When Alfred Barnard, the famous author of the book The Whisky Distilleries Of The United Kingdom in 1887, visited the site, the distillery was called Glenguin. Created in 1833 under the name of Burnfoot, it was renamed in 1876 before taking the final name of Glengoyne in 1905. But the British author also tells us that his malt whisky is distilled three times, while the distillery is equipped with only a pair of stills. Curious, and all the more so when we know that a third still will be installed in 1965, while triple distillation is abandoned. What has not changed, however, is that you already have to cross the road, at the end of the nineteenth century, to get to the cellars. This road, now A81, is the theoretical boundary between the regions of the
Lowlands and Highlands.
In other words, Glengoyne has always occupied a unique place in the world of Scotch whisky: it is the southernmost distillery in the Highlands (with the northernmost cellars of the Lowlands), just 30 minutes by car from the north of Glasgow. This makes it one of the most visited distilleries in Scotland. With 60,000 tourists each year, it is even in the top 3. It must be said that it is also one of the prettiest, with this stream â the Campsie Fells â which winds through a green undergrowth, before arriving at the foot of the distillery. On site, the visitor will become familiar with the comparative virtues of (very) short or (very) long distillations. Glengoyne indeed proceeds in two ways, with radically different effects, alternating the weeks with ten brews (very long fermentation of 110 hours) and sixteen brews (very short fermentation of 56 hours). You should know that on average the must is fermented between 72 and 84 hours in most Scottish distilleries. A short fermentation â simple alcoholic fermentation led by yeasts alone â makes it possible to produce very cereal spirits. A long fermentation â alcoholic fermentation + lactic fermentation with the work of bacteria â builds lighter distillates.
