“Tonight the first category to be announced is for the newcomer, an award previously won by the likes of Arran and Kilchoman both of whom have now gone on to become household names in the industry. Tonight’s shortlist are: Kingsbarns from Fife, Ardnamurchan from the West Highlands and Glenlachan from Argyll.” Jean-Luc was already getting to his feet as the Chairman said “And the winner of best newcomer is Glenlachan”
Wait what!!!!!you might well be thinking….how come I have never heard of or tasted Glenlachan….it must be amazing if it has beaten the Online Scotch Whisky Awards (OSWA) 2022 winner of ‘Best New Distillery’ Ardnamurchan and Kingsbarns the winner of the Best Lowland Scotch Whisky in Whisky Magazine’s 2022 World Whisky Awards!
Fear not dram lovers for Glenlachan Distillery from Kilchrenan is actually just a fictitious distillery and the rather grizzly opening scene in author Andy Frazier‘s debut crime novel, The Master’s Spirit.
‘Scott had used a torch to peer through the open square hatch down into the mash-tun. The large vessel had contained a soft mix of malted barley and water, which had an evil way of pulling you down like quick sand if you stepped on it….The body was caught by the arm in one of the agitators directly below the lid, the remainder of it partly submerged in the grist‘
Kingsbarns Distillery’s Mash Tun
Now Scott is the local Hamish Macbeth of this caper and the author kept me utterly captivated throughout following Scott’s efforts to get to the bottom of not just one but two murders in the space of a week as well as how on earth Glenlachan managed beat Ardnamurchan and Kingsbarns to that newcomer award.
Along the way Frazier truly managed to transport me right there into the wild majesty of the Wester Highlands of Scotland skillfully linking his evocative, romantic, historical descriptions of the landscape with the colourful suspects themselves and local cultures from which they came.
Sun’s ray o’er Ardnamurchan Distillery
So switch your phones and TV’s off one evening, pour yourself a dram and immerse yourself in this thrilling Scottish “who done it” currently available on Amazon here but hopefully at other outlets too soon!
And if you enjoy this one Frazier is currently writing his follow up this time taking on Scotland’s sheep industry in a tale of corruption and deception called “The Lord of The Hill”
Slainte
Dream to Dram 