Topping out ceremony takes place at The Cairn
Andy Kitchin (Customer Expertise Supervisor), Alasdair Manson (Distiller), Paul McWhirter (stone mason), Mhairi Winters (Distillery Supervisor), Chaz Horne (third 12 months apprentice), Hugh MacKay (1st 12 months apprentice).
The standard “topping out” ceremony, which marks the completion of exterior building has taken place at The Cairn Distillery at Grantown-on-Spey
Hugh MacKay, 1st 12 months apprentice from AB Masonry, and Mhairi Winters, Distillery Supervisor, did the honours of putting a bottle of whisky in a cavity within the stonework.
The Cairn is a second distillery for famend whisky consultants Gordon & MacPhail, the household agency based mostly in Moray. Appropriately, it was a bottle of Benromach which was used for the ceremony, acknowledging the corporate’s first distillery at Forres.
In a practice thought to have been introduced right here by the Vikings, the topping out ceremony used to mark the set up of the ultimate beam in a constructing. But it surely has developed over time to mark completion of the exterior building work and now, in Scotland at the least, it’s conventional to incorporate using Scotch whisky.
The ceremony normally includes the youngest on the positioning and on this case Hugh MacKay 1st 12 months apprentice was given the duty. He commented: “It’s been nice to be concerned in a mission of this measurement in my first 12 months and I’ve actually loved being a part of the crew developing such a singular constructing. I can’t wait to see what the whisky is like in a few years’ time.”
Distillery Supervisor Mhairi Winter mentioned: “it’s great to participate on this conventional ceremony which dates again so many centuries. And it marks one other milestone as we transfer in direction of completion, able to open later within the 12 months.”
Planning permission for the distillery was granted in 2019 and work began on web site as soon as COVID restrictions on building had been lifted in July 2020.
Opening to the general public later this 12 months, The Cairn Distillery overlooks the River Spey in direction of the Cairngorms. It’ll provide a number of immersive customer experiences, whisky tastings and thoroughly chosen presents. Guests can even have the ability to eat @ The Gathering and expertise the best produce sourced from all through Scotland. It has been designed to take a seat inside this world class setting with options together with a “inexperienced” sedum roof which was lately put in.
Gordon & MacPhail has constructed robust relationships with its native communities in Forres and Elgin and is decided to take care of that custom in Grantown on Spey. The distillery will grow to be a significant vacationer vacation spot on the outskirts of the city and act as a gateway to Speyside.
Notes
Gordon & MacPhail is a family-owned premium spirits firm based mostly in Elgin, Scotland. Proprietor of Scotch whisky distilleries, Benromach and The Cairn, Gordon & MacPhail can be a Scotch whisky maturation skilled, the proprietor of Scottish Gin model, Purple Door and the operator of a wholesale enterprise in the UK promoting premium Scotch whiskies and spirits, together with a high-quality retail outlet.
The corporate owns Benromach Distillery situated in Forres in Moray. Benromach Single Malt Scotch Whisky is hand made utilizing conventional strategies by a small crew of distillers utilizing the best Scottish barley and the purest spring water from the close by Romach Hills. The multi award-winning portfolio of single malts is loved by whisky drinkers worldwide.
The corporate launched Purple Door in the summertime of 2018. Created at Benromach Distillery, this award successful, small batch Scottish gin now kinds a strategic a part of the corporate’s product portfolio.
Work commenced in July 2020 on The Cairn, the corporate’s second distillery, overlooking the River Spey in direction of the Cairngorms. The brand new web site will add additional distillation capability and model possession to the corporate’s asset base and is a key a part of the plans to proceed constructing a long-term sustainable enterprise. A high-quality customer expertise providing excursions and tastings can even appeal to guests from around the globe.
Because the founding of the enterprise in 1895, Gordon & MacPhail has despatched casks to Scotch whisky distilleries all through Scotland to be crammed with new-make spirit, earlier than being left to mature for a few years both on the distillery or of their bonded warehouses in Elgin. The Gordon & MacPhail portfolio gives a few of the world’s rarest and most sought-after Single Malt Scotch Whiskies to discerning whisky drinkers globally.
The corporate’s wholesale enterprise serves clients all through the UK promoting Benromach Single Malt, Purple Door gin and Gordon & MacPhail whiskies into the on and off commerce. The enterprise additionally solely represents plenty of ‘distributor’ manufacturers and shares premium whiskies and spirits.
The retail store in Elgin stays the ‘non secular house’ of the enterprise, 127 years after it was first established in 1895. The store is house to a big number of Single Malt Scotch Whiskies and is a vacation spot for a lot of whisky aficionados from around the globe.
