Last week our latest experimental collection for PrinLaws, went into production. A Scottish ‘Pot Still’ whisky that is inspired by the great traditions of old pot still whisk(e)y-making in Ireland and Scotland, but with very deliberate twists that makes it firmly a product of Fife.  As far as we are aware, it is the first time this century a distiller in Scotland has announced the production of a ‘Pot Still’ style of whisky.

The development team here at the distillery has taken the lead from the Irish definition, which is protected in law, to search for interesting new flavours.  The grains used to make this new whisky are distillers’ malt from Canada (60%), unmalted barley (35%) from Balgonie Estate and malted rye (5%), also from Balgonie.  High Diastatic Power (HDP) malt from Canada is used as it has higher levels of enzymes occurring naturally. Unlike in Ireland, in Scotland it is illegal to add enzymes into the mash and so the HDP malted barley aids conversion of starch into sugars and increases flavour.

Over the course of a the week InchDairnie’s expertly skilled Stillhouse team, led by Founder, Ian Palmer, and Distillery Manager, Scott Sneddon, milled the finest grist using our innovative hammermill; mashed using the rare mash filter extracting maximum sugars; fermented using distillers MG+ yeast and then distilled in copper pot stills with our double condensers.  Unusually for a Pot Still Whisky, it has been double distilled rather than triple distilled.   The final spirit has been filled into first fill bourbon barrels for maturation in our warehouses onsite.

Commenting on the latest move for the PrinLaws Collection, Ian said:  “While this style of whisky was once commonly produced in Scotland centuries ago, it has fallen out of favour in recent times, which is a real shame as there are some fascinating flavour characteristics to come from working with malted and unmalted grains of various types.  We’ve bridged the traditions between Scotch and Irish whisky to create a truly innovative whisky that I’m sure will delight drinkers in the years to come.”

“Our three ‘Ms’ philosophy – materials, method and maturation – is deeply rooted in this latest experimentation.  We’ve kept to a double distillation as is tradition in Scotland, and we can’t use enzymes to improve sugar conversion, unlike in Ireland.  While we need to wait for the results of years of maturation in our ex Bourbon casks, we anticipate a more complex, spicy oily whisky than what you’d expect in an Irish Pot Still Whiskey.”  Added Scott Sneddon.

This 2023 PrinLaws Collection follows experimental distillations of wheated whisky in 2022 and a sour mash bill in 2021.  We have no release date set, and as always it will only be released when it is ready.