Tormore

The Speyside Distillery Tormore was one of the first new distilleries that were built in the 20th century. It’s more known for its unique and pretty architecture than for its Whiskies which predominantly are used for Blends. Tormore Distillery was granted the status “listed buildings” in 1986 although it was less than 30 years old then. The Gaelic name “Torra Mhoir” means “the big hill”.

Information about the Distillery
113 Bottles
Scotland, Speyside
-3.408553 57.398114
Active
Pernod Ricard
4 x 12,150 l
Normal
4 x 8,621 l
Gedrungen
11 x 48,600 l
10 t
1960
4,400,000 l
http://www.tormoredistillery.com
Average tasting notes Tasting notes
Calculated from 219 Tasting Notes
i
Nosing
Sweet:
Sweet:
Fruit:
Vanilla:
Vanilla:
Fruit:
Malt:
Malt:
Caramel:
Caramel:
Zitrus:
Zitrus:
Nuts:
Oak:
Oak:
Herbs:
Tropical Fruit:
Tropical Fruit:
Herbs:
Apple:
Apple:
Orange:
Orange:
Sherry:
Oil:
Oil:
Spices:
Raisin:
Chocolate:
Honey:
Chocolate:
Pear:
Pear:
Raisin:
Honey:
Floral:
Floral:
Herb:
Grass:
Grass:
Herb:
Tobacco:
Peat Smoke:
Tobacco:
Nuts:
Spices:
Berries:
Melon:
Melon:
Berries:
Alcohol:
Alcohol:
Ginger:
Ginger:
Chili:
Peach:
Kiwi:
Peach:
Kiwi:
Peat Smoke:
Chili:
Barley:
Lemon:
Wheat:
Almonds:
Cinnamon:
Plum:
Lemon:
Barley:
Wheat:
Almonds:
Plum:
Cinnamon:
Banana:
Lime:
Fig:
Grape:
Leather:
Cherry:
Date:
Dried Fruit:
Sherry:
Pineapple:
Grape:
Banana:
Leather:
Pineapple:
Lime:
Date:
Cherry:
Fig:
Dried Fruit:
Tasting
Sweet:
Sweet:
Spices:
Fruit:
Fruit:
Chocolate:
Chocolate:
Spices:
Oak:
Oak:
Pepper:
Pepper:
Nuts:
Zitrus:
Zitrus:
Malt:
Malt:
Honey:
Honey:
Vanilla:
Vanilla:
Orange:
Orange:
Melon:
Melon:
Sherry:
Herb:
Nuts:
Herb:
Pear:
Caramel:
Pear:
Sherry:
Caramel:
Herbs:
Almonds:
Apple:
Herbs:
Almonds:
Apple:
Oil:
Oil:
Dark Chocolate:
Dark Chocolate:
Cinnamon:
Peat Smoke:
Cinnamon:
Banana:
Banana:
Grapefruit:
Grapefruit:
Lime:
Hazelnut:
Hazelnut:
Lime:
Tropical Fruit:
Anis:
Tropical Fruit:
Barley:
Ginger:
Ginger:
Barley:
Alcohol:
Heather:
Alcohol:
Heather:
Medicinal Smoke:
Dried Fruit:
Dried Fruit:
Medicinal Smoke:
Berries:
Peach:
Peach:
Berries:
Coffee:
Coffee:
Peat Smoke:
Chili:
Kiwi:
Chili:
Tobacco:
Kiwi:
Clove:
Cake:
Cherry:
Nutmeg:
Clove:
Tobacco:
Cake:
Pineapple:
Pineapple:
Leather:
Plum:
Wheat:
Nutmeg:
Plum:
Cherry:
Leather:
Wheat:
Finish
Oak:
Oak:
Spices:
Malt:
Spices:
Nuts:
Malt:
Sweet:
Sweet:
Fruit:
Sherry:
Sherry:
Oil:
Oil:
Fruit:
Nuts:
Plum:
Plum:
Chocolate:
Pepper:
Pepper:
Chocolate:
Herb:
Herb:
Cinnamon:
Cinnamon:
Coffee:
Zitrus:
Barley:
Zitrus:
Barley:
Almonds:
Coffee:
Almonds:
Anis:
Caramel:
Caramel:
Peat Smoke:
Alcohol:
Alcohol:
Raisin:
Orange:
Dark Chocolate:
Vanilla:
Grape:
Grape:
Vanilla:
Orange:
Raisin:
Dark Chocolate:
Grapefruit:
Chili:
Herbs:
Herbs:
Berries:
Berries:
Floral:
Grapefruit:
Floral:
Apple:
Peat Smoke:
Apple:
Chili:
Details about the Distillery

