Tales of the Worm Tub

Transporting you back in time the Society’s latest Creators Collection, Tales of the worm tub, lets you experience a different era of Scotch whisky distillation. Since shell and tube condensers came to dominate Scotland’s distilleries in the late 1960s, worm tub condensers have become somewhat of an anomaly in today’s whisky landscape. However, not everyone has been won over by the more efficient lure of the shell and tube condenser – a select few choose to embrace the untamed nature of this old-school distillation technique.

There is beauty in the worm tub’s simplicity. The vapours from distillation sneak over the neck of the still and run into a copper coil – curled like an extended worm or snake – which is submerged in a tank of water, condensing the vapours into a spirit. In one form or another, they’ve likely been around for as long as distillation itself. You would have found them used in early distillation units for perfume, but also notably in illicit stills used by bootleggers scattered around Scotland who used the worm without the tub.

Although still used throughout Scotland’s whisky production, the implementation of worm tubs has become somewhat of a rarity. Many distilleries now strive for a very fruity and clean spirit character, making shell and tube condensers the more sensible option. As a result, where worm tubs are still in use, there tends to be good reasoning behind it. Though they’re often the ideal device to create heavier, meatier spirit, tweaks in distillation allow worm tubs to offer a wide range of spirit character.

Tales of the worm tub: Celebrating the bold, the rich and the robust, offers three fascinating takes on the use of this traditional distillation technique. The Society’s head of whisky creation, Euan Campbell, explains: “Here we have three whiskies from the same region, in the same flavour profile, yet each with their unique take on this old style of condenser.”

He continues: “In each case, the maturation journey has imbued the whiskies with autumnal fruits, think bruised apples with brown sugar. These weightier spirits stand up well to such cask types, with their oily, nutty spirit character shining through. For me, the worm tubs add a deep and robust bass line, upon which the complex elements of each dram can be built.”

Cask No. 36.228: The snaking coil is 28-years-old and spent around 26 of those years in a bourbon hogshead before being rehomed in a first fill American oak Pedro Ximénez hogshead. This dram is a relic of the past and not just because the worm tubs. Distillery 36 used to partially triple distil their malts up until 2007, after which they switched to double distillation, as is customary in the today’s industry. Though the distillery itself remains open, this style of spirit is no longer produced.

Having fallen to a natural cask strength of 47% abv its hallmarks of age are layered with tremendous complexity. The nose is absolutely stunning, with aromas of dark chocolate, leather, cocoa powder and dried apricots. Meanwhile the palate is balanced with notes of Manuka honey, dried fruits, baking spices, armagnac-soaked prunes and beeswax.

Cask No. 76.157: Behold the beast is also an example of partial triple distillation, though in this case it’s a little more complex and uses five different stills. Without getting into the details, it provides a very punchy, robust distillate that’s very well known. At 54.3% abv this 18-year-old is noticeably heavier than Cask No. 36.228: The snaking coil. Despite spending its entire maturation in a first fill oloroso butt, the cask doesn’t overpower this meaty and earthy spirit. Beautifully balanced, the distillate shines through admirably, giving you plenty to unpack in this delightful dram.

On the nose there’s lots of dried fruits alongside a tiny kick of gunpowder and hints of serrano ham. There’s also a lovely biscuity aspect to it which complements the meatier notes well. As expected, there’s power and heft on the palate that’s well matched with soft red fruits. You could spend hours dissecting the layers of complexity in this dram, uncovering plenty of tangy spices and old leather antiques.

Cask No. 44.190: Unleash the serpent, in my opinion, is one of the punchiest worm tub expressions you can find. It is very characterful – meaty and sulphurous but quite delicious. At 21-years-old this dram offers an incredible complexity that not many whiskies can achieve. This new oak cask was treated with a heavy char, smoothing over any rough edges or impurities the distillate might have had. The result is a rich, fatty, nutty and meaty dram where you can really appreciate the significant time it has spent in cask. After this much time, some of the heavier compounds break down and react together, giving a more robust and waxy style to the spirit.

This is also a great example of how regional character in whisky can be very deceptive. A region like Speyside has such a wealth of distilleries and techniques at hand that you cannot expect every dram to conform to its regional expectation. This dram in particular is very much removed from what we would describe as a traditional Speyside, though it's still well within the expected norms of this distillate. It’s very textural with lots of bruised apples, shisha tobacco and cinnamon buns.