Glen Keith whisky

What I gathered on Glen Keith was a revelation for me, Glen Keith was not just a distillery.
It was Chivas living laboratory where they experimented all sorts of productions and processing systems.
A sort of apprentice sorcerer's secret research laboratory (well, I admit my writer's imagination tends to bring a dramatic ingredient which might not be in the recipe !). When Chivas opened Glen Keith distillery in 1959 (with an official opening in 1960), they made it clear the entire production was aimed for blending purposes. The whisky was to be an important ingredient for Chivas Regal (but also Passport and 100 pipers). The distillery stands in the shadow of Strathisla, heart of Chivas and one of the most visited in Speyside. I have never met anyone who resisted the charm of this dollhouse distillery. Its whisky makes up the heart of Chivas with, for resulting effect, a total underating of Strathisla single malt.

Located on the bank of the small river Isla, Glen Keith stands at the back of Strathisla.
It took its name from the city (the name Keith coming from the gaelic translation of wood, according to Misako Udo). It was named « Glen Keith-Glenlivet » until 1978, when, as for many distilleries of the region, the « Glenlivet » was dropped. The previous function of the buildings explain the location by the river. They sheltered a meal-mill which was converted into a distillery between 1957 (date of purchase of the Angus Milling Company) and 1960. In fact, most of the buildings had been demolished. But all the front part had been kept with its stone walls and a superb paved yard. The back part (mash house and malt area) was build in concrete. The owners (Seagram at that time) also built large racked warehouses by the side as a storage area for Glen Keith but also for the other malts of the group. Today, it is also the filling-store for Strathisla, the new make is piped in.

Glen Keith was the first « new » malt distillery opened in Scotland since the boom of victorian times in the 1890s. Glen Keith started with a set of three stills as it was to be triple-distilled (fulfilling the needs of the blending industry for a light and fruity spirit). It was also the first distillery to experiment automation for the mashing then the distilling in the 1980s. In fact, Glen Keith was the experimental ground of Seagram company. The idea being to test on a small scale what would be developped on a bigger one.

The stills

Alan Winchester compares Glen Keith installations to those of Bushmills.
« There was a wee pot-still we used to call the Irish still », he says. Glen Keith turned to complete double distillation in the 1980s. Two new stills were added in 1970 and for ten years, triple and double distillation were altered. The Spirit Stills have bowl necks whereas the Wash Stills are onion-shaped. There was also a column installed on N°3 still. It has been removed in the 1980s.

Glen Keith stills were the first gas-fired stills to be installed in Scotland in 1971.
Three years later, they were converted to steam coils. As among the many experiments which were conducted, wheat mashes were made at Strathisla and Glen Keith. There are somewhere in the warehouses casks of « mashed wheated Strathisla » (which could not be called so of course) and which probably go into blending. The stills have a very long lyne arm which makes quite a right angle.

The saladin boxes

Glen Keith used to practise its own malting in saladin boxes. The maltings also provided Strathisla with malt (the malt was blown to the distillery through pipes). The Saladin boxes were closed in 1976 (but they could still be used). The mash house was originally located where the laboratories still are. Then it was transferred upstairs, near the Saladin box and the kiln.

The peated malt - Glenisla / Craigduff

A peated single malt was produced at Glen Keith for a number of years.
It has been bottled by ID (Gordon & MacPhail) under the name Glenisla. But the peatiness came from the water and not from the malted barley. The peat came from Stornoway on Lewis island (outer hebrides). Alan Winchester cannot explain why they chose peat from so far away. All these experiments were led by the Americans in Seagram headquarters. The peat was burnt and the peatsmoke passed through the water (making a sort of tary solution) which was then used in the making process. Signatory Vintage has also bottled a peated version of Glen Keith (this time made with peated malted barley).

The yeast

Another very interesting aspect of Glen Keith experiments was all what they did about yeast. They produced their own strains, from the wort first, then from the pot-ale. That yeast was used by the distilleries of the group, especially Strathisla and Glen Grant. Nothing has ever been said about those experiments which were conducted by a foremost authority on yeast, DrWatson (who is still with Chivas company). Now as most distilleries, Chivas use commercial strains from Quest and Maury. But the strains have been pasteurized and are kept in the yeast library. It would be interesting to learn more about the subject. Alan says that the experiments were conducted to produce specific flavours. He agrees to say that yeast is very important in the making of the aromatic profile (I have always a deny on that question each time I have raised it with distillers and I regret not to have the scientific understanding of the subject. I only apprehend it from the aromatic aspect).

Conclusion

Glen Keith was mothballed in 1999 by Seagram. Since it was
bought by Pernod Ricard (2001), nothing has changed. The inside
buildings suffer from desertion. It is such a pity to see that
beautiful stillhouse deserted (the stills are there and could be
operational easily). The mash tun and washbacks are also not
too badly maintained. Pigeons seem to have adopted the place !
The outside building are really superb. I could easily imagine a conversion to artist lofts or a cooking school.
(Sorry, fantasies here !!!).

And what about all these experiments ? The laboratories still
exist. There are casks containing these experiments. There
seems to be a secret about all these (as if they were intentionally
hidden). Was a « frankenstein whisky » produced here ? The visit
of the place conveys that sense of mystery and secret… or is it my
brewing imagination which could see the ghost of a malt Dr Jekyll ? 

Any chance of seing Glen keith reopened ?
Very unlikely, as Allt-a-Bhainne was chosen for re-opening as it is a distillery which can easily be converted to a single man operation.

Thank you to Ann Miller who took me round and to Alain Winchester (our « well of science ») who is certainly the most documented source on Speyside distllery. Alan started his career as an apprentice brewer at Glen Keith.

