What's old is new again

A brief history lesson

Distillation may have been discovered in Syria and used in the making of ladies' eye shadow, called al-kohl.

Arak, a clear, colorless distilled spirit, made from grapes and anise, followed the discovery. Arak was, in essence, distilled wine. The art of making "burnt wine" spread, along with the Islamic faith, across the Middle East and Mediterranean.

One popular theory holds that Christian Crusaders learned the art of distillation and returned to Britain. Early Christian monks traveled, bringing Catholicism and the secret of distillation to the British isles - where barley replaced grapes.

Arak (from Arabic "araq" meaning "sweat") is still consumed in the Middle East and is closely related to the Greek Ouzo and to the French Pastis. It is served with meals or as an aperitif, and mixed with water, which makes it opaque (as with other anise-flavored liqueurs).

In 1703, in A Description of the Western Islands of Scotland Martin Martin (yup, that was his name) describes "Trestarig," a long forgotten whisky from the Hebrides Islands, a chain of islands 30 miles off the North West coast of Scotland, approximately 120 miles in length:

"The air is temperately cold and moist, and for the corrective, the natives use a dose of Trestarig," which is described as aquavitae three times distilled - as opposed to the standard double distillation of most scotch whisky.

Interestingly, Trestarig is pronounced "trace-arak," and "treas" is Gaelic for "triple."

Another theory contends that the Vikings were the responsible party. It is known that they voyaged to Turkey and the Black Sea via the large rivers of central Europe and may have brought the knowledge of triple-distilled Arak to the Hebrides before the Christians.

That's interesting and all, but so what...

Well, this all brings us to Bruichladdich's announcement today of a new distillation of Trestarig - the first triple-distilled spirit in the Western Isles for many centuries. Currently only the lowland distillery Auchentoshan, produces a triple-distilled scotch whisky.

According to innovative Master Distiller Jim McEwan:

This is without doubt the very best new spirit I have ever tasted, coming into spirit at 88% alcohol after a 7 hour spirit run - the longest I have ever witnessed. The elusive "middle cut" was made between 86% to 81.5%. This is a rock show of a malt.

CEO Mark Reynier adds:

We like to do things differently at Bruichladdich - and if it means going back in time for inspiration, so be it.

Bruichladdich has distilled and casked 12,000 liters of Trestarig, at 84.5% alcohol by volume.

I asked Mark how long they plan to age the Trestarig, what the price would be, and would we get some here in North America. His response:

Don't know how long or how much, but would expect a fair proportion to make it to the states.

So it will be at least three years before this will be ready for sale. But you heard it here first.