This is the first opinion piece on the site, and we wanted to keep things simple. A new distillery for us (such a distinction is getting increasingly rare) and actually an intriguingly young distillery too.

Pittyvaich (pronounced ~Pitty-vake) was only built in 1975, survived the distillery deathzone of the early 1980s then was promptly shut in 1993. A few official and semi-official bottles were released, along with some independent ones but it’s hardly abundant in the market – you’d struggle to find a cask strength bottling for much less than £200.

What joy then that the SMWS Vaults was having a rare and old bottles event (which they cancelled without telling anyone, then dug out some old bottles anyway). Out comes a Pittvaich 1990 / 2009, a lovely-looking bourbon cask example and a good age and strength to get a decent impression of the distillery.

It’s great trying a new distillery, but as those distilleries get more and more obscure, it’s often not a guaranteed pleasure (some closed for a reason), but we’d heard good things about this distillery.

Nose: Acidic and woody, and quite reminiscent of sherry. All that seems to boil down to marzipan in the end.

Taste: Tangy, salty, brine, citrus sherbet, old plums, Turkish Delight and a nice sweetness.

7.9/10   – tasted on 07/09/15.

So, we started off with a simple review of an indie bottling from a rarely-seen distillery. A humble beginning.