Blair Athol Distillery

In one of the most innovative examples of “up-cycling” seen in the Scotch whisky industry, the recently redundant mash tun at Clynelish Distillery - a massive cylindrical copper and cast iron vessel used in whisky production - was about to be scrapped, when Great Brink, a cutting-edge Edinburgh-based design and production consultancy suggested it could be re-purposed for Blair Athol Distillery. The mash tun was carefully deconstructed, transported to Diageo Abercrombie, then re-designed into a magnificent, experiential tasting bar, which forms the centre piece of the Blair Athol visitor centre.

“The concept for the bar was to re-use and re-form not only the copper top, but also the access door, ‘lauter' arms, cast iron perimeter walls and mashing machine. To maintain it’s authenticity, the whole bar was placed onto it’s original wedge-wire filter plate floor and internally, the bespoke Burmese Teak bar, stainless-steel and oak rotating optic display are designed to represent the motion of the lauter arms. The built-in “premium” whisky cabinet is contained in the original hatch doors and the original brass windows have been converted into bespoke whisky taps on the bar top.”