Scottish Single Grain Whisky: Whisky made using a Single Grain.
Single Grain Scotch whisky is distilled at a single distillery from water and malted barley with or without whole grains of other malted or unmalted cereals, and which does not comply with the definition of a Single Malt Scotch Whisky. It may contain more than one type of grain and is typically wheat (the cheapest in the current market), maize (corn), rye and/or unmalted barley. To avoid the use of industrial enzymes, most distillers use at least 5% malted barley, which affords the introduction of ample quantities of natural enzymes which facilitate the fermentation process.
Over the years, the number of grain distilleries has decreased, and now there are only seven distilleries left in Scotland.
- (Cameronbridge (Diageo)
- Girvan (W. Grant & Sons)
- Invergordon (Whyte & Mackay)
- North British (owned by Diageo / the Edrington Group)
- Starlaw (La Martiniquaise)
- Strathclyde (Pernod Ricard)
Some of the grain whiskies that are mentioned below are the Black Barrel Grain whisky from the Girvan Distillery, Carsebridge Grain Whisky from the distillery of the same name and also the most famous in my mind the Cameron Bridge Single Grain which is famous around the world. I often get the remark that people did not know there were so many different grain whiskies in the market, but nearly everyone has heard of Cameron Bridge. Single Grain Scotch Whisky is always unpeated and lighter in style than the malts. This lets the oaky flavours come through when consuming this type of whisky.
Port Dundas Distillery: Grain Distillery in Scotland
There is also the grain whisky for the Port Dundas Distillery in Glasgow. This distillery has now closed, but when it was open, you could smell its new batch all over the Glasgow area if the wind was in the correct direction. You could also see the smoke from the distillery chimney all year round and from nearly any place within the Greater Glasgow area. The amount of smoke all depends on the activities within the distillery. When growing up in Glasgow, the smell from this distillery is probably my first memory of the whisky industry.
Enjoy this Grain Whisky page, and remember you can purchase most of these grain whiskies on this page by clicking the link directly under each bottle.
Tomintoul Distillery Tour
Planet Whiskies had a fantastic trip up to the Speyside Whisky region of Scotland in February 2024 to visit Angus Dundee Distillers Tomintoul Distillery within the Cairngorms National Park. Then, after the distillery tour and tasting, which was hosted by Iain Forteath, the master blender of Tomintoul, our press group travelled and stayed the night at the recently bought country home of Tomintoul House in the Aultmore Estate (previously called Aultmore House). Planet Whiskies has made the Tomintoul Distillery, Distillery of the Month for both March/April 2024.
Bushmills Distillery Tour
Planet Whiskies visited the new Bushmills Distillery in Northern Ireland on the 25th and 26th of September. Read our review of the experience of Bushmills and Northern Ireland at Planet Whiskies tour of Bushmills and Northern Ireland
You can also read the whole section about Bushmills Distillery.
Drams Delivered To Your Door - The World’s Biggest Whisky Club Drops New Monthly Subscription Service
Whisky enthusiasts can now take their passion to the next level and have exceptional cask strength single malt whiskies delivered to their doors every month thanks to The Scotch Malt Whisky Society's new 'Drop & Dram' subscription service.
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Keith Law: Master Distiller of Diageo
There are now two special pages on this website all about the views of Keith Law, the Master Distiller at Diageo. First page is about Blended Whisky and Food and the second page is a question and answer session relating to Keith's past experiences.... VIEW ANSWERS
