WATER. BARLEY. FERMENTATION. DISTILLATION. MATURATION.
The fundamentals haven’t changed since 1897. What makes the difference? The same things that did back then. Our stills. Our water. Our attitude.
1
WATER SOURCE
John Hopkins discovered the Granty Burn while hunting for the perfect spot for a distillery. An untouched freshwater stream hidden in a narrow valley. He knew water this pure would make remarkable whisky. Over 125 years later, we remain the only distillery to use it.
2
MALTING & MILLING
We source high-quality malted barley from suppliers we’ve worked with for decades. Our 10-tonne twin-roller ‘Boby’ mill crushes the malt into grist, 5.6 tonnes at a time. Just as it’s done for over a century. But before we can harness the magic locked into each grain, we need to break it down.
3
MASHING
Freshly milled grist meets hot water in our large mash tun. Mixed in cycles, one after another. Each time, we notch up the temperature, converting even more of the starch. The result: a sugar-rich liquid called wort. Once we’ve extracted all the sugar, we cool the wort and send it into our washbacks.
4
FERMENTATION
We use two types of washback: stainless steel and wooden. These large tanks are where yeast is introduced. Sugar turns into alcohol. A frothing, churning spectacle which creates a strong beer called ‘wash’. Our long fermentation times lock in the Speyburn character, even before the wash meets our stills.
5
DISTILLATION
We call our wash still ‘the big still’. After all, it’s one of Scotland’s largest. That matters: the bigger the still, the lighter the spirit. This is where we capture fresh apples, citrus, and Speyburn’s gentle floral character. Walk through our still house and you’ll breathe it all in. Like an orchard mid-harvest.
Then comes the second distillation – and our ‘wee stills’. Two smaller spirit stills pair with our traditional worm tub condensers. Hot copper pipes flowing through cold, clear water. This is where we get the rich, full body that gives Speyburn its backbone.
Clean, floral and sweet. Deep, complex and rich.
6
MATURATION
A few days of meticulous, consistent work. That’s distilling. But there’s a wilder side to Speyburn. Maturation is where we get artistic. Collaborative. Experimental. The warehouse is where we truly work with the spirit.
First, we transfer the spirit to casks that once held bourbon or sherry. Then roll them into our traditional dunnage warehouse. Left to quietly rest. Soaking in the colour, flavour, and aroma from the oak. As the spirit slowly ages, it becomes smoother, sweeter, more flavourful. After many years, it finally becomes the Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whisky we’re proud to call Speyburn.
A Whisky that speaks for itself
IT TAKES DEDICATION AND HARD WORK TO CRAFT A WHISKY THAT’S EFFORTLESS TO ENJOY.