Auchroisk is a large capacity distillery in the Speyside region of Scotland.

Despite its capacity, Auchroisk is little known and few have tasted its whisky. The distillery is owned by Diageo and contributes large amounts of its single malt towards their high-volume popular Scotch blends.

Auchroisk is in the hamlet of Mulben and on the road between Craigellachie and Dufftown. It has one of the largest warehouse spaces in Scotland and stores whisky from Diageo’s other Speyside distilleries on site. Auchroisk is one of the trickiest distillery names to pronounce (ar-thrusk). The name translates as ‘shallow ford across the stream’ from Gaelic, referring to a nearby crossing over the Mulben Burn.

A Bit of History

The construction of Auchroisk began in 1972 by Justerini & Brooks, the blending house and famous London wine and spirits merchants. Production began in 1974. The first single malt released in 1978. However, Auchroisk really came to attention as a 12-year-old in 1986 under the name ‘The Singleton of Auchroisk’. The Singleton brand name was created due to the belief that Auchroisk was too difficult for non-Scots to understand and recognise. The name was abandoned in 2001 but was the forerunner to The Singleton – a best-selling range of single malts from current owners Diageo. This features whiskies from the Speyside distilleries of Dufftown and Glendullan, plus Glen Ord from the Highlands. The term ‘singleton’ is an old expression used to describe single casks of malt whisky that were being sold at auction. A 10-years-old expression appeared some years later as part of Diageo’s Flora & Fauna range. This collection champions the company’s lesser known ‘work horse’ distilleries. This bottling remains on the market. Other than this only a few independent bottlings of Auchroisk are occasionally available, making it one of Scotland’s rarer distilleries.

Background

The spirit produced at Auchroisk is light, fresh and citrusy with a malty and nutty undertone. This is attributed by the ownership to the water used in production, which is drawn from a local spring called Dorie’s Well. The water rises from the granite bedrock and then passes through sandstone to get to the surface. The result is particularly soft water, that is highly sought after by distillers. The purpose of Auchroisk is to supply single malt for popular blends such as J&B Rare and Johnnie Walker Red Label. The distillery was built to produce single malt whisky during a boom time for the industry in the 1970s. This remains the case today, with J&B Rare the main blend with which it is associated. It remains as one of the most sold blended whiskies in the world.

The Geeky Bit

The distillery is equipped with a large 12.75-tonne stainless steel mash tun, with 25 mashes operated each week. There are eight large stainless steel washbacks with a short 46-hour fermentation time. This creates a cloudy wort that gives the nutty and malty characteristics to the new make. The distillery is home to eight stills – four wash stills and four spirit stills. The annual capacity of Auchroisk is six million litres.

One To Buy | Auchroisk 10 Years Old ‘Flora & Fauna’

This rare Speyside single malt is the only one regularly available from Auchroisk. Expect an aromatic and fresh whisky with notes of citrus, caramel and green apple. Hints of dried hay and warming gingerbread-like spice sits underneath, alongside further notes of honey, vanilla and a distinct nutty quality. Delicious and underrated.