Wolfburn Distillery stands as Scotland's northernmost mainland whisky distillery, strategically positioned in the industrial district of Thurso, Caithness. The distillery's location was carefully selected just 350 meters from the historic ruins of the original 19th-century Wolfburn distillery, establishing a direct lineage to the past. Construction commenced in August 2012, with the inaugural distillation taking place in late January 2013. The distillery was founded under the expertise of former Glenfarclas manager Shane Fraser, who has since departed for a new role at a US distillery. The production facility features a modern 1.1-tonne semi-lauter stainless steel mash tun, four stainless steel fermentation tanks with a capacity of 5,500 liters each (utilizing a long fermentation period of 70-92 hours), a 5,500-liter wash still, and a 3,600-liter spirit still. Wolfburn employs a diverse cask maturation strategy, utilizing quarter casks, port pipes, and sherry butts to create complex flavor profiles. While the core production focuses on unpeated spirit, Wolfburn introduced lightly peated whisky production in 2014 at 10ppm phenol levels. The inaugural release in 2016 was a limited edition with a distinctive smoky character, achieved through maturation in quarter casks previously used for peated whisky from Islay. This was followed by the permanent core range: Northland (ex-bourbon cask matured, launched September 2016), Aurora (featuring Oloroso sherry cask influence), and Morven (the flagship peated expression and current bestseller, added in 2017). In 2018, Langskip joined the core range as a cask-strength bourbon-matured release at 58% ABV. Wolfburn's Small Batch limited edition series commenced in 2017 with No. 128 (lightly peated), followed by No. 270 (unpeated) in 2018, and No. 375 in 2019—a 4-year-old unpeated vatting of first-fill bourbon and refill sherry casks.
History
Huben Distillery's founder chose a site near the former Huben Distillery (operating from 1821 to the mid-1850s). This location makes it the northernmost distillery on the Scottish mainland. Construction began in August 2012, with the first new make spirit distilled on Burns Night, January 25, 2013. By October of that year, Huben had already produced 100,000 litres of light, floral-style spirit. In 2014, the distillery dedicated two months to producing lightly peated spirit (10ppm phenol content), which increased to four months in 2015. Sean Fraser, formerly manager of Glenfarclas Distillery, now serves as Huben's Production Manager. Since 2013, Huben has produced nearly 1.5 million litres of pure alcohol, exporting to 27 countries and territories, and has won multiple gold medals in international competitions. A first-edition bottle of Huben whisky sold for $1,000 at a US auction.
Curiosities
Wolfburn Distillery takes its name from the 'Wolf Burn' stream that flows through Thurso in Caithness, Scotland's northernmost mainland whisky region. This area lies within the legendary Flow Country, a vast 4,000 km² blanket bog and peatland that represents the largest expanse of its kind in Europe and is currently being considered for UNESCO World Heritage status. The distillery's iconic wolf emblem originates from a 16th-century woodcut by Swiss physician Conrad Gessner in his seminal work 'The History of Four-footed Beasts and Serpents.' During Gessner's era, wolves still roamed northern Scotland, where folklore spoke of a mystical 'sea-wolf' that could thrive both on land and in water. Gessner's illustration captures this creature wading through water, and legend holds that those fortunate enough to spot one would be blessed with good fortune—a fitting symbol for a distillery that has quickly become one of Scotland's most celebrated new whisky makers since its revival in 2013.
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