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River Deeside’s first distillery in 200 years opens

The team behind Deeside Brewery has opened a new distillery in River Deeside, thought to be the first in almost 200 years in the Scottish region.

The Twin River team fill the first cask of Twin River Whisky

Banchory-based Twin River has recently invested over £200k in the distillery to accommodate the production of its spirits – including gin and whisky – with plans for new premises in 2018. £1.4m will be invested to build a new brewery, distillery and visitor centre with taproom.

The distillery are seeking funds for the centre through both internal and external sources including private investment and crowdfunding, via the sale of early release octaves (55L casks).

To support with the development and production of its products, the distillery has appointed Andrew Tulloch as a distiller. Ryan Rhodes has also been recruited as brand director and joins Twin River with over 12 years of experience in the drinks industry.

Rhodes said: “There is real potential for us to be a leader in the Scottish craft drinks market and I’m excited about being an integral part of Twin River – both in the production of and selling of our products.”

“To create a whisky, you firstly need a wash which is fundamentally an 8% beer. We’ve used our brewing knowledge to create a wash, which includes chocolate malt before distilling it to cask strength and laying it down in 55L virgin charred American oak casks. This type of cask ages the whisky much quicker.”

According to the distillery, its first prototype release, Twin River Gin, has already received acclaim after making its debut at Sessions festival earlier this month.

Rhodes explains: “The thing that differentiates Twin River Gin from others is that usually (with the exception of LoneWolf and Arbikie), the base spirit is produced out with Scotland before it is redistilled with botanicals. This means that the final product isn’t always an authentic Scottish craft drink. Because we make our own spirit; our gin is as real as it gets.”

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