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InchDairnie's
first whisky release, Ryelaw, will be a
groundbreaking ‘rye whisky’ that brings
together elements of Scotch whisky and
American rye whiskey.
Amongst a host of new whisky
distilleries to go into production in
Scotland in recent years is the new
Lowland distillery InchDairnie, unlike
most of these distilleries that have
burst into life recently, InchDairnie
which went into production in May 2016
has quite a significant output capacity
of 2 million litres per year.
InchDairnie is owned by John Fergus & Co
Ltd which was founded by 40 year whisky
industry veteran Ian Palmer, Ian is a
minority share holder in the company,
CES Whisky Ltd holds the rest of the
shares.
With a £10 million investment behind
InchDairnie it took only 18 months to
get the modern technically advanced and
energy efficient distillery distillery up an running and
this week the distillery underlined its
innovative intentions with the news that
its first release, Ryelaw, will be a
groundbreaking ‘rye whisky’ that brings
together elements of Scotch whisky and
American rye whiskey.
The creation of Ryelaw marks what is
believed to be the return of the use of
rye in Scotch whisky for the first time
in over 100 years, and the culmination
of a meticulously developed year-long
project at Inchdairnie.
Ryelaw is inspired by a discovery made
by InchDairnie’s managing director Ian
Palmer; the unearthing of evidence in
the 1908/9 Royal Commission Report on
Whisky and Other Potable Spirits that
shows rye was historically commonly used
to make Scotch whisky more than 100
years ago. He combined this finding with
his desire to fuse whisky tradition with
innovative technology and his
forward-thinking approach.
Unique equipment, recipe and production
Ryelaw is unique in a number of ways.
Firstly, it has been created using
InchDairnie’s unconventional mash
filter, one of only two in Scotland,
which is able to process the viscous rye
grains, unlike the traditional mash tuns
in most distilleries.
Secondly, its secret recipe, with its
high proportion of malted rye, and the
fact that it will be made and matured in
Scotland, means that it will meet the
legal definitions of both a Scotch
whisky and an American rye whiskey. In
America, rye whiskey must contain at
least 51% rye.
Lastly, distillation will partly take
place in the distillery’s bespoke Lomond
Hill still, which was installed
alongside two traditional pot stills to
provide the capacity to experiment and
the ability to have greater control over
shaping flavour. As a result, Ryelaw
will be the first rye whisky ever to be
distilled in a Lomond Hill still.
While it can be described in general
terms as a ‘rye whisky’, Ryelaw will
officially be categorised as a single
grain Scotch whisky made using malted
rye. This is in line with The Scotch
Whisky Regulations 2009, which define
the five categories of Scotch whisky and
state that distillers in Scotland can
only make Scotch whisky.
Pushing the boundaries of flavour
In keeping with the meticulous approach
taken with the distillery’s design,
choice of equipment and production
processes, Ryelaw has been in
development over the past year, with
initial pilot distillation already
having taken place in October.
Together with Palmer’s 40 years of
production expertise and the experience
of distillery manager Scott Sneddon,
InchDairnie has developed Ryelaw with a
number of partners including food and
drink innovation consultants Campden BRI,
malt specialists Muntons, and yeast
producers AB Mauri. The rye is currently
supplied by Muntons, while the next
batch and future batches will be grown
by a local Fife farmer.
Ryelaw will be matured in new American
oak casks, with the combination of the
malted rye and fresh wood designed to
create a distinctive take on the full
spicy flavour, which rye whisky is
renowned for.
When it is released, Ryelaw will become
part of the core range being created at
the distillery that will include other
innovative whiskies, and an InchDairnie
Single Malt Scotch whisky, which is
expected to be available in around 2029.
Of his decision to create a whisky using
rye, Ian Palmer said: "Our intention
with the distillery right from the start
was to push the boundaries of flavour in
whisky using a combination of our
experience and new technology while
remaining true to whisky’s traditions.
"Creating this ‘rye whisky’ is one of
many experimental ideas we had in mind
when we built the distillery and one of
the reasons we chose to install specific
equipment that others do not have such
as the mash filter and Lomond Hill
still.
"We’ve spent a year researching and
developing this and now we’re incredibly
excited to be ready to start distilling.
Rye whisky aficionados and malt whisky
lovers will have to wait a good few
years before we are ready to bottle it
though!"
Skylaw only accounts for around 20% of
the distillery's 2 million litre output
capacity each year, they also produce
another main style of new make spirit
which makes up 80% of its annual
production, a new make spirit named
Strathhenry, which is both peated and
unpeated in style and will supply the
company's partner Macduff International
and be used in their blends such as
Islay Mist and Lauder's.
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