Teaninich

Introduction:

Teaninich Distillery is located on a headland in the east of Scotland, north of Inverness. It is situated near the River Averon. The distillery is owned by the Diageo spirits group and primarily produces Whisky for the malt component of their Blended Whiskies. While there is an official 10 – year – old bottling from the Flora and Fauna series, independent bottlings from companies like Signatory Vintage, Duncan Taylor, and Gordon & MacPhail are also common.

Production:

The water used for producing Teaninich Whisky comes from the Dairy Well Spring. The distillery employs some unique production features, such as using a mash filter instead of a conventional mash tun and having a distinct history regarding its stills.

Stills:

Teaninich Distillery has six original pot stills of various sizes that were installed during a renovation in 1970. Later, an expansion led to the addition of six more stills and the enlargement of the still house. As part of this expansion, the three original wash stills were converted into spirit stills while preserving their character. The new six stills are identical in shape to the originals but have a different heating system. Instead of being heated by steam inside the still, the wash is pumped out, warmed up in an external heat exchanger, and then returned to the still to initiate boiling. All twelve stills at Teaninich have reflux balls, resulting in an oily spirit with light and grassy characteristics.

Malt:

Teaninich uses unpeated malt for its Single Malts. The distillery employs a hammer mill rather than a roller mill for processing the malt. The hammer mill consists of fast-rotating steel plates (hammers) that crush and grind the grains into fine flour. This process produces a pulpy consistency, similar to wholegrain flour, instead of the usual grist found in most Scottish distilleries. The fine consistency enhances sugar dissolution and increases alcohol yield. However, the solid components of the mash cannot be strained out effectively using traditional mash tun filters. To address this, Teaninich utilizes a large industrial mash filter known as a cloth filter, where the mash is filtered through cloth to remove solid components.

Fermentation:

Teaninich has 20 washbacks, with 18 made of wood and two made of stainless steel. Each fermentation tank is filled with 56,000 liters of mash, which ferments for 76 to 80 hours. This fermentation period produces “clear wort” with 8% alcohol content, already exhibiting the desired oily and grassy character that will be retained during distillation.

History:

Teaninich Distillery was founded in 1817 by Captain Hugh Munro, making it one of the first legal distilleries. Captain Munro, a war hero, rebuilt Teaninich Castle and established the distillery. In 1830, the distillery was sold to his younger brother, John Munro, who was also in the military as a Lieutenant General. Due to John Munro’s frequent absences, the distillery was leased out in 1850 and eventually closed during the First World War.

In the 1970s, the distillery underwent expansion, including the installation of new stills. Ownership of the distillery changed several times over the years until its reopening in 1991, marking the beginning of continuous production. The first Single Malt bottling from Teaninich came onto the market in 1992. Today, the distillery is owned by the Diageo spirits group and primarily produces Whisky for their Blended WhiskiesApologies, but I don’t have information on the visitor center at Teaninich Distillery.

Visitor information:

Teaninich Distillery
Riverside Dr
Alness
IV17 0XD
Tel: +44 (0)1349-885001

Unfortunately, the distillery is not open to visitors.