Glen Garioch - "The Geery"

At the heart of Old Meldrum, a windless sunny day looms over an inch of snow, trying its best to persuade the thin white carpet to melt into its colorless alter-ego. We are in the middle of the length of King Street, or all that is left of it before it bends once more to end in a dead end. It is the last week of February and we’re nearer to Spring than to when this mild winter began a couple of months ago, that nonetheless left these areas scarred with floods and devastation of an extent unseen in the last couple of decades. Change is in the air and around us as a metallic lifesize stag welcomes us as at the entrance of the Glen Garioch distillery. There’s a blotch of snow precariously on its face and I feel an urge to will the stag on to shake it off.

A whisky which sits a number of years in, say, a bourbon cask and is transferred to mature further or finish in a sherry or wine cask goes on to lend itself to its new dwelling and acquires a better expression, which would be a representation of both its stints. I wonder at times if there is a meta-chemical struggle within the Whisky to resist, to refuse to infuse further (however futile it may be), or about the whole transition itself. Though mindful of the fact that such musings do nothing but serve the purpose of a romantic poetic allegory, the thought came quite naturally standing on the grounds of a farm-like distillery still housed in its original buildings of the 19th century, yet having to its account such a rich history of change, and was yet again delicately poised at the cusp of a new era in its incredibly rich story.

I looked curiously around inside the Doric entity that has had to lend itself to Japanese and American owners in recent times. The difficulties and excitement of such changes were evident to me as an Expat myself. Over the years of change, the Stag that had been integral to their branding was relinquished; bottling, malting and cooperage that were on site were discontinued in favour of operational optimization, more health and safety emphasis that comes with being a part of a large organization was evident all around, but an unmistakable rustic earthiness and an organic texture to the Whisky making and the Whisky itself that is so characteristic to these parts of Scotland was hard to miss. In its heart, the ‘Geery’ is still a small distillery which dearly loves and proudly lives on not just for the sake of what it produces, but also for what it represents in the cultural context of these lands. More than half a dozen distilleries shut down in the Eastern Highlands during the 1980s and 90s due to problems with the supply of water and barley.

The Kiln

The Geery, which was known for its peatiness back then was itself shut down briefly for the same reasons, but the discovery of a new water source revived it, albeit in a new non-peaty avatar. The peat from the last fire 21 years ago still stoically stares out of the hearth in the Kiln Room. The barley it dried would’ve made a fine malt if one were to go by the taste of the Whisky the Geery currently produces, but I could probably never know given how lucky and out of pocket I would have to be to find and sample the erstwhile peaty malt on the auctions.

There were three quinnes who would answer to the name of Fiona in the office this fine Saturday morning (and a fourth who we were jokingly assured wouldn’t mind answering to that name). One of the Fionas would be our guide for the next hour and a half, and our tour started with a 10 minute video on the history of the Geery. This is quite a trend now, for distillery visitor areas to have an economically lit corner conducive to the playing of well cinematographed glimpses on the heritage of the place; and one could see the newer ownership of Geery playing catch up on the trend. I wouldn’t personally mind another table or two adorned with Whisky bottles and artefacts in place of the lined up rows of chairs for people to stare at the screen, while the distillery has at its disposal tour guides of such terrific depth of local and Whisky making knowledge as the Geery does. Likewise with the fire safety briefing before embarking on the tour or the safety announcements going up the stair or through low doors. That anyway is beside the point. But the distillery itself seems aptly spread across buildings to all four sides of the village crossroads!

Pipelines (not out of use) to convey Spirit from the Spirit House (right) to the Filling House (left)

The making of Whisky has to be understood in its social context as much as the drinking of Whisky itself, and with it are the stories, anecdotes and history that make up the experience of visiting a distillery that subsequently becomes a part of the consumption of its produce.

The erstwhile Malting Floor

And there were stories- resurrecting the now silent empty malting floor, of how local men would work 12 hours shifts broken into three 4 hour stints of manually turning the barley lain on the floor, with breaks for quick swigs of the new spirit to keep them going. Stories of sooty sweaty  bodies in the kiln room working up a good peaty fire to dry and flavour the barley; three dogs among the crew, preferred over cats to keep the mice away partly because they would lead the staff to the source of the mice.




