Snowfall Sparks a 'happy accident' at a Scottish Whisky distillery

One of the key steps in making new make spirit is fermentation. It’s where part of the spirit’s character is forged. At The Cabrach Distillery, however, the weather had other plans, and the fermentation ran more than a week longer than intended.

In recent days, heavy snowfall hit several countries, including the United Kingdom. Inverharroch Farm, home to The Cabrach Distillery, was buried under a thick blanket of snow. The result was rather unexpected.

Just before a two-week break, the distillery team had filled three washbacks with wort. This mash of freshly malted barley was meant to ferment for a total of 21 days while the stillmen were away. But life rarely sticks to the plan.

Heavy snowfall covered the entire area around the distillery. Picturesque at first, until it wasn’t. The distillery ended up being unreachable for more than a week longer than expected.

Meanwhile, the wort kept happily fermenting away. Instead of 21 days, the fermentation ran to a total of 29 days. When the team returned on Monday the 12th, they found three washbacks in which the wort had fermented for a remarkable 691 hours (instead of the usual 168).

The result was a liquid with an intensely tropical aroma, the kind that emerges when fermentation is allowed to run long.

Extended fermentations give yeast more time to create complex esters and aromatics. While shorter ferments are geared toward efficient alcohol yield, longer ones shift the emphasis to flavor development. That was unmistakably evident in the aromatic intensity of the washbacks when the team returned.

The distillery was also fortunate that it was so cold. The sustained low temperatures slowed the fermentation, yet still allowed it to tick along without stopping entirely.

The Cabrach will distill this tropically scented wash and lay the spirit down to mature. The team views it as a happy accident, a kind of time capsule that will recall the winter of 2026 when the whisky is finally ready.

That said, a 29-day fermentation won’t become the norm. It carries too many risks and doesn’t fit the distillery’s production schedule.

It’s not yet known exactly when this little mishap from The Cabrach Distillery will reach the market. First, it needs to be distilled, and then it must mature for at least three years. One thing is certain: the team is eager to see how this unplanned whisky experiment turns out.