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Modern Scotch Whisky From 200-Year-Old Barley?

In Edinburgh, Scotland, Heriot-Watt’s International Centre for Brewing and Distilling is using ancient barley in a project with Holyrood Distillery. They’re looking into whether Scotch whisky could be in for a revamp from a 200-year-old crop.

The experts from Heriot-Watt recently teamed up with Holyrood to specifically to find out whether old species of barley could create distinctive new whiskies.

A statement from the Centre notes that over the next six years, they’ll test at least eight heritage barley varieties and provide the scientific evidence needed to classify the flavors and aromas they bring to a whisky.

Holyrood Distillery ancient barley
In Edinburgh, Scotland, Heriot-Watt’s International Centre for Brewing and Distilling is using ancient barley in a project with Holyrood Distillery. (image via Holyrood)

Chevallier is one of the 200-year-old varieties they’ll be distilling. It was one of the most prevalent barleys in Britain for a hundred years, but fell out of favor when the tax rules changed.

The team will also test Hana barley, which was originally grown in Czech Moravia and was used to make the first blonde Pilsner lager in 1842.

A relatively newer vintage, Golden Promise from the 1960s, will be tested and it grows predominantly on the east coast of Britain, from Angus down to Northumberland. It’s best known as the barley behind the Macallan bottlings from the ‘60s.

The team is seeking new single malts for Holyrood Distillery and the potential to increase knowledge and awareness about the positive traits of heritage barleys.

Dr. Calum Holmes, with Heriot-Watt’s, said that new varieties of malting barley are developed regularly to improve processability and agronomic traits, and it’s not uncommon to find some that dominate the industry for a period of time.

However, he noted, there’s increasing interest within the malting and distilling industries to explore a role for older barley varieties.

“There’s hope that using these heritage varieties of barley might allow for recovery of favorable aroma characteristics into distillate and some have also displayed potential resilience to stresses that might be expected from a changing climate,” he added.

Holmes and his team will look at the effect of using heritage barley varieties on malt and distillate quality. Their work will focus on the interplay between grain production and composition and the impact on distillery processing efficiency and distillate aroma volatility profile.

Marc Watson, head of spirit operations at Holyrood Distillery, said they’re a young distillery, and that means they have the freedom to experiment and be playful.

“We decided to try making some mashes and distillations with Chevallier. It was fascinating. The first thing we noticed was an oilier mouth texture, it had a great mouth feel,” he explained. “We think there are clear sensory differences with using heritage barleys, but we wanted to back it up with science. Luckily we have the world-famous Heriot-Watt right here in Edinburgh, and this is the second time we’re working with them.”

For the researchers, understanding what each heritage barley brings to the flavor, mouth feel and aroma of whisky means they can potentially design notable whiskies.

“It’s using innovation to bring back characteristics that have been lost by switching to newer varieties of barley, flavors and aromas that haven’t been present in whisky for decades if not longer,” Watson said.

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