The Whisky

The Whisky of Tormore is fruity, light and smooth. It shows sweet aromas of melons and pears and malty notes. The majority of Tormore Whisky is matured in ex-Bourbon barrels which ads nice aromas of vanilla and spices as well.
There haven’t been many releases of Tormore Single Malt Whisky yet as it is mainly produced for Blends like Long John or Chivas. In 2012 a 12 year old Tormore was launched which was replaced in 2014 by a 14 year old and a 16 year old expression.
Tormore 14 year old is a very fruity and light Single Malt Whisky. Creamy toffee, vanilla and spicy notes round it up to be a complex expression.
Tormore 16 year old is selected from the best casks of the warehouses and released in small batches. Sweet and fruity notes of full ripe melons and pears make up the smooth and rich character of this Single Malt Whisky.
Besides these original bottlings there are some releases of Tormore Single Malt Whisky from independent bottlers as Cadenhead’s, Douglas Laing, Signatory and Blackadder.
Nice to know: In 1991 Pernod Ricard introduced its “Caledonian Malts” as a response to the Classic Malts of Diageo. They included Glendronach, Laphroaig, Miltonduff and Tormore. But Tormore later was replaced with Scapa.

Production

Since the last upgrade in 2012 production capacity of Tormore has increased by 20 percent and is about 4.400.000 liters annually now. The owners Chivas Brothers, subsidiary of Pernod Ricard, predominantly operate Tormore as a supplier for their Blends.
Water for Tormore Whisky production is sourced from the distillery passing Achvochkie Burn which then makes its way to the River Spey in a one mile distance. Before the water arrived at Tormore it flew through areas of heather and peat and massive granite hills.
Tormore works with heat exchangers to pre-heat the wash and tries to work as energy-efficient as possible.

The Mashing

Since 2012 Tormore Distillery uses a full lauter mashtun made of stainless steel. The malt that is used for mashing has always been brought here to Tormore, because the distillery never had own malting floors. 

The Fermentation

There are no wooden washbacks that try to give the fermentation a traditional touch The 11 washbacks of Tormore (before 2012 there were 8) are of stainless steel as the mashtun is. They are much easier to clean than wooden ones and the fermenting wash doesn’t stay long enough to fear any influence by using a different material than the traditional one.

The Pot Stills

The still house of Tormore hosts four pairs of stills. Expansion from two to four pairs took place in 1972. Their swan’s necks are not extremely high and the lyne arms are short, but the new spirit of Tormore is nevertheless very fruity and light. This is due to the purifiers that are used at every still. So after the distillation the vapors pass these purifiers that contain copper plates to ensure additional copper contact. The capacity of each wash still is 18.500 liters; the spirit stills can take 13.900 liters.

Warehouses

Just a few casks (Tormore Whisky is mainly matured in ex-Bourbon casks) are stored at Tormore itself in the steel rack and palletized warehouses on site and further down the road along the A95. But as there’s no more filling station in use at Tormore the new spirit leaves the distillery in big tank trucks. Some casks return to Tormore, but the majority is stored in other warehouses of Pernod Ricard.

The History

https://www.whisky.com/When Long John Distillers, subsidiary of Schenley International, started to build Tormore in 1958 it was because of the high amount of Malt Whisky they needed for their booming Blend label Long John. In 1960 the production started.
The renowned architect Sir Albert Richardson, one of the leading British architects of that time, designed the distillery and gave it a unique and fascinating style. The granite buildings with their stone balconies and copper roofs make Tormore one of the prettiest distilleries in Scotland. In 1986 it was granted the listed building status. Very famous is a clock that plays four different Scottish songs which it proofs every quarter of an hour. A little village for workers of the distillery, designed in the same style, was meanwhile sold. Nice gardens with shaped trees surround the distillery.
Long John was taken over by Whitebread & Co. in 1975, but they sold in the same year to Allied Domecq who run the distillery for about 30 years.
In 2005, Allied Domecq was bought by Pernod Ricard. Tormores management was then in the hands of "Chivas Brothers", a subsidiary of Pernod. In 2022, Elixir Distillers bought the distillery from Pernod Ricard.

Visitor Center

The Tormore Distillery is not opened to the public and no tours are available.

Visitor information

Tormore Distillery
4 Richardson Road
Advie
Grantown-on-Spey
PH26 3LR

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