never been more popular than it is now and , even from 2012, tours are getting better and more consistently better year after year.

New Scotch cask rules aim to add ‘flexibility’

Ian
17 June 2019

Scotchwhisky.com has an exclusive today from the Scotch Whisky Association (SWA). The rules for change which barrels can be used to mature or ‘finish’ Scotch Whisky.

Whisky Barrels

The new rules are now law with the changed section now reading:

‘The spirit must be matured in new oak casks and/or in oak casks which have only been used to mature wine (still or fortified) and/or beer/ale and/or spirits with the exception of:

  • wine, beer/ale or spirits produced from, or made with, stone fruits
  • beer/ale to which fruit, flavouring or sweetening has been added after fermentation
  • spirits to which fruit, flavouring or sweetening has been added after distillation

and where such previous maturation is part of the traditional processes for those wines, beers/ales or spirits.
Regardless of the type of cask used, the resulting product must have the traditional colour, taste and aroma characteristics of Scotch Whisky.’

Although the changes mean that a wider range of casks can now be used for distilling Scotch Whisky, the rules are still quite strict and do still maintain that only oak casks can be used (unlike in Ireland where the rules merely state wooden).

Full details of the changes and their impact can be read at the source at Scotchwhisky.com.

Work starts on resurrecting Rosebank distillery

Ian
16 June 2019

Work has started on resurrecting the Rosebank distillery which was closed by Diageo in 1993. Bought by Ian Macleod Distillers Limited, family-owned independent distillers who own Glengoyne, they are starting a large-scale project to return the distillery to production which will see some parts of the distillery preserved and others completely transformed.

Rosebank Chimney

The good news for people, like myself, who enjoy visiting distilleries, is that the plans include a visitor centre and tasting room.

More details of the plans are available on the Rosebank website.

Spirit of Yorkshire distillery has whisky

Ian
15 June 2019

Over the last few years, quite a large number of new distilleries have been founded. One of the is Spirit of Yorkshire in England.

Different rule apply to whisk(e)y around the work; in England, spirit can only be called whisky once it has been aged in an oak barrel for three years. The Spirit of Yorkshire’s first casked distillate has now reached that milestone and can now be called whiskey Continue reading →

Cooper King Becomes Latest Distillery Making English Whisky

Ian
14 June 2019

Cooper King distillery in Yorkshire, England, today announced that they had distilled their first whisky.

Cooper King logo

Cooper King is a self-built distillery which, from opening, was operating as a gin distillery, but always intended to be a whisky distillery. As many of the new breed of whisky distilleries, they distilled gin as it is away to quickly raise additional funds as gin does not need to be aged as whisky does.

Continue reading →

Distilleries To Visit

Ian
6 May 2016

This site is initially going to focus on the distilleries which I have visited and also the ones I intend to visit.

These will predominately be the ones in Scotland and probably Ireland.

Through time I will introduce details of distilleries elsewhere in the world (most likely dreaming of visiting them as I do).

if you have details of distilleries which are open to the public, which I haven’t listed, please send the details to me using the contact form.

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Disclaimer

This site is not owned or affiliated to any of the distilleries listed. I am not involved in any capacity in the whisk(e)y, drinks or alcohol industries. This site is a purely personal effort to compile a list of distilleries I can visit.

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