Date visited: 18 February 2024

We were warmly welcomed by Terry Knight, the man behind the family-run distillery in the small town of Takaka in Golden Bay, New Zealand.

Kiwi Spirit Distillery has its own bore and uses some of the finest water I have ever tasted. The water is crystal clear and forms a cornerstone of their production. They produce Blue Agave Tequilana spirit, gin, liqueurs, vodka, tonic—and most importantly for us—whisky.

Terry gave us an incredibly enthusiastic and thorough tour. He vividly recounted the journey from the early days of “Honey Champagne” and schnapps to what Kiwi Spirit is today, with over 8000 agave plants and a growing whisky production.

The whisky, called “Waitui,” is something truly special. Terry doesn’t see whisky just as a drink, but as a story. “Long before the Scots,” he said, “monks stored their spirits in wooden barrels—often ones that had previously held mead.” This idea, Terry has brought back to life. He makes his own mead, which is aged in new Bulgarian oak barrels for six months before those barrels are used for the whisky. The result is a soft, rounded whisky with notes of honey and wood, tasting far more mature than its age would suggest.

The whisky is aged for a minimum of eight years, and despite an annual production of just around 500 liters, Terry plans to scale up to 2500 liters per year in the future. We tasted from various casks—including a former Cognac cask, which had a lovely sweetness and character. A younger whisky from a mead barrel also showed potential with great balance.

The name “Waitui” is a compound Māori word: “Wai” means water, and “Tui” is a New Zealand bird known for its chattiness. So it becomes: “Clear water that makes you talk”—a poetic and fitting description of the experience this whisky delivers.

A big thank you to Terry and Dominic for a wonderful experience and warm welcome. This distillery is not just a production—it’s a passion and a journey.

Terry Knight, the founder of Kiwi Spirit Distillery, is a self-taught distiller with a deep passion for flavor and craftsmanship. His journey began with the production of honey wine, which later led him into the world of whisky distillation and a wide range of other spirits. What started as a small meadery gradually evolved into a full-fledged distillery, which today produces everything from gin and vodka to the distinctive TeKiwi agave spirit—a tribute to both innovation and local terroir.

The distillery is located on a beautiful 25-hectare estate in Golden Bay, surrounded by its own gardens and orchards. These supply ingredients directly to the production, creating a close connection between nature, raw materials, and the final product.

Kiwi Spirit Distillery’s whisky has a distinctive signature style: it is smooth and easy to drink, yet deep and complex. The flavor is marked by clean, elegant oak and a subtle roundness imparted by the unique maturation in casks that previously held honey wine. The result is a whisky with both character and charm—a product shaped by craftsmanship, place, and vision.

^UPDATE: Sadly Terry Knight passed away on the 13th of October 2024 from a heart attack. The distillery continues and is still run by his children Jeremy, Isabella and Oliver.

🅳🅸🆂🆃🅸🅻🅻🅴🆁🆈 🅵🅲🆃🆂
𝘾𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙩𝙧𝙮 – 𝘾𝙞𝙩𝙮 – 𝙍𝙚𝙜𝙞𝙤𝙣: USA – Lynchburg – Tennessee
𝙁𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙙: 1866 (The first registered distillery within the USA)
𝙎𝙩𝙖𝙩𝙪𝙨: Operating
𝙊𝙬𝙣𝙚𝙙 𝙗𝙮: Brown-Forman
𝙒𝙚𝙗𝙨𝙞𝙩𝙚: https://www.jackdaniels.com/
𝙋𝙧𝙤𝙙𝙪𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙘𝙖𝙥𝙖𝙘𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙥𝙧. 𝙮𝙚𝙖𝙧: about 117 million liters per year

𝘿𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙫𝙞𝙨𝙞𝙩𝙚𝙙: 2018, May 11th

I must admit that I have shamefully belonged to the group of people who have not necessarily liked bourbon very much, but have also just poured it down and mixed it with various soda products – It has changed significantly after I started tasting different kinds of bourbon, and this has clearly broadened my horizons.

My wife and I where visiting my American Family from the time I was an exchange student in Mississippi, and traveling around to se more of America. A natural choice for me was to visit The Jack Daniel Distillery. To see how the giant brand was made, so we planed our travels to pass through Lynchburg In Tennessee.

