Mai 2017 - Monkey Shoulder Blended Malt Scotch Whisky

Cheers to All Malt Men!

The term 'monkey shoulder' harks back to our whisky making heritage. It’s a reference to a condition that maltmen sometimes picked up while working long shifts, turning the barley by hand. It had a tendency to cause their arm to hang down a bit like a monkey’s, so they nicknamed it 'monkey shoulder'.

Whilst our maltmen are among the few who still turn the barley manually, working conditions have changed which means this injury has been consigned to the past.

Today, the name Monkey Shoulder lives on as an affectionate tribute, to honour the hard graft of all the maltmen past and present. Cheers!

One day, our legendary Malt Master David Stewart decided to create the world’s first 'triple' malt, by combining single malts from three of Speyside’s finest distilleries.

Why's it so mellow?

Well, for starters, there’s not a single drop of grain whisky in our Monkey Shoulder, and the chosen malts mature in first fill ex-bourbon casks. Our own coopers repair these ex-bourbon casks so that they impart a smooth and mellow vanilla flavour into the resting malt whisky. And then, there's Brian Kinsman who's our new Master now. He always chooses the right combination of casks for every batch he makes, ensuring each one is deliciously smooth and rich as the last.

A Threesome is Better than a Onesome

The three Speyside malts are then blended together in a small marrying tun where they hang out making eyes at each other for anything from three to six months.