MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
Get ready: International Scotch Day on Thursday 8 February
Plans have been unveiled for the second International Scotch Day – a worldwide celebration of all things Scotch whisky – on Thursday, 8 February this year. As part of the festivities, world-leading Scotch whisky producer Diageo will open up its Archive at Menstrie, near Alloa – a liquid library of more than 5,000 bottles and claimed as the biggest of its kind in the world. Read full article
Comments
Disclaimer & comment rulesI see they are opening certain distilleries for free tours. In my day ALL tours were free including a large dram at the conclusion.
Feb 07th, 2018 - 11:30 am - Link - Report abuse 0They would have to pay me to take a tour round any distillery or bond.
About 15 years ago we were in the village of Bladnoch when we went into the distillery shop which sold souvenirs and ice cream - the reason for our visit.
We were asked if we wanted the conducted tour and declined, explaining that I had spent a good chunk of my life in distilleries and bonded warehouses and new it all by heart.
The owner appeared and learning that I had been a “gauger” asked if I could help him to identify various items of equipment and terms used in old ledgers.
He wondered how the term proof spirits was used instead of the more scientific ABV system .
The “whisky” was poured onto gunpowder and a match applied. If it did not burn, it was not classed as spirit. If it burned with a blue flame, it was too strong. If it burned with a yellow flame, just right and drinkable. This coincided with an alcohol level of about 50 %
Even when hydrometers were used to measure alcohol, the old proof system prevailed until we joined the EU and adopted the scientific Gay Lussac system in 1980.
As a training officer, I was a little saddened to swop my old gold plated sykes hydrometer with a featureless glass object. Tempus fugit !
In the proof scale, absolute alcohol would be 175 proof.
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