One of the dogs even featured in the crew photos, among other old photos and Doric inscriptions along the walls housing the Mash Tun and the Washback, which themselves glisten in their modern stainless steel avatars having been upgraded from their old wooden bodies a little over a couple of decades ago for the ease of cleaning and maintenance. Much as the Scottish landscapes appeal with a starkly different kind of beauty when viewed in different seasons, a distillery has its own appeal while operational and not.

Inside the Mash Tun

The Washbacks

One look at the stills are a good reminder of why any scientific correlation between still sizes, lyne arm lengths (and other characteristics of the apparatus that is widely accepted as making the spirit light or hard or smooth to any extent) and the character of the spirit itself has eluded any conclusive inferences over time.

The original spirit still that was used for the erstwhile peated spirit is currently out of use and a newer replica, albeit with a narrower body and neck,  is used instead, aimed at making the spirit that much lighter. The distillery has plans to put the original one in use again, but are hampered by the lone Wash still installation available. All the stills are copper and the distance between the spirit condenser and the Wash still warrants a longer than usual lyne arm connecting the two. These might just be the longest lyne arms in all. The stills are of average height and are steam heated, with their slanted necks straightening horizontally as they join the condenser. The heart of the spirit is maintained at 69% ABV, and this spirit we got to sample later was considerably light and aromatic with hints of spice and was a wee bit oily. 

It is also worthwhile noting here that the granite buildings of the Geery make the interiors quite chilly, and at the same time help keep the angel’s share that much lower.

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The Whisky

Their standard expression of the 12 year old Malt is matured in ex-bourbon hoggies and sherry butts, and their warehouse housed quite a few ASBs as well. The new 12 year old was first released in 2010 and is bottled at a relatively higher 48% ABV partly owing to the non chill filtering philosophy of the Geery. While this makes it a wee more expensive in comparison, it surely is a good value for money as this translates to rich bold malty sweetness on the nose, with floral and fruity undertones. It’s oily oakiness on the mouth is well balanced by fruits later, and a long creamy fragrant finish.

There are other interesting expressions - one matured in virgin oak casks and one entirely in wine casks, while there are other expressions that are gaining traction on the market - like their Renaissance and Founder’s Reserve bottlings. The Renaissance itself is labeled as ‘Part one of a four part story’, but the rest of the parts that make up the story are unfortunately behind on their ETA to the market.

While the Founder’s Reserve does not carry an age statement and is a blend of Single malts between 3 and 10 years of age, with notes of spice, vegetable oil and citrus on the nose and a bitter sweet creamy body and a medium dry finish of wood, smoke and sweets; the Renaissance is a 15 year old matured in bourbon and sherry casks and definitely conveys its age. It is sweet on the nose, in the mouth and the finish, though not overpoweringly so and is beautifully balanced with toasted malt, nuts, oak and spice on the nose, with mild fruity, nutty bitters and buttered toast in a medium oily mouthfeel that tapers off in a lingering crisp finish.

The Virgin Oak expression is a small batch release with no age statement and deserves a lot of credit for a very successful experiment with the new trend of Virgin Oak cask maturation which might quite become a norm in the near future, given the changing regulations around reusable barrels in the States. This dram is very sweet indeed, and spicy and oaky too - with a lot of wood and spice complimenting the creamy sweetness on the nose, and a further burst of spice hiding behind the initial sweet, oaky, fragrant and oily mouthfeel, with an initially sweet and oaky finish lingering on with spices on the throat. This dram might not be an instant hit with someone expecting a very well balanced dram we’ve come to know the Geery for, but has enough complexity to keep the sampler interested.

The 1998 Wine Cask matured Malt again comes with no age statement, and having matured entirely in French Wine casks is what I would call a drinking whisky - not too much to ponder on or flutter about, sweet and spicy all through (as noted in the Producer’s tasting notes as well) with hints of fruits and chocolate in between and a wee note of tannins along, invoking memories of mulled wine - that suddenly comes into popular consciousness around Christmas and fades as quickly at the onset of the new year.

The crisp and bright start to the day had lingered on to the afternoon as we finished the tour, which is quite a thing for this part of Britain any time of the year, let alone in February. And the image of the Geery had sustained similarly in our minds - a bonny warm place well rooted at the Eastern edge of the Scottish Highlands, with strings and tentacles spread to as far east and west as the demand for its dram.