The Rosebank Distillery has hit a huge milestone after 30 years and near demolition of the historic Lowland distillery. The distillery, located in the town of Falkirk, Scotland closed on June 30, 1993. Ian Macleod Distillers saved the building from demolition in 2017, and began rebuilding the distillery in the years since. The owner announced via their website that Cask #001 of Rosebank’s new make spirit was filled on July 18, 2023. More details on the initial production run are found below, which is excerpted from Rosebank’s recent blog post.
A few weeks ago, the production team at Rosebank experienced something they will never forget – the moment of truth when the new distillery was fired into life. “It was a nerve-racking day, and emotional, waiting to see what came out of the stills,” says Jason McCabe, Assistant Production Manager. “There were high expectations, but we were so excited.”
“It’s been a long journey,” he adds. In fact, it’s almost thirty years to the day since the last drop of Rosebank was distilled. Practically everyone had written it off by the time Ian Macleod Distillers saved the building from demolition in 2017, and began rebuilding the distillery. With the Covid pandemic and other delays it has been a tantalisingly slow wait for everything to be ready.
When that day finally dawned in June in the midst of a heatwave, Jason’s colleague Gareth Reid says: “We were all crowded round the spirits safe, sticking our noses in to smell that it was going to be alright.” As the initial run, known as the foreshots, started to flow through the safe they watched intently as it began to lose its cloudiness and run clear to the point when it could be collected as newmake spirit – the first ever from this new distillery.
“Triple distillation should give you a beautiful clean spirit,” says Jason. “With that first distillation, we were nosing it every five to ten minutes until we were ready to make the cut. All of us looked at each other and nodded, it was almost an instantaneous agreement.” Not that it was absolutely spot on at the first attempt, but it was pretty close by all accounts.
The spirit itself was somewhat bigger, bolder and more complex than I was expecting for the first distillation in brand new copper. The spirit will evolve, as more runs go through the stills and that all important copper is activated, which should help introduce even more of those signature Rosebank citrus and floral notes.
Rosebank Distillery Manager, Malcolm Rennie
The production process at the new Rosebank aims to be reminiscent of the old Rosebank with the three stills exact replicas of the originals and the same use of worm tub condensers. But before that first run, its quality was impossible to predict. “Nobody knows,” says Jason. “Anybody who tells you how the spirit’s going to be after the first distillation is talking nonsense.”
As things turned out it impressed everyone and it has only improved since through fine tuning. “Where we’ve got it just now, the spirit’s got all the right notes,” says Jason, who feels relief as well as responsibility. “For me it’s not just a brand or a distillery,” he says. “You have to take on your shoulders that me, Malcolm and the team have got it right.”
What has been distilled cannot be called Rosebank whisky for another three years, and nothing will be bottled until it’s a lot older than that. Choosing the right casks to preserve and enhance the character of the spirit will be crucial. It is early days, but the omens look good. Malcolm talks of “a real sense of achievement and indeed pride for myself and the team,” and says: “Overall, a great starting point for the new Rosebank spirit.”
This story and images are excerpted from the Rosebank Distillery blog site.
Listen to Bourbon Lens on your favorite podcast app or stream on Spotify. If you’d like to support Bourbon Lens, subscribe to our Patreon, sign up for our “Weekly Pour” Newsletter, and don’t forget to follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and X.
If you like cocktails, subscribe to our second podcast, Cocktails with Friends. Cocktails with Friends is hosted by our good friend and partner, Bob Cutler.
