OUR WHISKY
8 Doors Distillery Single Malt Scotch Whisky
Now we wait.
On 5th September 2022 we made whisky history. An exhilirating day for us all as we filled our first cask - the first in John O’Groats for over 180 years.
Read more on our Blog
Making 8 Doors Whisky
Our Stills
We chose traditional pot stills which were made to our design by the team at Speyside Copper Works. Carefully hand crafted using techniques and skills that have changed little since the nineteenth century. Individual hammer marks can be seen on each still - a thing of beauty!
The Wash Still is 1,700L and the Spirit Still is 1,300L capacity.
Our sill design and slow distillation rates mean we get lots of copper contact throughout distillation, with the reflux visible on the Spirit Still glass.
Our Casks
We’ve partnered with Casknolia, a small, family-run cooperage in Southern Spain with traditional techniques and true craftmanship at their heart to provide our first-fill sherry seasoned casks.
Tailor made to order for us, the air dried American, European and Spanish Oak staves are formed into casks ready for seasoning for up to 2 years in their partner wineries.
We use a range of cask sizes from 50L Octave casks, 130L Quarter casks, and 250L Hogsheads to 500L Sherry Butts.
We also use a small number of ex-Bourbon casks.
Our Barley
We primarily use unpeated traditional Scottish Distilling Malt. We don’t have an on-site mill so we get our barley milled into Grist for us and delivered in 25kg bags. A ratio of 20% husks, 70% grits and 10% flour makes up our Grist.
Our Yeast
Our core recipe uses Fermentis M-1 yeast which helps deliver the light fruity flavours that come through in our new make spirit.
Pitched into our washbacks manually we leave the yeast to do it’s thing for an average of 100hrs.
Our Water
The water in our whisky comes from our on-site borehole. Drilled 60 metres below our feet the water is taken from the Aquifer.
The saying ‘Today’s rain is tomorrow’s whisky’ is certainly true in John O’Groats!
Our Climate
The cold, damp, sea air will influence the casks in our on-site warehouse as they mature. Located by the coast the sea mist, ocean spray and cool temperature will all contribute to the creation of complex whisky characteristics.
When will 8 Doors Distillery Single Malt Scotch Whisky be released?
The simple answer is we don’t know yet! Whilst legally our new make spirit must mature in cask for over 3 years we’ll monitor the spirits maturation throughout that time and beyond to determine when it is ready. The quality of the spirit will decide when we release our first bottling.
The 874 Club
As part of our distillery journey we launched the 874 Founders Club for 250 cask owners and the 874 Club for 1,250 owners of an exclusive bottles package. Membership was strictly limited and our members will always be part of the 8 Doors Distillery journey.
Why was it called the 874 Club?
We see the creation of Single Malt Scotch Whisky as a great journey. Lands End to John O’Groats is an iconic UK journey covering the extremes of Great Britain, a distance of 874 miles. That’s why we called our founders club The 874 Club.
Two paths. One journey.
Our top tier of membership was limited to 250 members.
A mix of 50L and 250L casks, these members will own some truly unique casks of Highland Single Malt Whisky. Created as part of our launch collaboration with master whisky maker John Ramsay.
Our core membership was limited to 1,250 members.
874 Club members receive 1 x inaugural release 70cl bottle and 3 x 70cl bottles of exceptional Highland Single Malt Whisky. These bottlings are derived from a selection of first-fill American, European and Spanish oak, Oloroso casks.
The 874 Founders Club and 874 Club packages have sold out. Existing club members can find more information about their packages here.
