Glenmorangie developing bespoke yeast strain

Experimentation with fermentation and yeast strains will become the future of innovation within Scotch whisky, Glenmorangie’s master distiller has claimed.

Glenmorangie Distillery is experimenting with both barley and yeast strains

Dr Bill Lumsden, head of whisky creation at The Glenmorangie Company, has been experimenting with the effect different yeast strains have on whisky for the past 10 years.

The distiller has even gone so far as to hint that the Highland distillery will soon be using its own unique yeast strain in all its whiskies.

Lumsden said: “I was inspired by a quote from the late, great Michael Jackson, who claimed that Glenmorangie had its own unique yeast strain. I found no evidence of that in all the books so I thought ‘I am going to do it’”.

He added:”I like to think for a typical Speyside whisky of the style of Glenmorangie 10, Glenfiddich 12 or Glenlivet 12, there’s a 60/40 split in flavour, with 60% coming from the maturation and 40% coming from the distillery character. Of that 40%, at least half of it is given by the activity of the yeast; that’s quite a lot of flavour to play around with. Unquestionably in my tiny little mind, that’s the next big thing in terms of bringing new flavours to bear.”

The distillery has also been experimenting with a number of different strains of barley, in particular winter barley, which is typically more challenging to grow and produces a lower alcohol yield.

Winter Barley

Glenmorangie’s first foray into alternative barley strains under Lumsden’s guidance is Tusail, the latest addition to the brand’s Private Edition range, which is released this month.

Using English Maris Otter barley, the expression is produced in exactly the same manner as Glenmorangie 10 Year Old, but the unique barley strain, usually reserved for English ales, gives the whisky a nuttier, richer flavour.

While all of Glenmorangie’s Maris Otter whisky has been bottled for Tusail, Lumsden revealed he also has maturing stocks of whisky made using other winter barley strains, including Puffin barley.

However, he added the majority of Scotch whisky producers won’t move into using different barley strains as the produce is “too difficult to get hold of”.

“One or two distillers have that ancient old variety, bere barley, grown. That’s utterly and hopelessly impractical and you can’t make all your production with these varieties.

“The difference from a different barley strain is very subtle, whereas the differences looking at fermentation trials can be very dramatic.”