A quick post during my lunch hour.
I've spent just 2 hours with Gavin and Tony but I already consider myself to be an expert in the art of distilling whisky...
That's rubbish, of course. In fact, I'm still getting my washback mixed up with my mash-tun, and my low wines confused with my feints. It's a weird juggling act of ten or more separate processes all going on the same time. They seem to have an internal clock which guides them from one to the other - an act of liquid and vapour plate-spinning which is a joy to behold.
I'm struggling to describe my first morning - my head is full of facts and folklore, my nostrils full of amazing smells. But it has been everything I had hoped for. Tony & Gavin are patient, understanding, helpful and interested. Most of all, they are relaxed. Could I get any more chilled?
Two things sum up the laid-back approach: the first was when Anthony, the distillery owner, brought in a display banner that needed repairing, before it could be shipped off to an exhibition. Yours truly mucked in with screwdriver and I'm pleased to say did not disgrace my status as a Fellow of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers. The fact that Tony was supposed to be monitoring the spirit coming off the still didn't seem to bother anyone.
Second, Tony offloaded some new barley deliver from the adjacent farm and then took me to see the malting floor. He then shoved a rake in my hands and showed me how to thin out the malt to stop it all getting tangled up.
I think it's going to be like this all week - jobs here, a chat there, a tasting or two.
What could be better?
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
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