Wolfburn
SCOTCH SINGLE MALT WHISKIES > W
Wolfburn
LIGHT, FRAGRANT
December 2013
Wolfburn is build 380 yards from the original Wolfburn distillery and dates back to 1821.
The distillery has exeeded production targets in its First year of operation with 811 casks filled with spirit.
Wolfburn in Thurso, Caithness started production January 25, 2013
Founded in 2012
Region: Northern Highland
Owner is Aurora Brewing Ltd
Capacity: 120.000 litres
Now the most northerly distillery on Scottish mainland on a site a 350 metres from the place of the old Wolfburn distillery which was founded in 1821 and closed at the end of the 19th century.
Planning consent was received June 2012, construction work started in August 2012 and the first spirit came of the stills January 2013.
Wolfburn ia ecquipped with a 1.1 ton semi - lauter mash tun with a copper canopy, 3 wash backs made from stainless steel, bought from the closed Caperdonich distillery and 2 stills: 1 wash still 5.500 litres and a spirit still 3600 litres.
The malt is unpeated.
The spirit is laid down in ex - bourbon hogsheads, quarter casks, barrels and sherry butts.
Manager is Shane Fraser who came from Glenfarclas.
Wolfburn has produced 190.00 litres of spirit.
The distillery has exeeded production targets in its First year of operation with 811 casks filled with spirit.
Wolfburn in Thurso, Caithness started production January 25, 2013
Founded in 2012
Region: Northern Highland
Owner is Aurora Brewing Ltd
Capacity: 120.000 litres
Now the most northerly distillery on Scottish mainland on a site a 350 metres from the place of the old Wolfburn distillery which was founded in 1821 and closed at the end of the 19th century.
Planning consent was received June 2012, construction work started in August 2012 and the first spirit came of the stills January 2013.
Wolfburn ia ecquipped with a 1.1 ton semi - lauter mash tun with a copper canopy, 3 wash backs made from stainless steel, bought from the closed Caperdonich distillery and 2 stills: 1 wash still 5.500 litres and a spirit still 3600 litres.
The malt is unpeated.
The spirit is laid down in ex - bourbon hogsheads, quarter casks, barrels and sherry butts.
Manager is Shane Fraser who came from Glenfarclas.
Wolfburn has produced 190.00 litres of spirit.
WOLFBURN COMMITS TO SMALL BATCH RELEASES
April 2019
Thurso-based distillery Wolfburn has launched its third small batch of single malt whisky, alongside a commitment to continue releasing expressions in the series for the foreseeable future.
Small batch: Wolfburn’s limited edition series continues with Batch No. 375
Wolfburn Batch No. 375 is an unpeated single malt matured for four years in 100-litre first-fill ex-Burbon casks and second-fill ex-oloroso Sherry hogsheads.
Said to be ‘rich and complex in flavour, with a beautifully sweet and aromatic nose’, the whisky is bottled at 46% abv.
The release is limited to 5,500 bottles, which are now available for around £70 each.
This is the third small batch release for Wolfburn, which began making whisky in 2013.
The name refers to the location of the barrels used in the expression – in the case of Batch No. 375, warehouse three, stow 75.
In a statement sent out to its followers, the distillery said: ‘We’ve already been asked if we’ll keep doing small batch releases. The answer is a definite yes; with the idea of small batch releases in mind, we’ve been lucky enough to acquire small numbers of exceptionally good quality casks during every year of production, so the series will continue.’
The fourth expression will be launched in early 2020.
The first edition in the series, Batch No. 128, was launched in 2017 and made from lightly peated spirit matured in 100-litre first-fill ex-Bourbon casks.
It was followed in 2018 by Batch No. 270, an unpeated whisky also matured in 100-litre first-fill ex-Bourbon casks.
Wolfburn uses a 1.1 ton mash and draws off clear worts which are then given a long fermentation before distillation in a wash still with capacity of 5.5k litres, and a spirit still which can hold 3,600 litres. Maturation takes place in predominantly ex-Bourbon casks, but some ex-Sherry are used. Its new make is malty, fruity and sweet with a floral hint.