Lynchburg is almost built around Jack Daniel’s distillery – a giant machinery and the nerve of the city. Somehow, however, they have caused this huge area to dazzle into the landscape and that much that we talked about probably being nearby, but could not see where it was located.
The way from were we came into Lynchburg was country idyllic, quiet and lush. We discovered were the distillery and warehouse buildings were located and found the parking lot.

They produce a lot of bourbon – a lot! and they really have a lot of visitors which i.a. seen on the size of the parking lot (about 300.000 visit every year). They have made a nice visitor center and everything is in order. From museum objects to tour schedules.

They have various guided tours where one is the story of Jack Daniel’s (no whiskey drinking on this tour), the tour where you end with tasting of their regular products and there is “The Angel’s Share” tour, this was the one we took. Basically the tours are the same, but with different endings. I think. However, you get around where the Single Barrel is bottled and not through the “core range” part.

At the end of the tour we entered the oldest Barrel house which has been equipped with a fantastic tasting room. A “glass box” built into the Barrel house building. You have all the barrels stacked 9 barrels high around you when tasting – A Great place.

We were guided from the visitor center into a bus that took us to the Rickyard pasted one of the large barrel houses that contains 20000 barrels all placed in wooden racks seven stories high.
At the Rickyard we saw where they make the charcoal for the mellowing of the whisky. Jack Daniel’s make charcoal three days a week, three times a day. The charcoal is made by burning Sugar Maple wood. It takes about three hours for a stack to burn before they put out the fire with water. They by the way use New Make (the unaged whiskey) to light the fire so the charcoal don’t get a taste og gas/petrol or what you normally would use to light such a large fire with.

From here we walked to were the old firetruck was. We didn’t get to see the new firetruck but we heard that the distillery has it’s own little fire department, just in case.

We were now entering the Old Distillery Office building. This was where Jack Daniel was leading the Distillery. All the Master Distillers through time had their picture on the wall. We were told the bascis of making whiskey and what the recipe of Old No.7.We saw the office desks and more and heard some stories about Jack.

Now to the water source. A limestone cave with the purest water. They pull the water up from the underground and it is clean and free of iron with the help from the limestone. If there is iron in the water it will make the whiskey bitter and give it a more black’ish colour. They are pumping about 3000 liter water up every minute. Quite a lot of water.

Next stop was the Grain Mill. This is where they recive all the grain used in the mash. There is 25 deliveries of grain every day. They use 38,5 Hectares Corn every day. The Corn is from Alabama, the Rye from Canada and the Malted Barley from Montana. There are 12 silos, (8 with corn, 2 with rye and 2 with malted barley)

In the fermentation building there are 64 tank with a capacity of each 151416 Liters. 53977,5 Kilos og grain and 151416 Liters of water are mixed and sent into the fermenting tanks with yeast. They also make their own yeast at Jack Daniel’s. The mash recipe is 80% Corn, 12% Malted Barley and 8% Rye. This contains 20% sour mash from an earlier run. This is the same recipe for all the whiskies, they just mature differently to give the different taste.
The fermentation takes 4-7 days.

When we left the fermentation building we where meet with a sight of green leafs and black trees. Even the buildings were black. This is Baudoinia compniacensis also called Distillery Fungus or whiskey fungus, which is a black fungus and mold living of the airborn alcohol at distilleries and barrel houses. It is kind of cool but also pretty scary to see all the black on the trees and buildings and knowing it is a living fungus feeding on the alcohol in the air.

After the mash has fermented it is now a “beer” called Distillers beer or wash. The wash is pumped to the five Copper Column stills to be distilled, they are 13,7 meters high. The heating is steam. When distilled first time the spirit is at 19% abv and it runs into a Doubler or Thumper which is also made of copper and is more like a pot still to be distilled a second time. Now it comes out at 70% abv. There is distilled about 220 liters per minut!

From distilling the New Make is pumped to the Mellowing building and this is where the difference from Bourbon and Tennessee Whiskey come into the picture. The New Make is run through a tower of the charcoal we started at. These charcoal towers are 3,3 meters high and hold 880725 liters of charcoal. There are 60 of these charcoal Vats and it takes the New Make 6 days to pass though.
Most of the spirits are through the charcoal vats once but Gentleman Jack is mellowed twice.

