There are more than 120 working distilleries across Scotland. A lot by anyone’s standard, given there are only 5.4 million people, but what is perhaps more extraordinary is that 10 of them were only opened in the past couple of years. Galvanised by a growing appetite and appreciation for the water of life, Scotch exports hit £4.7bn last year. Gone is the image of stuffy old geezers knocking back endless wee drams. The appeal of the malt has broadened and the world can’t drink enough of it.
But it wasn’t always this way. In the early 1980s, whisky went through, well, a dry patch and distilleries that had been producing fine, distinctive liquors for decades were mothballed. Brora, Port Ellen, Rosebank, Dallas Dhu and many more were closed, and have come to be known as the silent, or ghost, distilleries.