Speyburn

Owner.. Inver house distillers.
Founded.. 1897.
Region.. Speyside.
Capacity.. 4 200 000
Tel.. 01340 831213
Web.. http://www.speyburn.com

 

OUR HERITAGE

Our founder John Hopkins knew a thing or two about instinct. He carved his own path through life, trusting his intuition every step of the way. Like Hopkins, we believe that following your instincts leads to somewhere great. You only have to read about our heritage to see why.
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Heritage

THE GRANTY BURN

While hunting for the perfect spot for his distillery, Hopkins discovered the Granty Burn – an untouched stream hidden in a secluded Speyside valley. He knew that the exceptionally pure water of this burn would produce a remarkable whisky with a naturally refreshing character. Hopkins trusted his intuition and built the Speyburn distillery right there in the glen, using authentic river stones from the bed of the fast-flowing River Spey itself. Over 100 years after its founding, Speyburn remains the only distillery to use the pure, crystal-clear water of the Granty Burn.

BUILDING IN THE VALLEY CAME WITH ITS OWN CHALLENGES

These narrow glens aren’t a common spot for distilleries and for good reason. Space was a precious commodity and every last inch had to pull its weight.

Good thing Hopkins was a believer in innovation. Instead of building out, he built our distillery up through the trees. Instead of one vast drying floor, he raised his malt upwards using layer upon layer of mesh, infusing it with the vibrancy of the Speyside air. He embraced the world of invention and ours became the first malt distillery to adopt drum maltings – and one of the first to reap the rewards.

AS IT TURNED OUT HOPKINS WAS A MAN OF HIS WORD

On the last night of the year, he and his team toiled through a storm of Arctic proportions to craft a whisky in time to toast the Queen’s Jubilee. Determined that their first bottle would bear the year 1897 on its label, Hopkins and his men battled against the elements wearing overcoats and mufflers to protect them from the freezing snow. After hours of hard work, and with the help of the heroic efforts of his distillery men, Hopkins finally triumphed and was rewarded with the first barrel of Speyburn whisky – a single malt born of instinct.

 

OUR PROCESS

Though we’re proud of our whisky-making traditions, we’re also believers in innovation.
We face each new challenge with the same spirit of invention as our founder. Our valley home made space a precious commodity, so instead of building out, Hopkins built our distillery up through the trees. Instead of one vast drying floor, he raised his malt upwards using layer upon layer of mesh, infusing it with the vibrancy of the Speyside air.
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Process

WATER SOURCE

While hunting for the perfect spot for his distillery, Hopkins discovered the Granty Burn – a stream left untouched by man and flowing with remarkably soft & pure spring water. Over 100 years after its founding, Speyburn remains the only distillery to use the pure, crystal-clear water of the Granty Burn.

MALTING & MILLING

Speyburn goes to great lengths in pursuit of quality, ensuring consistently high quality (virtually unpeated) malt from specialist UK suppliers with a long tradition of servicing the malt whisky industry is sourced. A twin roller 10 tonne ‘Boby’ mill grinds 5.6 tonnes of malt per mash.

MASHING

Here at Speyburn distillery we use a traditional semi lauter style mash tun which takes 5.6 tonnes per mash. We run 19 mashes per week with each one taking 8 hours to complete. This long mashing process produces clear and flavoursome wort.

FERMENTATION

We have four traditional Douglas Fir wooden washbacks. We use liquid yeast for fermentation and after a 48 hour process produce a wash with 8% abv.

DISTILLATION

We have one wash and one spirit still, both of which are a classic Speyside shape with a broad base and tall neck. These contribute to the light style of the spirit. The spirit is condensed with traditional worm tubs, which adds body and character to the spirit.