Specialty retail

For the adventurous taster and completionist

For the details…

Ailsa Bay lies within William Grant and Sons’ grain distillery at Girvan. Girvan was the result of a dispute between Diageo forebear DCL and Grant’s (owners of Glenfiddich and Balvenie) in which DCL refused to supply grain whisky to Grant’s. In response, Grant’s built Girvan in 1963, in order to achieve self-sufficiency in their blending business. While they were waiting for mature grain whisky, they also began to promote Glenfiddich as a single malt brand, arguably launching the category as a mass-market product.

Over the years, Girvan has paid host to a couple of malt distilleries. The first, referred to as Ladyburn, operated from 1967-1977, providing fillings for Grant’s house blends. With the growing popularity of single malts as a category, Grant’s built Ailsa Bay in 2007. Like Diageo’s super distillery at Roseisle, the main purpose is filling blends and taking pressure off mainline malt distilleries like Balvenie and Glenfiddich. Also like Roseisle, the distillery is designed to produce multiple styles of malt whisky, again with an eye to blending. 

Although the main business of Ailsa Bay is filling blends, it does release limited amounts of malt whisky, primarily peated make like this no-age statement whisky. Most of my tastings come from a full-sized bottle, however, this Ailsa Bay I got as a sample. In my limited experience, it proved to be an interesting, odd, and altogether rather austere whisky–more intriguing than enjoyable.

Ailsa Bay 48.9% abv

Nose: A rather rich, almost oily smoke. Fresh moss. Blackberry coulis. Smoked trout. Tarred rope.

Body: Extremely light, almost fragile. Chalky.

Palate: Much more abrasively sooty and peaty than the nose would suggest. Still some berry, although now it’s more along the lines of blueberry. Fresh sage. Altogether rather austere, with even a touch of dry grain in the mix.

Finish: Medium and becoming much fruitier and sweeter–blueberry syrup. At the very last, sea salt.

Score: 72/100

Who should buy it?: People who want to taste everything, regardless of enjoyability. People who like their whisky a little challenging.

Overall thoughts: More a curiosity than anything else.

Bottling Information:

Expression: Ailsa Bay

Bottler: Proprietor

Range: n/a

Bottle Code: n/a (sample)

Presentation: Unspecified

Details: n/a

Price: $40-60

Availability: The expression reviewed here was discontinued, although you might be able to find it at auction. You can find its successor–also no-age statement, and at 48.9% abv–at The Whisky World or The Whisky Exchange.

Distillery Information:

Region: Lowlands

Location: Girvan, Ayrshire

Geography: Coastal

Date Founded: 2007

Owner: William Grant and Sons

Website: https://www.ailsabay.com/

Capacity: 12,000,000

Plant Summary: MASH TUN: Lauter; WASHBACKS: 24 Stainless Steel; STILLS: 16; HEAT SOURCE: Steam; CONDENSER: Shell and Tube

Total expressions sampled: 1

Overall distillery score: n/a

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