Scotch distilleries shuttered in the 1980s are being rediscovered and reopened as Single Malt once again becomes a top collectible investment. And Maggie is looking forward to cashing in on an emotional investment of her own, made way back in 1970s…
This is a special sort of post for me… I don’t usually write about the hard liquor scene, but I had to address the latest development to surface on the Scotch beat…
‘Ghost Whisky’ is a ‘thing’
It’s defined as legacy whisky that’s been rescued from shuttered distilleries which put it away to bar-rel age before they closed – maybe decades ago. And now, intrepid adventurers – Inverness-shire Joneses, if you will – are seeking out these lost liquid treasures across Scotland. Some are even firing up the ancient mash tuns again, producing new brews.
Dislclaimer…
Faithful readers will know that my mother’s family goes back countless generations in Scotland. So I can’t help but have a vested interest in today’s topic. But I, personally, have a story to tell, as well…
My first major, adult-force crush was lavished on a man (was he ever really a teenager?) I went to high school with. I met him when we were both in the senior choir. And he stole my heart, literally at first sight. There was some-thing hypnotic about his Jeremy Brett/George Clooney eyes, and quiet but rugged demeanor…
Rob was the scion of a well-to-do family from ‘the right side of the tracks’. And he had been brought up to appreciate the finer things in life. Including a relatively exclusive Scotch called Duggan’s Dew of Kirkintilloch. It was sometimes hard to get; at others, impossible. Under punishing economic pres-sures – like so many others – the tiny distillery finally gave up the ghost back in the 1980s.
But there’s a hook to the story: Kirkintillock was the ‘seat’ of Robert’s ancestral homeplace. And when the last of the available Dew ran out, there was actually talk of holding a funeral…
Flash forward to the 2000s…
Since the late 20-teens, fine spirits have enjoyed an explosion in popularity – and prices. That’s one reason for the new interest in old Scottish distilleries. According to a recent article in Food & Wine, Scotch has becme the darling of booze collectors.
“[S]cotch has been on the rise since 2019,” the F&W story reveals. The COVID Era saw a hiatus in Single Malt’s meteoric rise. Nevertheless, “Scotch whisky has become one of the world’s most collectible items.”
Preserving a legacy
The folks responsible for bringing back smaller, cult-legend Scotch labels say it’s about resurrecting and preserving a legacy.
“[T]hey should never have closed in the first place,” notes Ewan Morgan, of Diageo brands, which al-ready owns many Scotch labels. “If we’re being completely honest about it, had it not been for the financial climate and the decline of scotch in the 1980s, late ’70s, those facilities wouldn’t have closed. They would’ve continued to make whisky. They were making fantastic whisky.”
My take
I applaud the commitment Diageo and others are making to resurrect ancient Scotch brands. But I also feel it’s important to underline the fact that these small distilleries would not be coming back if the economy wasn’t ripe for the move.
I lost touch with Robbie many years ago… But I couldn’t help experiencing a deep-swoon nostalgic moment when I read the F&W story we’re celebrating today. And I’m (not-so-secretly) hoping the ghost of Duggan’s Dew will someday walk the floor of its Kirkintilloch distillery again – giving me an ‘innocent’ reason to look him up!
~ Maggie J.