Ailsa Bay

The Ailsa Bay Malt Whisky Distillery was built by the William Grant & Sons company to meet their needs for Malt Whisky for their Blended Whiskies. The high-tech distillery is built on the site of the Girvan Grain Whisky Distillery.

Information about the Distillery
13 Bottles
Scotland, Lowlands
-4.833380 55.260706
Active
Wm. Grant & Sons
2007
Average tasting notes Tasting notes
Calculated from 35 Tasting Notes
i
Nosing
Sweet:
Sweet:
Peat Smoke:
Oak:
Oak:
Zitrus:
Zitrus:
Vanilla:
Vanilla:
Nuts:
Nuts:
Peat Smoke:
Lemon:
Fruit:
Lemon:
Floral:
Lemon Peel:
Floral:
Maritime Notes:
Bonfire Smoke:
Seaweed:
Lemon Peel:
Fruit:
Maritime Notes:
Bonfire Smoke:
Seaweed:
Herbs:
Herbs:
Herb:
Honey:
Malt:
Malt:
Herb:
Honey:
Apple:
Pear:
Pear:
Peach:
Tropical Fruit:
Iodine:
Banana:
Peach:
Ham:
Oil:
Ham:
Oil:
Leather:
Spices:
Spices:
Tobacco:
Apple:
Banana:
Leather:
Tobacco:
Medicinal Smoke:
Iodine:
Medicinal Smoke:
Tropical Fruit:
Tasting
Sweet:
Sweet:
Peat Smoke:
Peat Smoke:
Fruit:
Nuts:
Fruit:
Spices:
Spices:
Zitrus:
Oak:
Oak:
Zitrus:
Almonds:
Almonds:
Herbs:
Herbs:
Nuts:
Oil:
Ham:
Ham:
Oil:
Malt:
Maritime Notes:
Lemon:
Hay:
Floral:
Pear:
Grapefruit:
Bonfire Smoke:
Maritime Notes:
Lemon:
Bonfire Smoke:
Pear:
Malt:
Floral:
Hay:
Grapefruit:
Caramel:
Seaweed:
Lime:
Honey:
Medicinal Smoke:
Alcohol:
Sherry:
Tropical Fruit:
Heather:
Salt:
Sherry:
Seaweed:
Vanilla:
Vanilla:
Tropical Fruit:
Alcohol:
Clove:
Honey:
Salt:
Heather:
Medicinal Smoke:
Lime:
Caramel:
Clove:
Finish
Peat Smoke:
Oak:
Peat Smoke:
Oak:
Sweet:
Spices:
Sweet:
Nuts:
Spices:
Nuts:
Maritime Notes:
Zitrus:
Fruit:
Maritime Notes:
Zitrus:
Malt:
Malt:
Herbs:
Fruit:
Herbs:
Heather:
Alcohol:
Pepper:
Honey:
Heather:
Seaweed:
Pepper:
Salt:
Salt:
Oil:
Seaweed:
Honey:
Alcohol:
Ginger:
Ginger:
Herb:
Herb:
Oil:
Bonfire Smoke:
Tropical Fruit:
Vanilla:
Floral:
Chili:
Tropical Fruit:
Floral:
Lime:
Vanilla:
Tobacco:
Bonfire Smoke:
Tobacco:
Lime:
Chili:
Details about the Distillery

The distillery is built in almost nine months of construction in 2007 on the site of the Grain Whisky Distillery Girvan, very close to the former distillery Ladyburn. Ladyburn was already closed and demolished in 1975. It is extremely advantageous for production to have both components for the production of Blended Whisky available on one site: This allows resources, such as the coppersmiths and employees, to be used by both distilleries. 

Ailsa Bay was built to produce Single Malt Whisky to meet the growing demand for Grant's Blended Whiskies. The high-tech distillery can produce five different types of Malt Whisky. This allows for flexibility in responding to market demand.

Ailsa Bay Sweet Smoke is the second bottling from the distillery. The special about the production of Ailsa Bay is the 'micro-maturation', a unique maturation process in the Scotch Whisky industry. In this process, the raw spirit is first filled into 25 - 100 liter Hudson Baby Bourbon barrels, before it finishes maturing for several years in fresh, first-filled as well as second-filled American white oak barrels. It is important to know that 22 ppm refers to the content in the distillate and not, as is usually the case with Single Malt, to the phenolic content in the original malt.

User Notes about the Distillery

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