The same traditional methods and basic ingredients – barley, water and yeast – have been used to make Scotch whisky for over 500 years.Glengoyne is no different. There is however one subtle difference that distinguishes Glengoyne from other malt whiskies, placing it into a class of its own. Like all malt whiskies the barley is soaked in water and spread out on the floor of a malthouse and turned regularly. Usually once germination has taken place it is dried using the smoke from peat fires, which imparts an aromatic smoky flavour to the drying malt. However, the Glengoyne distillery is different as it uses only barley that has been dried using warm air. Once dried, the malted barley is ground into ‘grist’ and mixed with the crystal clear, soft water from Dumgoyne Hill, in a mash tun. The resultant liquid or ‘wort’ as its known, is piped into one of six large wooden Washbacks made from traditional Oregon pine, where yeast is added to convert the malt sugars into alcohol. Fermentation then takes place for a period of between 40 to 50 hours. When this process is complete the liquid or ‘wash’ as it is now called is distilled (apparently, they nurse the spirit through their stills more slowly than any other distillery, to obtain a smoother taste) to produce the spirit that will mature slowly in oak casks to become the high quality Glengoyne Single Malt. The final character of this special malt is affected by the wood of the cask in which it matures. Glengoyne carefully selects Spanish and American oak casks, (some of which will have been seasoned with sherry in Spain before being shipped to Scotland) from which this malt slowly extracts unique flavours during the ten years or more in which it is maturing in the distillery’s dark airy warehouses. The milder climate of the southern Highlands effects the maturing whisky over time and results in the fresher lighter taste associated with this special malt. However it is the lack of harsh peat smoke to dry the barley which has the greatest effect on the final malt. It ensures that the natural flavours are allowed to freely express themselves and do not get overwhelmed. Glengoyne could be considered to be at one end of the malt whisky spectrum – clear, bright, subtle, complex yet delicate – a stark contrast to the rugged malts of the northern Highlands or the pungent, medicinal heavy malts of Islay.