Seasoned by the season

Scotch whisky evolved as a seasonal spirit, distilled in the winter when there was grain to spare. The chill in the air, and the icy cold water from a burn or a spring, helped capture the vapours rising from the pot and down the copper worm. These were ideal conditions for making whisky, and probably still are.

“Distillation is going to be better in the winter because you can control the heat better,” says Iain McAlister, distillery manager at Glen Scotia. “Historically, it was always a winter pursuit, especially here in Campbeltown. They wouldn’t distil in the summer because they were off working in the fisheries, and because the water was ‘soft’.” By this, he means it wasn’t cold enough to properly condense the vapours unless you ran the stills very slowly.

That original link to the seasons began to evaporate as Scotch whisky became an industry with year-round production. Rural distilleries were often tied to the local farmers who supplied them, and that in turn tied them to the rhythms of sowing and harvesting the barley through the year. But once distillers had abandoned floor maltings in favour of contract maltsters in the 1960s, those bonds were broken.

And yet even now, perhaps there are subtle differences in the character of the newmake spirit from one season to the next if you look for them. That was the inspiration for Ian Palmer of InchDairnie distillery in Fife which he founded in 2014 after a long career that began at Invergordon. While many producers focus on creating flavour through additional maturation, he sped off in the opposite direction to the start of the process.

“The main element of seasonal influence is in fermentation,” he explains. “For me, fermentation and the use of different yeasts is something that the Scotch whisky industry has completely ignored for a great number of years in its search for efficiency. Whereas we kind of do it the other way around. We’re prepared to give up efficiency if it gives us a flavour difference.”

InchDairnie does its fermenting al fresco in its outdoor washbacks, as does Glen Scotia. “Today, if I look outside, it’s grey and miserable, and soaking wet,” Ian tells me on the phone. “That’s going to be making an impact. As it gets colder, it slows down the fermentation, when it gets warmer it speeds up.”  

From mid-winter to mid-summer, the temperature going into the washbacks varies by “probably 4C (39.2F)” he says. When warmer and therefore faster, there’s more time for the wash to pick up “more of the yeast break-down impact.” At InchDairnie this is further tweaked by using different strains of yeast for each season and using spring barley in the spring and summer months, and winter barley the rest of the year.

Before fermentation, the worts are clear in the summer “like Pilsner,” he says, “and cloudy, like a wheat beer in winter.” These cumulative effects create the seasonal new-make spirit which is filled into wood and kept separate. “This gives us a huge palate to work with,” he explains. “Eventually, when our 12-year-old single malt is bottled in 2029, it will be a blend of all four seasons.”

There have always been differences in whisky, not least from one cask to another – which of course underpins all Society bottlings. And yet the Scotch whisky industry is driven by its desire to blend or vat these away in the name of consistency. In most cases that is just what consumers are looking for. Those drinking Johnnie Walker Black Label want it to taste the same year in year out anywhere in the world.

However, there’s always room for a little variety around the edges, even from the giant Diageo. In 2015 it launched Dalwhinnie Winter Gold from its highest distillery at just over 1000 feet up, beside the A9, with an average annual temperature of just 6C (42.8F). With its strapline ‘crafted by the cold’, it is made from spirit filled from October to March when the vapours would condense faster in the worm tubs. This is said to produce a slightly heavier spirit.

The family-owned farm distillery of Lochlea in Ayrshire, releases an annual ‘crop’ of four whiskies called ‘Sowing’, ‘Harvest’, ‘Fallow’ and ‘Ploughing’ at different times of the year. ‘Ploughing’, matured in ex-Islay barrels and peated quarter-casks is meant as a winter dram, while ‘Harvest’ spends time in Port and Oloroso sherry casks for more summery fruit flavours.

Creating ‘seasonal’ styles out of cask selection is an approach open to any distillery, and sometimes you may wonder if it’s really ‘cut grass and spring flowers’ you’re getting, or is it just the label talking? But the proof is in the pudding and Lochlea’s releases sell out fast according to Jordan Knight who looks after marketing. “I think people quite like the idea of a whisky married to the time of year, and to the weather,” he says.

Founder of Nc’nean distillery on the Morvern peninsula, Annabel Thomas says: “We actually change our production process for the summer, but we’re not trying to create a summer whisky.” She describes the newmake as “rather more wintery”, and it is being a long maturation. It is currently in cask with two years to go until its release as a 10-year-old.
“But what we have done, released this spring, is Huntress Lemon Meadow,” she says. “And, it is the summery-ist whisky you could possibly imagine. It’s really citrusy and bright, and just perfect for summer days, and it came out of experiments with yeast.” She is not convinced that spring-time malts will become whisky’s answer to Rosé but says: “I think one thing these whiskies can do, is encourage people to think about whisky on different occasions.” And true enough you don’t need to sit by a roaring log fire in a kilt to enjoy a dram.