Now the mellowed new make is ready to be filled into the barrels. All virgin oak and 200 liter barrels. They are put to rest for 4-7 years in the barrel houses. some at the bottom, these are used for “Old No.7” and some at the top in “Angel’s Roost” These are used for “Single Barrel” Bottling. The top storage has more angel’s share and it is said that it can be up to 30%…. I hope that is in a 4 year periode.

Jack Daniel’s fill 1000 barrels every day and have some 20000 barrels maturing in each Barrel House. They have about 90 Barrel Houses so that is quite a lot of barrels and maturing whiskey. Let’s do a little math; 200 Liters x 20000= 4 million liters in one barrel house. 20000 barrels x 90 houses = 1.8 million barrels x 200 Liters = 360 million liters of maturing whiskey!

On our way we passed through the bottling house. Impressive how the bottles are transported, filled, getting labled , being checked and boxed.

The tour ended with a tasting in the amazing Oldest Barrel House. The smell is fantastic here.

In the tasting room we tasted a little of what we don’t see on the shelves in the supermarkets and there have a little more flavor than the well known “Old No. 7”
We tasted:
✰ No.27 Gold
✰ Sinatra Select
✰ Single Barrel Select
✰ Single Barrel Barrel Proof
✰Single Barrel Rye
The two I liked the most was No. 27 Gold and Single Barrel – Barrel Proof. Normally I fancy Rye Whiskey, but this one didn’t ring my Bell.
I will write more about them in separate posts.

I really like to have good time to look at it all and have the opportunity to ask questions that may take a little longer to answer and that can trigger a story that you would not normally get otherwise, but it is one of the things there is no time for on these tours but it was a cool tour and it was great to visit this giant in the whiskey marked.
It would have been top knotch if we had seen them burn the maple tree to make the charcoal for filtration, but we only got to se the next stacks ready to be set on fire.

One other things that also impressed by the way, was the Tanker driving outside the distillery. Yes, what was special about this tanker, you might be thinking. I was of the thought that the entire production and bottling took place where we were, but by asking the parking attendant where the tankers drove to, he told me that there was a whole new bottling plant just outside Lynchburg where they handled everything going out of USA. There was also just 1 tanker he told me. Okay, it didn’t take it long to leave the distillery in town, go to the new plant, empty the tank and return. I didn’t time it, I should have, I know and I don’t know how much such a tanker holds, but it managed to pass us at least 4 times in 4-5 hours we were there. That is a lot liters of bourbon per. day being refueled and driven out to be filled in barrels and bottles.

We drove out of town opposite of where we entered as we were about to move on. We passed their new bottling plant, which, however, was packed a little away from the main road on the right side. Shortly after, on the left side of the road, large gray warehouses appeared. It can only have been Jack Daniel’s warehouses, and hold on .. there are many ….. It was a wild sight and I really wanted to take pictures but didn’t get a single one of the impressive sight …. I was the driver and there was no were to park legal.

There is a lot more to tell about and I might do that in another port as well. Now I’ll just close with some fun fact:

☞ Jack Daniel’s real name is: Jasper Newton Daniel
☞ Jack learned to distill from Nearest Green who distilled for Dan Call. Dan Call was a preacher and moonshiner, he takes Jack in when he left his home in 1864. Here Jack learns the art of whiskey making from the preacher and an enslaved man. This was Nathan “Nearest” Green. When Jack had his distillery he hired Nearest as the Jack Daniel Distillery’s head distiller (Master Distiller)
☞ Jack died in 1911 due to a blood poisoning he got from kicking his safe because he had forgotten the combination to the safe. He got to the office early one morning to get some paper work done. He couldn’t open the safe and kicked it so hard he injured his left toe. It got infected which lead to amputation of the whole leg and he died from this infection age 61. (Not really af fun fact actually, but just a fact…)

𝘿𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙫𝙞𝙨𝙞𝙩𝙚𝙙: 2020, February 22nd

On mainland Australia I wanted to visit some distilleries and at Whisky bar I had been recommended, but I had either missed the opening hours or forgot to check if they were open at all.

I was convinced that I had learned a thing or two about opening and closing hours, so before we went to Tasmania I researched how the situation was at Launceston Distillery – They are closed on Saturdays, so this visit just went down the drain.

