Gordon & MacPhail’s newly established The Cairn Distillery has released the first in a series of limited edition blended malts marking the ‘first step on the path’ to releasing its own single malts.
The distillery, which opened its doors just outside Grantown-on-Spey in October 2022, aims to build upon the 127-years of whisky expertise of its owners, starting with a dozen new blended malts to be released annually each spring, under the prefix CRN57 – so called because The Cairn sits at 57 degrees latitude from the equator.
The first of these, CRN57 Step One, is a 12-year-old blended malt, bottled at 43% ABV, with ‘ fragrant treacle toffee aromas’ on the nose, and smooth flavours of ‘raspberry, Seville orange zest and marzipan’ on the palate, followed by a ‘demerara sugar and toasted oak’ finish.
The intention is that the CRN57 range will feature whiskies from 12-years-old up to 70-years-old, in a blended series intended to evoke the character and flavours of the single malts currently being distilled and matured at The Cairn Distillery.
Distillery Manager at The Cairn, Mhairi Winters, said: “Step One is the first in an annual series of releases that will take us towards the Cairn’s first single malt. It will provide visitors with a taste of what’s to come and with only a handful of bottles available, we expect this to be popular amongst collectors and explorers who are looking for something extra special and unique.
 “The CRN57 blended malt whisky range is just the start of the journey for us, as we look to give our visitors a hint of what we are creating, all available exclusively at The Cairn Distillery.”
Sited on the banks of the River Spey on the northern frontier of the Cairngorms National Park, Gordon & MacPhail stressed that every detail of The Cairn Distillery had been considered to ‘create a remarkable structure that is reflective of its environment’.
Reforestation projects are also underway to encourage native species and particular care has been taken to encourage the local population of rare goldeneye ducks.
