THE Teaninich Cluster

Teaninich had been a vaguely familiar distillery name to me, but I took little interest in the whisky until 2013 when Diageo announced they were investing £50M in a facility upgrade. Clynelish, Caol Ila, Linkwood, and the rest of the known blend gems, I'd understand, but Teaninich? WTF is a Teaninich?

The "T" has a bit of a "ch-" sound to it, and there's an "-ick" at the end. The name is Gaelic of "The House on the Hill". The Munro brothers, a pair of military fellas, oversaw the distillery for its first 33 years (1817-1850) until they leased it to future crook Robert Pattison. Thankfully that lasted less than two decades. Distillers Company Limited (proto-Diageo) bought the distillery in 1933 and have never let it go since. It is The Big D's third largest malt distillery behind the Roseisle and Glen Ord horses, having quadrupled its annual capacity since MacLean's 2012 edition of Whiskypedia.

Until 1984, there was actually an "A" and "B" distillery on site, with the latter getting shuttered due to the big industry downturn. The "A" side was also shut down for six years (1985-1991) before starting back up again.

1970 called, it wants its architecture back.
(pic source)

Teaninich uses unpeated malt from Glen Ord Maltings, upon which it uses a hammer mill and mash filter (the first Scotch malt distillery to do so), and gives the juice (plus pressed yeast) 78 hours to ferment. Once casks are filled with the distillery's spirit, they're carted further inland to Diageo's warehouses.

A lot of Teaninich samples are hiding in my stash, in fact, I'm not sure how many. This occurred because I tried a bunch of the distillery's single malts and very much enjoyed them. It has been one year since I did a full-blown scotch cluster, so now it's time for me to bring forth all the samples for what will be my largest cluster in nearly three years.

While I'm not sure if anyone else has ever said, "I am thrilled to drink a lot of Teaninichs," I would be proud to be the first. I am thrilled to drink a lot of Teaninichs.

THE TEANININININICHS:

1. Teaninich 12 year old 2011 SMWS 59.74 (Peated!) - "It offers an earthy, dry smoke which could be quite nice with the right amount of fruit."

2. Teaninich 10 year old 2008 SMWS 59.56 - "It's like mellow new make!"

3. Teaninich 12 year old 2008 Single Malts of Scotland, cask 715786 - "I could have been convinced that this was a single grain aged in a rye cask."

4. Teaninich 13 year old 2008 SMWS 59.69 - "The cask did have a presence but dilution really straightened things out."

5. Teaninich 10 year old 2007 Signatory, cask 702710 for Binny's - "Not sure why the good Binny's crew selected this one."

6. Teaninich 11 year old 2007 Berry Bros & Rudd, cask 702605 - "...the fruitiness tickles many of my fancies."

7. Teaninich 11 year old 2006 Cadenhead, for BestWhiskyMarket Poland - "BEHOLD, the first hogshead to have ever produced 480 bottles!"

8. Teaninich 11 year old 2006 Cadenhead, exclusive to the US market - "...the toasty oak notes (from this nearly clear whisky) play well with the other characteristics."

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