We flew from Melbourne to Launceston on Saturday 22nd February and since I thought it was obvious to visit the distillery which is located in Hangar 17 in the airport area, it was a bit of a downturn to find out that they had closed just the day we passed .
When we had picked up the rental car, I sat behind the wheel and asked my wife, Gitte and Per if it was okay we just looked at the distillery from the outside now that we were so close.
They must have had a little pity on me, so they all said it was fine. It was at the direction we were going anyway so nothing missed but I had to settle for a snapshot of the outside of Hangar 17.
2 minutes later I turned the car into the distillery area and to my great pleasure I saw the sign – OPEN. Wuhu what a surprise – this is looking good.

Inside, we meet Chris Byrne, a calm gentleman who lights up with a smile. I tell I was a little surprised that they were open and that I had written them in advance but got no response. Chris just calmly said that he was sorry that I had not been answered to my inquiry, but that it was one of the younger ones who managed their Instagram. They had opened a little extraordinary because the “Evandale Village Fair” was going on this Saturday and Launceston Distillery was the sponsor – Fine with me, they were open
Chris B is one of the owners and he really wanted to tell about the distillery. He started with the story of the Hangar, about how they had come to live there and had restored it, etc.
A funny story and it was followed well by Per’s vast knowledge of the airlines that have had the hangar in the days when it was in operation.
In the shop which was also the entrance and tasting room. they had the original check in counter, airplane seats and an airplane serving cart that they used when hosting tastings away from the distillery. Ingenious and original.
They have been distilling since 2015, so their whisky is not old, but there is good taste in it.
Two of the five owners, they are both named Chris by the way, are both chemists and work on the basis of pharmaceutical precision and have an idea that it does not have to take that long to do something well if you just make an effort from the start and do it right.
The other Chris Condon is the Distiller. He comes from pharma, but switched to becoming a brewmaster at one of Tasmania’s largest breweries; James Boag’s Brewery.
Later he was a Distiller at the Nant Distillery.
Now Chris C is one of the owners of Launceston Distillery, so they are not completely newcomers in the whisky business, you might say.
They have chosen an approach in making their whisky, that nothing is ruled out, but they will start by producing good quality whiskey which is aged in Bourbon casks, Tawny casks and Apera casks.
We know the bourbon cask, Tawny we can recognize, but what are Apera casks? Yes, a good question, and the short answer is; “Sherry casks” – Well, just as Champange can only be called Champange if it comes from the Champange district in France, and therefore you can not call sherry and port wine made in Australia for just that – That is why in 2010 they made the name “Apera” which is taken from the word aperitif. That is also why it does not say Tawny Port, but only Tawny.

The distillery is set up in the old Hangar and is both fermenting rum, distilling rum and storage. Actually it is quite fascinating to overlook the whole production in one place and in the same time see aviation stuff.
They use local Tasmanian malted barley and pure river water taken from the longest river in Tasmania, The South Esk.

They have one 1100 Litre Stainless steel Mash Tun, Three 1500 Litre Stainless steel fermenters/Washbacks, One 1600 Litre Wash Still and a 700 Litre Spirit Still. The wash still and the spirit still both have rather large reflux balls. They are heated with gas and have a clad og wood. Between the still wall and the clas is isolation to heat the stills – not the rum.

I got a nice tasting of their whiskies and also tasted their New Make which is delicious, creamy and full-bodied in itself with a good taste of the Tasmanian barley.
There is a lot of taste in the whisky because so far they have only matured in 100 liter barrels, which gives a good contact with the wood and more flavor. Combined with the wood and an angels share of 7-8%, it gives a delicious round full bodied whisky.
Now, I hate to talk about favorites, but I’m pretty keen on their Bourbon Cask. I got to taste it at 46% and 62% abv versions – and they were delicious.
Then comes Apera Cask and finally Tawny. They are both lovely and special in their own way, with a slightly different sherry flavor, more nutty than I experience in the dry oloroso sherry versions. Tawny is more plum and prune sweet and just over the top for me.
Cask Strength Bourbon cask has received 94 points in the Whisky Bible 2020 – so if it is a measure, it is not so bad

A wonderful visit and thanks to Chris B for sharing your knowledge and whisky with us.

𝘿𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙫𝙞𝙨𝙞𝙩𝙚𝙙: November 20th 2018

Just outside Paarl in South Africa, where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for the last 7 years of his 28 years, lies Wellington and here we find The James Sedgwick Distillery – The Crown of South Africa’s Whisky.

