The Lazarus Syndrome
I recently had a chance to chat with Dr. David Thomson, who is the chairman of MMR Research, a professor at Reading University, and the new owner of the long silent Annandale distillery.
A brief history of the Annandale Distillery
Originally established in 1830 by George Donald & Co., Annandale was run by the Donald family until 1882 when it was leased to John Gardner. Alfred Barnard visited the distillery while it was under the purview of Mr. Gardner, and his impressions are included below.
In 1893, the expanding John Walker & Sons acquired a distillery called Cardhu (which is still a primary single malt ingredient in their ubiquitous blends). In 1896, John Walker & Sons acquired their second distillery - Annandale. But they didn't hold onto it for very long in the grand scheme of things - mothballing the distillery in 1919 and closing it for good in 1921.
The site became a fram and the distillery itself has remained shuttered until this acquisition.
You can read more about Annandale in Brian Townsend's Scotch Missed
Barnard's Take on Annandale (circa 1885-1886)
ANNANDALE DISTILLERY, ANNANDALE, DUMFRIESSHIRE.
PROPRIETORS, JOHN S. GARDNER & SON.After resting and refreshing ourselves at Dumfries, we resumed our journey southwards,
and made our next stoppage at Annan, the capital of Annandale. It stands on the high road from Dumfries to Carlisle, is a royal burgh, and one of the cleanest and pleasantest towns we have seen in the Lowlands.
Annandale, from whence the distillery takes its name, is really the valley of the river Annan, commonly called the How of Annandale, and one of the most garden-like districts in Scotland. The soft bright landscape of luxuriant green, of clustering foliage, of rich verdant pastures, gives to this valley the appearance of English scenery. The river Annan, which rises in the Hartfell mountains, runs a course of thirty miles through this valley into the Solway Firth. We drove 11 miles from the hotel to the Distillery, along a pretty country road, from which we diverged down a private carriage-way, crossing a bridge over the Annan Burn, and found ourselves at the gates of the works.
The Distillery is a short distance from the Annan, and is picturesquely situated, being embosomed by trees. It is built in a solid square, with a small central court, and entered by a pair of sliding gates. The firm derives its supply of water for distilling purposes from the Middleby Burn, high amongst the hills, which is the property of the town of Annan; but the water used for driving the turbine wheel, etc., comes from a swiftly-flowing stream above the works.
The Distillery was formerly in the occupation of Mr. George Donald, an excise officer, who built it in the year 1830, and resided there for forty years. In 1883, Mr. J. S. Gardner, of Liverpool, leased the property, cleared the buildings of all the old-fashioned machinery, and then re-arranged the whole place, putting in new plant, and all modern appliances used in distilling. Mr. Gardner is the son of a former Mayor of Liverpool. At his father's death he retired from business with ample means, but, being a man of active mind and untiring industry all through life, he found he could not be happy without employment, and when the Distillery and property of Annandale were on the market, he leased them and found just the occupation to suit him.
We spent a pleasant afternoon on this little estate. Mr. Gardner himself was our guide, and conducted us first of all over the farm buildings at the back of the works, higher up on the stores of the hill. It is quite a model farmstead, the cowsheds, piggeries, and stables being ranged round a square yard; and we saw upwards of twenty fine head of cattle almost ready for the butcher, and a considerable number of pigs, all red from the draff or grains from the Distillery. Here also are superior stables for harness horses, carriage and harness house, etc.
On the hill just above the work is the residence of Mr. Gardner, standing in its own grounds, and in close proximity to the works. Passing into the Distillery, we were first taken to the Maltings for storing barley, and two withering floors underneath, with a steep at each end. These buildings are of solid stone.
The malt is raised by elevators to the Kiln at the end of the Maltings, which is floored with
wire cloth and heated with peat. We next ascended a stair to the top story of the adjoining building, which forms the Mill Room, and contains a pair of malt rollers, underneath which is the Grist Loft--a floor some five feet above the level of the Mash Tun, in the adjoining house. En route to the Mashing department, we passed two copper heating-tanks, with open furnaces facing the yard. A spout or enclosed wood en trough conveys the pulverized malt into the Mash Tun-a circular iron vessel, holding 3,200 gallons. The house in which it is placed is spacious, well-lighted, and of superior construction. The worts are drained off from the Tun, and the liquid is pumped into the Worts Receiver.
