This is a big month for the Morrison family as the whisky-making dynasty releases the first bottling from their Aberargie Distillery in Perthshire.
The Inaugural bottling, available this month, is the result of years of work from the distillery team – who began producing spirit back in 2017.
Aberargie is a true farm distillery, producing its whisky barley-to-bottle.
Two types of barley are grown on farms owned by the family: Golden Promise – a heritage barley once widely used by the industry and grown at Aberargie – and Laureate, which is grown on the other family farms. Both strains contribute their own flavour profiles to the spirit.
The Inaugural bottling is a mixture of 52% Golden Promise and 48% Laureate barley and was matured in a combination of first-fill bourbon and first-fill sherry casks.
The whisky has been bottled at 48.2% ABV, without chill filtration or the addition of artificial colouring.
The release of the whisky was a major moment for everyone at parent company Morrison Distillers – which also bottles the Càrn Mòr, Old Perth and Mac-Talla whiskies – but perhaps most of all for chairman Jamie Morrison, whose family has been involved with the whisky industry for five generations and at one time owned the Bowmore, Auchentoshan and Glen Garioch distilleries.
At a launch event for the Inaugural whisky Jamie said the unveiling of the first bottling was ‘a humbling experience’ and a ‘very, very proud moment’ that has been more than a decade in the making.
And managing director Niel Hendriksz said the family’s commitment to producing the best liquid possible meant the team were able to wait until the liquid was just right before releasing it.
“What we do here at Aberargie is quite simple: we try and make good whisky in a way that makes sense to us,” he said. “Someone asked why we decided to launch just now? Why was the timing right?
“The short answer is: because we feel the liquid is ready.”
Aberargie Inaugural has flavours of baked apple and golden pastry, followed by sultanas and prunes, and with a lingering, herbal finish.
The single malt is available from wholesalers including Royal Mile Whiskies, Select Drams, Master of Malt and Speciality Drinks.