The heat is increasing, but it is only at 27 degrees celsius. It is slightly cloudy and we are driven safely by Craig, our guide in SA, through townships, villages and wine country. It’s great to just sit with your nose against the windshield of the car and soak up all the diverse and contrast-filled impressions.

The goal of this morning’s tour is to visit The James Sedgwick Distillery and talk to Master Distiller Andy Watts.
I had written a bit back and forth with Andy Watts and look forward to the moment where I get to meet him.
The distillery was closed to the public today so we had been guided to the back gate and it gave me the opportunity to truly see it all from all angles.
The car parked and we enter the welcome area where we are welcomed with a refreshing cocktail. Short after Andy Watts arrives and we sat down to talk about; yes, what we’re there for – the story of Whisky and Andy.
Andy has run the Distillery for 25 years, but has today joined another constellation in Distell Group Ltd.. He is now in charge of all their whisky brands while still being the Master Distiller at the James Sedgwick distillery.
He is down to earth and an inspiring person to talk to. He got into the whisky business a bit by accident. He is English and played pro. Cricket and came to South Africa, fell in love with the country and then there was also a woman who pulled. Today they are married to each other but all that is a different story

Andy told stories and got into the technicalities throughout the distillery, making it a completely unique experience compared to a regular tourist trip, fantastically inspiring.
I am well aware that many distilleries have initiatives that purify return water, etc., but I am impressed by the enormous consideration that is on recycling and the environment at The James Sedgwick Distillery.
It takes a lot of water to make whisky, not only for the spirit itself, but even more in the cooling proces.
There is a shortage of water in South Africa and this makes them think more innovatively in order to recycle as much as possible. The water is purified and recycled and they collect CO2 and recycle it for use in beer and soda at one of the other sister companies.

Inside the control room, Andy told about the process and how much is computer controlled and how much is still manual, I noticed it said “Bowmore” over the two potstills and of course I had to ask how it was connected. It has to do with the fact that Andy has gained a large part of his experience from e.g. Bowmore, which he favours a lot, and therefore has called the boilers Bowmore. The pot stills are also formed as the ones at Bowmore.

The two pot stills each have a capacity of 20 000 L. The make the Malt whisky.

The distillery also have a two columns still for production of Grain whisky and a five column still for neutral spirit.

There is two Mash tuns and 16 Washbacks. These fermentation tanks have a thermo cape wit coolong to keep the yeast at 33*C.

Five warehouses are at all times holding 150 000 casks with maturing whisky. The Angel’s share is 5% in South Africa and there is a gorgeous smell in the warehouses.
They make Grain whisky nine months of the year and Malt whisky two months. Malt whisky is made during the South African winter as it is cooler temperatures and give a better fermentation. The last month of the year is used for maintenance.

Wow, this post is becoming a bit of a dissertation ….. I think I will jump forward a bit, because in addition to having a fantastic tour of the distillery, I also had a taste of the whiskies they make.

I have not even mentioned that Andy Watts at the World Whisky Awards (WWA) in 2018 was named the Global Icon Master Distiller/ Master Blender of the Year and at the WWA awards in 2020 he was named the Global Icon World Whisky Ambassador of the Year. Several of his whiskies have been awarded gold medals and in 2018 and Bain’s Single Grain has been named the world’s best in their category.

Well what did I taste with the master:
1. Bain’s – Single Grain
2. Three Ships – Bourbon Cask Finish (Blend)
3. Three Ships – 5 years (Blend)
4. Three Ships – 8 years Oloroso Cask Finish (Single Malt)
5. Three Ships – 10 years (Single Malt)
6. Three Ships – 15 years Pinottage Cask Finish (Blend)

Be looking for my tasting notes in other posts.

What an experience!
These are some very excellent whiskies and I personally think it is a pity that they are not traded in Europe. Only Bain’s can be obtained in Germany which has been granted dealer rights. Three Ships we have to go to Africa or the US to get our fingers in.
I have had a sublime experience and if I ever come to South Africa again, The James Sedgwick is on the list of places to visit again.

𝘿𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙫𝙞𝙨𝙞𝙩𝙚𝙙: June 10th 2016

Everything has a beginning and my deeper whiskey interest started at this distillery. This is the first distillery I have visited which is a real whiskey distillery. I have visited breweries and been on holidays where we have seen how home-brewed alcohol has been made, so it was a bit of an experience to visit Glenkinchie.

