Aberfeldy
The Aberfeldy Distillery was founded by the Dewar's family in 1896. They ran the company under the names John Dewar & Sons, Ltd. and began Whisky production two years later.
Details about the Distillery
The Whisky
The two big standard bottlings of the distillery are the Aberfeldy 12 y.o. and the Aberfeldy 21 y.o.. There are also a lot of independent bottlings from Aberfeldy. However the major part of the production goes into the Blended Whisky industry. Aberfeldy is a big contributor to the Dewar's Blended Whisky. Dewar's is one of the best-selling Blended Scotch Whiskies in the United States.
The distillery character of the Aberfeldy Whiskies is round and smooth with a mild sweetness. You also get a few spices and oakiness in the Whiskies, but the Aberfeldy is a quite mild Highland Whisky.
The Production
The buildings of the Aberfeldy distillery are located very close to the town of the same name, Aberfeldy, and the river Tay as well as the Loch Tay. Today's production is rather huge, with an output of around 3.4 million liters of spirit per year.
The Pot Stills
Aberfeldy uses the double distillation method. They have four pot stills: two big wash stills and two smaller spirit stills. The wash stills have a capacity of 16,500 litres and the spirit stills of 15,000 litres.
The shape of the stills is the perfect example of a classic Scottish pot still. The body is big, the neck is medium long. The lyne arm is rising, so the reflux in the lyne arm is running back into the pot. This filters out the more intense and sharp aromas during the distillation. The conical connection between neck and lyne arm is not constricted nor does the neck have a reflux bowl. This means Aberfeldy doesn't filter out the sharp parts of the Whisky in the lower part of the still but nearly everything in the lyne arm.
The Malting
Aberfeldy doesn't do its own malting anymore. In the early days the Dewar family used their own malting floor and dried the barley over a peat smoke fire. Today the malt is bought in from the big malting companies. Concluding from the taste of the Whisky, they use unpeated malt.
The Warehouse
The warehouses of Aberfeldy are old brick buildings. For the visitors the warehouses were refurbished with spot lighting and a wooden floor. The choice of casks at Aberfeldy is mostly American oak Ex-Bourbon casks. The American oak adds to the rather mild and smooth taste of the Aberfeldy Whiskies.
History
The Aberfeldy Distillery was founded by the Dewar family in 1892. They ran the company under the name John Dewar & Sons, Ltd. and began Whisky production two years later. During the First World War and the food shortage, they had to cease production in 1917. Fortunately it could be started again in 1919 when the war was over.
In 1925 the distillery was sold to the Distillers Company Limited (DCL), who then ran the business. DCL closed the malting at the distillery in 1972 and increased the number of pot stills from two to four. By doing this they increased production capacity and cut their costs by getting the barley from the big malting plants.
In 1998 the distillery then changed ownership again and ended up with Bacardi.
The Visitor Centre
The Aberfeldy distillery is famous for the Dewar's World of Whisky. It is a museum, a multimedia theatre with many tasting tables and a big shop. In the Dewar's World of Whisky you can book the tours however you like (even private tours). You can also book cask tastings or get exclusive and private bottlings at the shop. There is free parking and free Wi-Fi.