Martine Nouet, September 2006

1) The famous and picturesque Strathisla distillery is located just a few hundred yards from Glen Keith.
 
2) I won't even try to add anything more to Martine's comprehensive and excellent profile...
 

Glen Keith 1967/2006 (53%, G&M Reserve for LMdW Paris, 215 Bts.)
Aaaah… Sweet & smooth & polished. A brilliant dram but at first there didn't seem to be too much development.
Lovely fruits on the palate. Really magnificent, so it lands in the 90's right there and then.
Brilliant fruity tannins in the finish. During a second sampling it climbed to 91 points.
Score: 91 points - this one made quite an impression at the Malt Maniacs Awards 2006.

Craigduff 32yo 1973/2005 (49.4%, Signatory, Sherry cask #2513, 566 Bottles, Glen Keith)
Nose: Sweet. Hint of mocca? Then some peat (?) covered in early fruits. A tad too subtle for me. Laddie?
It seemed far less subtle in the nose after some breathing. Warm milk and mocca. Faintest hint of peat.
Taste: Quite watery in the start. Then sweet liquorice. Something sour. Dry with playful tannins in the finish.
Now I got mocca on the palate too. Toffee. Malty and fruity too, with a hint of peat smoke. A tad dry in the finish.
Score: 87 points - maybe a tad subtle, but overall quite enjoyable. I'm simply a sucker for tannins I guess.

Glen Keith 10yo (40%, OB, Bottled +/-1998)
Nose: Quite grainy. Oily. Sweetish with something citrussy. Ginger? Woody; raw pine rather than polished oak.
Taste: Fairly weak. Sweet and toffeeish at first. Malty. Some fruits. Flat centre. Needs a higher proof?
Score: 70 points - this one didn't impress me as much as its '1983' predecessor.

Glen Keith-Glenlivet 22yo 1973/1995 (57.1%, Cadenhead's, Distilled 04/1973, Bottled 10/1995)
Nose: Deep & complex. Organics, Schwarzwalder Kirschtorte. Sweetens out. Tea leaves? Smoke? Spicy punch.
Taste: Surprisingly light fruitiness. Honeyish. Drinkable at C/S. Breaks up with some water but bounces back.
Score: 79 points - almost recommendable.

Glen Keith 1983 (43%, OB, Bottled +/- 1994, 70cl)
Nose: Restrained; slightly sweet & oily at first. After some breathing: wood, ginger and whiffs of citrus.
Taste: Very nice. Simple, sweet start grows more malty after a while. Ends in a dry and bitter finish.
Score: 74 points - not bad, but below average (and about ten points below many malts in the same price range).
 

These were not all the (official and independent) expressions of Glen Keith whisky I've tried over the years.
My Track Record used to contain a complete overview of all the single malts I've tried, but when I passed the 2000 malts mark (and the complete whisky list wouldn't fit on two separate HTML pages anymore) I gave up. My Liquid Log still contains my tasting notes on most single malts I've sampled and scored, though. You can find a specific expression through the search box at the top of each distillery profile. The mAlmanac now contains (purely personal) selections of some of the best single malts and the worst whiskies I've tried so far - as well as the ones with the highest 'Bang-For-Your-Buck' value. But those tasting notes and scores only reflect my own, purely personal opinions.

On Serge's distillery profile on Whiskyfun you can find another perspective on the whisky made at this distillery.
Check out the Malt Maniacs Monitor on Malt Maniacs for my scores on all expressions I've tried so far - and those of almost all the other certified malt maniacs as well. The Malt Maniacs Matrix contains a few thousand single malts that were sampled and scored by at least four different malt maniacs, so you can compare our individual opinions.
 

The Glen Keith distillery was built in 1957-1960 on the site of a corn
mill by Chivas Brothers, who also owned the existing Strathisla distillery
nearby. It was one of the first new malt distilleries in Scotland since the
late-Victorian whisky boom. Glen Keith (a.k.a. Glenkeith) originally had
three stills because the distillery was designed for triple distillation.
This 'Lowland' set-up was very unusual for a Speyside distillery...

The number of stills was increased to five in 1970 when they switched
to double distillation. The new stills were a novelty; they were the first
gas-fired still in Scotland. The distillery was mothballed in 1999 and
sold to Pernod Ricard in 2001. When I wrote the latest update of this
profile, Glen Keith distillery had not been restarted yet.

When Malt Madness and Malt Maniacs were still two parts of the same website, I thought I could
save some time in finishing this 'DD' section by asking some other malt maniacs to submit a few
profiles for closed distilleries, while I focused on the active distilleries. When I had wrapped up
about a third of the profiles for active distilleries and the other maniacs had covered about half of
the closed distilleries, the old website crashed and we had to start work on two brand new sites.

When I write this (February 2009) I still haven't finished the entire 'Distillery Data' section, so I'm happy Martine Nouet wrote such an excellent profile for Glen Keith. I've posted it here;

Glen Keith Distillery Profile by Martine Nouet

Glen Keith… the secret laboratory

There is always a sad feeling about seeing a closed distillery.
In Glen Keith's case, the cast iron gates firmly closed by a huge brass tadlock convey an even stronger impression of desertion and doom laden fate. Not that the buildings themselves look bleak or grim. They are well-maintained and the splendid architecture of that ancient meal-mill (a corn one) is a real delight. I was probably conditioned by my conversation with Alan Winchester, recently promoted production manager for all the Chivas distilleries after having managed Aberlour distillery for a number of years) prior to my visit of Glen Keith last may.