My wife and I were on holiday in Edinburgh. It was the year when Queen Elisabeth turned 90, so it was a party to visit Edinburgh Castle one of the days with 21 cannon shots and bagpipe music.

We had seen that it was possible to book an excursion to Glenkinchie distillery. Not bad, so it had to be tried.

We were excited, well maybe mostly me, and we did not know what to expect.
The bus ride went quickly along small roads from Edinburgh to the Distillery just over 25 kilometers southwest of Edinburgh.

We had booked a tour of the distillery and a tasting of 3 different whiskeys. We started by walking around the small museum looking at small pot stills and old bottles. It was interesting, but I had a hard time waiting to get around and see where the real magic happened.
We were finally picked up and the tour began with a nice story about the history of the distillery, which starts in 1826 where it went by the name Milton, but the actual distillery started in 1837. We also got the story that it was closed for a period and was transformed into a sawmill. Later, when blended whisky became very popular (ca. 1880), it was restored as a thoroughbred Lowland Distillery in 1890.
They also have a model of a distillery. It is actually a model that can produce whiskey! The model is on a scale of 1:6 and was built for the British Empire Exhibition in 1926.

Finally we came in where we could see how the barley was processed and where “beer” was brewed. We were given the opportunity to smell barley and were told where it came from, the different stages of germination and until it was ground into grist. Some were dried with heat from gas burners and others with heat and smoke. It was the first time I smelled smoked malt and it is a bit of an experience in itself.

We saw where the big Mash Tun tanks were and here we were again told we were not allowed to take pictures – arghhh. The explanation was that it was due to the danger of explosion. If just the smallest electric sparks occurred, there was a risk that the fumes in the room could ignite. Hmmm, at the same time as we were there, a movie crew came with lights on the cameras and other heavy equipment. It was some very special cameras that did not create heat and sparks ….. Yes, okay then…. Let’s say so…

We entered the fermentation room and looked enchanted at the process that was going on and what a scent.
The next place was one of the iconic places in the distillery, and one of the places I really wanted the opportunity to take pictures – but, no. once again we were not allowed to take pictures. The room we were standing in was where the Stills were. The Largest Pot Stills in the UK – Wow! One, Low wines still, with a capacity of 20998 liters and the other, Washstill at an astonishing 30963 liters. An impressive sight.

Now we were going outside where we were locked into one of the warehouses, with explanations of strict customs rules, so we stood and watched from a distance on the barrels of whisky that matured, through a chicken wire fence. A cozy old dusty building where it could have been fun to be able to pat one of the casks- but not this time….
Incidentally, it is only a very small part of the whisky produced at Glenkinchie that actually lies and matures at the distillery. What remains at the distillery is primarily what is to be used for single malts. A large part is used for blended whisky. A good bit is used for Johnnie Walker.

Now it was time to taste the goods. The walk went past the large red brick buildings. It is not so common to use red bricks to build distilleries with, so Glenkinchie is also special in that area.
Somewhere between 1.5-2 million liters of whisky are produced at the Glenkinchie distillery per year, so they do not take full advantage of the capacity. However, it is still a nice amount of whisky.

Primarily 2 single malts are produced at Glenkinchie distillery which are The Glenkinchie 12 years and a Distillers Edition. You will hear more about them in another post.

We were briefly introduced to how to taste whisky to get the most out of it. Glenkinchie 12 years old was the first one we tasted. A good light and fruity experience. After that, there was “free play” on other whiskies. There was no opportunity to taste the Distillers Edition, unfortunately, but since Glenkinchie is one of the cornerstones of Diageo’s Classic Malts, there was a wide selection from other of Diageo’s distilleries represented.

This tasting gave me the opportunity to taste:
Glenkinchie 12 years
Clynelish 14 years
Blair Athhol 12 years
Glen Elgin 12 years
Lagavulin Distillers Edition 16 years
Talisker Distillers Edition

The visit to Glenkinchie distillery was a really good experience and has definitely helped to give my Whiskey Adventures an insight and a desire for more experiences and visits at other distilleries.

Now that this post is being loaded I can add that the Glenkinchie distillery needs a revisit because in 2020 they opened the doors to a thoroughly renovated visitor center. So I would think it can give a new good experience in the future.