The Underback is, as usual, placed on the ground of this building. The Distillery proper is a large house, arranged on three terraces or steps on the side of the hill, all under one roof. The top terrace is devoted to the Washbacks- new vessels four in number, each holding 3,600 gallons. On the next terrace is placed the Wash Charger-a fine vessel holding 2,800 gallons, also the various Receivers, etc., and on the lowest floor are the Stills, all of the old pot kind. In the Still House is placed the safe, where the running safe is exposed to view in a glass case, kept locked by the excise, and under certain conditions it can be tested. The spirit flows through this safe into the Receiver in the Still House, and from thence it is pumped into the spirit vat in the Spirit Store. We noticed three old-fashioned worm tubs outside the Still House, and adjoining the latter building an engine-house, wherein is a capital little 12 horse power engine to supplement the water power if necessary.
Opposite the Distillery, over the stream, are two bonded Warehouses. The whisky is pure Malt, and the annual output is 28,000 gallons.
We return to our story already in progress
Having grown up in nearby Dumfries, David tells me that he had driven
by the distillery site a hundred times . . . and never knew it existed.
It was only recently that he learned how permission had been granted to convert the site, now a farm, into housing units. David had been considering getting into the distillation game and the thought of this historic site from his home-town being turned into houses somehow accelerated his plans. He quickly set about to find out who the current owner of the site was - which led him to a brief conversation with the would-be developer who told him, quite understandably, to "Piss Off".
Not being so easily discouraged, he decided to call back at lunch time - when he might be able to talk to someone less likely to tell him to get stuffed - indeed, the secretary who answered was quite willing to give him not only the name, but the phone number for the farm's current owner. (A lesson to all you would-be social engineers out there - don't take "no" for an answer, and call someone with less skin in the game.)
Armed with the appropriate digits, he proceeded to phone up the owner, explained that he was from Dumfries and was interested in restoring the site to a working distillery - something it hadn't been in over 85 years. The owner agreed to meet with David.
Upon arriving at the site (until this point David had never visited the distillery site) he couldn't believe what he was looking at:
It was beautiful, the most splendid sight. The sandstone buildings were remarkably intact.
He successfully convinced the farmer to sell it to him instead of the developer - he's convinced that being from the area helped immensely.
It was a fairly expensive deal for me, but I was determined to get it.
Historic Scotland and the Scottish Enterprise both played a role in David's acquisition - monetarily, through grants, and administratively, by helping David get things done.
Scottish Enterprise has been incredibly helpful. They made a lot of things happen and happen quickly. I cannot speak highly enough of these organizations.
Reviving the Dead
David tells me that much of the initial work is infrastructure-related and a casual visitor might not see much in the way of change since the acquisition - nor might they envision the end state of the distillery like David sees it.
When does he expect to be up and running? He's understandably reticent to say as people tend to latch onto dates and can be unforgiving when those dates are not met. Just ask Caroline Whitfield.
According to David the site is fairly large and they are still struggling to figure out where the stills and mash tun went - it's possible that the still house no longer exists - which means that existing buildings will have to be re-purposed, or a new still house will need to be constructed.
After 88 years, the equipment used by the distillery is long gone - and no plans or diagrams exist to give a clue to the original configuration of the distillery. There's no one living who can describe the shape of the stills either. I asked David if anyone has any idea of what the whisky produced by the long-gone stills tastes like - or if anyone has a sample of any of the whisky produced at Annandale.
He tells me that if anyone has any they haven't come forward, and since it was used primarily as part of the Johnnie Walker blend recipe, it's not likely that they'll find any. But he understands that the Single malt was "absolutely disgusting".
What does one do when they have a distillery, but no equipment? Well I'm not sure if it is an actual law (yet), but apparently anyone embarking on a renovation (or new foray) into the whisky world must use the services of Dr. Jim Swan - and Annandale is no different. Dr. Swan's services have been retained to help design equipment for the renovation.
This seems to suit David Thomson - when you aren't trying to replicate a specific (and known) flavor - or adhere to a strict regional flavor profile - all sorts of options open up to you. And David expects to take full advantage of that freedom. He tells me that he wants the revived Annandale to explore "under-populated areas of the sensory map".
One could easily ask if the world needs another distillery and if so, why an abandoned site that had little impact on the whisky world when it did exist.
David says simply that "Lowland whisky matters to me".
Photos courtesy of Misako Udo, author of the The Scottish Whisky Distilleries.
Could you please tell me if the Dewar family had anything to do with this company. I am trying to find some information about my grandfather for my mother who is 83 years of age & knows nothing about her father ( Daivd Leslie) her mother (Hazel) died when she was 9. David married in Australia & divorced in 1933 then went back to Scottland.Please help my mum to know a little about her father if possiable as she is getting long in the tooth. E-mail to shessaco@hotmil.com
Thanking You
Sherrie
Posted by: Sherrie | February 02, 2008 at 01:39 AM