Strathmill stands on the river Isla in Keith, in a converted corn mill that was turned into a distillery in 1891 and renamed Strathmill in 1895 when W. and A. Gilbey bought it. Gilbey's used the malt as a backbone of the J&B blend, and the distillery passed through IDV and Grand Metropolitan into Diageo's hands, where it remains. Single malt bottlings have always been scarce. Almost the entire output goes into blends, chiefly J&B.
The twelve-year-old Flora and Fauna, released in the early 1990s as part of Diageo's series of bottlings from its quieter distilleries, is to all intents and purposes the only standard single malt Strathmill the public ever sees. Bottled at forty-three per cent, it shows the dry, nutty Speyside style that the distillery's purifiers on the spirit stills are designed to produce, stripping back heavier compounds and leaving a cleaner, lighter spirit.
The result is a whisky that rewards patience rather than enthusiasm. The nose is quiet, the palate dry and a little austere, the finish nutty and peppered rather than sweet. It is the antithesis of the modern sherry-bomb Speysider, and all the better for it.
Among collectors the Flora and Fauna series is increasingly hunted for exactly this reason. They preserve, at honest strength and a sensible price, the working character of distilleries that exist mostly to feed blends, and Strathmill is one of the quieter pleasures of the set.