Thurso is the most northerly town on the British mainland, but perhaps surprisingly it didn’t have a distillery for over 160 years. The first plant, called Wolfburn after the distillery water source, was opened by William Smith in 1821 and was run by the same family until 1837. In the 1820s it was the largest producer in Caithness. It appears to have closed in 1837 before David Smith ran it for one year in 1852, though there are claims that it continued intermittently into the 1860s.
The opening of 21st century Wolfburn was more of an exercise in archaeology than a process of bringing a disused plant back to life. Little more than a mound of stones showed where the original site had been. Its new owners built as close as they could to the spot – and use the same water source. The ground was broken on August 2012 and production commenced on 25 January 2013.
CAPACITY (MLPA) i
135.000 Ltrs
CONDENSER TYPE i
Shell and tube
FERMENTATION TIME i
55-72hrs
FILLING STRENGTH i
63.5%
GRIST WEIGHT (T) i
1
HEAT SOURCE i
Steam coils
MALT SPECIFICATION i
Pot still malt, PSY 400 LPA/tonne
MALT SUPPLIER i
Mutons, Bairds
MASH TUN TYPE i
Semi Lauter
NEW-MAKE STRENGTH i
65-72%
SINGLE MALT PERCENTAGE i
100%
SPIRIT STILL CHARGE (L) i
3,600
SPIRIT STILL SHAPE i
Pot still with bulge in neck
STILLS i
2 (1 wash, 1 spirit)
WAREHOUSING i
Dunnage (on site at Henderson Park)
WASH STILL CHARGE (L) i
5,500
WASH STILL SHAPE i
Pot still with bulge in neck
WASHBACK CHARGE (L) i
5,500
WASHBACK SIZE (L) i
9,000
WASHBACK TYPE i
Stainless steel
WASHBACKS i
3
WATER SOURCE i
The Wolf Burn
YEAST TYPE i
Anchor dry yeast
Aurora Brewing
2013 - present
WOLFBURN DISTILLERY UNVEILS INAUGURAL WHISKY
March 2016
Thurso’s first Scotch whisky to be distilled in over 150 years will be available to buy later this month.
Wolfburn distillery's first two drams are being released after just three years' maturation.
Wolfburn distillery, Scotland’s most northerly mainland site in Caithness, is releasing its first bottling of single malt on 14 March.
Though aged for just three years, Wolfburn Single Malt is a 46% abv, non-chill-filtered NAS expression matured in ex-Islay quarter casks made from Spanish and American oak.
A long ferment of 75 hours and slow distillation give the whisky a sweet fruit and malt character with a hint of smoke imparted from the casks.
The expression, which will be available for £44.95, is the first permanent release from Aurora Brewing, the company behind the modern incarnation of Wolfburn distillery that began distilling in January 2013.
A second limited edition bottling, called the Inaugural Release, is also being rolled out.
With just 875 individually-numbered bottles available, the Inaugural Release contains spirit specifically designed to be a ’truly exceptional first dram’.
For this limited edition, Wolfburn distillery manager Shane Fraser used a longer fermentation time of 90 hours for more floral notes, and an even slower distillation of five hours, instead of four to increase copper contact and remove any trace of sulphur.
The Inaugural Release will be available for around £200 for a 700ml bottle.
Wolfburn distillery stands in the same spot as its 19th century predecessor of the same name.
The first site, which was named after the nearby water source, was opened in 1821 but closed in the mid-1800s. In its heyday it was the largest whisky distillery in Caithness, producing over 125,000 litres of spirit a year.
WOLFBURN ANNOUNCES SECOND WHISKY RELEASE
September 2016
Wolfburn distillery, Scotland’s most northerly mainland whisky producer, is releasing its second single malt Scotch whisky – Wolfburn Aurora.
Wolfburn Aurora
Wolfburn Aurora: The NAS whisky is aged in three different types of cask
The latest release is the work of master distiller Shane Fraser and his team, who restored Wolfburn whisky after more than 150 years of inactivity.
