Ch Challe lenge nges s An And Be Benefits fits Of Of Us - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Ch Challe lenge nges s An And Be Benefits fits Of Of Us Using g Local al Malting ing Ba Barley y To To Pr Produc uce A A Highla land d Pa Park Whisky ky

By Erik k Smith th Highland Park Distil illery, ry, Orkney NPA CEREAL AL Project ject Confere erence, ce, Orkney ney Oct 23rd

rd 2015

2015

Intro troduc ductio ion

• Origins of HP can be traced back to 1798
• Since then it has become a world famous

malt whisky brand

• Its current success can be attributed to the

quality of its whisky, much of which results from its continuation of traditional practices – e.g. use of locally sourced peat, traditional water supply, dunnage warehouses and especially its own floor malting.

• Only about 6 other distilleries in Scotland

continue to run their own floor malting facilities – this contributes a unique character to our whiskies.

• Crucially, for this presentation, our floor

malting facility has allowed HP to develop the marketing concept of producing an “All- Orkney whisky” where every step of the process will be done in Orkney, including growing the barley.

An An Al All-Or Orkn kney ey Wh Whis isky ky

• To start developing an all-Orkney whisky,

we had to:

• Find

d a modern rn malting ng barley ey variety ety which h grows well in Orkney ey and produc uces es good d malt – ‘Tartan’ identified (PSY >420 l/t)

• Establish a supply chain for ‘Tartan’

For both of these, e, collabor aborat ation

• n with the

Agronomy

• nomy Insti

titut tute e was import rtant. ant.

• Some Challenges:
• The Tartan

an supply pply chain ain produces duces c. 60 t o

• f

grain n annual ually (Sept pt/O /Oct) t). Optimum um germinat nation

• n for malting

ng is several eral months hs later r – we need d to dedicate ate one grain n storage age bin to the projec ect.

• To produc

duce e a p pure Tartan n spirit, t, malting ng and disti tillati ation

• n of Tartan

an is carried ed out immediat diately ely

• n return after the summer “shut down” when

all equipment pment has been n thoroughl

• ughly cleaned

aned of

• ther

er grain/mal n/malt t – about ut 1 year after the Tartan n was harves ested. ted.

• Malting

ng char arac acter teristi tics of Tartan n – quicker er to malt, and gener erat ates es a higher her temper peratur ature, e, than than

• ther

er barley ey used ed by HP.

An An Al All-Or Orkn kney ey Wh Whis isky ky

• Further Challenges:
• Tartan

an seed ed no longer ger commer mercial ally availabl able: e:

• The AI helps each grower in the supply

chain to maintain their own line of farm- saved seed.

• Also helped by McCreath, Simpson &

Prentice who hold a reserve batch of Tartan seed from each grower (for insurance) and clean and dress each year’s seed.

• Expens

pense.

• e. Local

al Tartan an is much h more expens ensive than n purchas hasing ng malting ng barley ey in Aber erdeen deen as:

• Small scale processing in Orkney is costly.
• The grain price offered to Orkney growers

has to be attractive (but, premiums and deductions encourage high quality).

• Even

en though ugh the whisky will not be releas ased ed for many year ars, , we are confi fident dent the high h cost of the projec ect will be offset et by long-ter erm m benefi efits ts.

An An Al All-Or Orkn kney ey Wh Whis isky ky - Be Bene nefi fits ts

• The project will produce an exceptional

HP single malt whisky with unique provenance and a very strong marketing story.

• The whisky will be a novel product which

will help to keep the brand interesting to its followers.

• The project has a positive economic

impact on the Orkney farming community and has made the island the most northerly producer of malting barley in Scotland.

• The project is popular at all levels of the

company, our customers easily relate to it, and it is good for HP’s public relations.