Wolfburn Aurora is a no-age-statement Scotch whisky, aged in three different cask types: 40% in second fill ex-Islay quarter casks made from Spanish and American oak; 40% in first fill ex-Bourbon barrels; and 20% in first fill oloroso Sherry hogsheads.
Like the distillery’s inaugural release, Wolfburn Northland, Aurora underwent a 75-hour fermentation.
Bottled at 46% abv, Wolfburn Aurora is non-chill-filtered and will be available to purchase from 19 September for around £48 per 700ml bottle in the UK.
Fraser McGuire, sales and marketing director at Amathus, the UK distributor of Wolfburn, said: ‘With the outstanding success of Wolfburn Northland, we expect to see great things from the exquisite Wolfburn Aurora.’
Wolfburn distillery was opened by William Smith in 1821, but closed by the mid-1800s. In 2012, a private consortium from Caithness called Aurora Brewing was granted planning permission to rebuild Wolfburn 350 metres from the ruins of the original site.
WOLFBURN COMMITS TO SMALL BATCH RELEASES
April 2019
Thurso-based distillery Wolfburn has launched its third small batch of single malt whisky, alongside a commitment to continue releasing expressions in the series for the foreseeable future.
Small batch: Wolfburn’s limited edition series continues with Batch No. 375
Wolfburn Batch No. 375 is an unpeated single malt matured for four years in 100-litre first-fill ex-Burbon casks and second-fill ex-oloroso Sherry hogsheads.
Said to be ‘rich and complex in flavour, with a beautifully sweet and aromatic nose’, the whisky is bottled at 46% abv.
The release is limited to 5,500 bottles, which are now available for around £70 each.
This is the third small batch release for Wolfburn, which began making whisky in 2013.
The name refers to the location of the barrels used in the expression – in the case of Batch No. 375, warehouse three, stow 75.
In a statement sent out to its followers, the distillery said: ‘We’ve already been asked if we’ll keep doing small batch releases. The answer is a definite yes; with the idea of small batch releases in mind, we’ve been lucky enough to acquire small numbers of exceptionally good quality casks during every year of production, so the series will continue.’
The fourth expression will be launched in early 2020.
The first edition in the series, Batch No. 128, was launched in 2017 and made from lightly peated spirit matured in 100-litre first-fill ex-Bourbon casks.
It was followed in 2018 by Batch No. 270, an unpeated whisky also matured in 100-litre first-fill ex-Bourbon casks.
WOLFBURN
46 %
AURORA
SHERRY CASK
Single Malt Scotch Whisky
Double Distilled in small Stills for
a fuller flavour
natural Colour
Non Chill Filtered
All of our finest spirit is laid
down in specially selected oak casks
Matured & Bottled by Wolfburn
Distillery Thurso, Caithness
Tasting Notes: “on the nose you’il sense sherry sweetness
accompanied by dried fruits and malt. On the palate there’s
a warmth imparted from the sherry cask, augmented by
autumn fruits and nutty flavours with a hint of spice in the
background, wonderfully smooth and mellow this really
is a ffirst class whisky.
Shane Fraser – Distillery Manager.
Dear Willem ,
Wolfburn is today delighted to announce two new anniversary releases in celebration of our unique heritage and to raise money for charity.
It seems incredible to think that two full centuries have passed since the original Wolfburn distillery was built. Life was very different back in 1821, but happily the crafting of single malt whisky has barely changed at all. We are privileged to be custodians of Wolfburn’s heritage and proud that our whisky is still made the traditional way: by hand, without haste, and with a near-obsession with quality. To celebrate the momentous milestone of 200 years we have created a unique whisky, crafted from our oldest and best spirit, including our very first cask: 2013#1. Full details here.
As if one special release was not enough, Wolfburn has partnered with Poppyscotland and Carnegie Whisky Cellars to produce a special whisky commemorating the 100th anniversary of the first ever poppy appeal. Matured in second-fill bourbon casks and first-fill sherry casks, a total of 1921 bottles are being produced, with £5 from every bottle being donated to Poppyscotland. Our aim is to raise a total of £9,605 for this excellent cause. Full details and tasting notes here.
Slàinte!
The Wolfburn Team