[HN Gopher] Glenfiddich will use its own whisky waste to fuel it...
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       Glenfiddich will use its own whisky waste to fuel its trucks
        
       Author : OJFord
       Score  : 154 points
       Date   : 2021-08-08 17:38 UTC (5 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (eandt.theiet.org)
 (TXT) w3m dump (eandt.theiet.org)
        
       | [deleted]
        
       | hinkley wrote:
       | I don't know if they still do after the buyout, but New Belgium
       | Breweries had a bioreactor that used spent wort to produce
       | methane to help fire the boilers. Then the doubly-spent wort went
       | into compost for the landscaping.
       | 
       | I'm thinking that the shorter supply chain there probably works
       | better, but then again you need multiple examples to get most
       | people to actually start solving problems so kudos to GF for at
       | least trying.
        
       | 08-15 wrote:
       | Am I missing something or is this actually bad?
       | 
       | > Glenfiddich has sold off spent grains left over from the
       | malting process to be used for a high-protein cattle feed.
       | 
       | This sounds as if the leftovers used to be sold as cattle feed,
       | but now they are turned into fuel. If correct, that's horrible!
       | Valuable protein is destroyed in the process. That protein will
       | now have to come from somewhere else, and that's plants
       | fertilized with ammonia, which is in turn made from natural gas.
       | 
       | Destroying protein is not green! Never! Fueling the very same
       | trucks with natural gas is as easy and more efficient, because it
       | skips the intermediate steps.
       | 
       | > The Scottish whisky industry hopes to hit carbon net-zero
       | targets by 2040.
       | 
       | I'm curious how they plan to do this while burning peat in the
       | production process. My guess is by creative accounting.
        
         | mschuster91 wrote:
         | Yep, you're missing this part:
         | 
         | > However, through anaerobic digestion - where bacteria break
         | down organic matter, producing biogas - the distillery can also
         | use the liquid waste from the process to make fuel and
         | eventually recycle all of its waste products this way.
         | 
         | Basically, they have solid waste which was and is going to be
         | used for cattle feed, and they have liquid waste which they're
         | now converting to bio-gas by feeding it to bacteria.
        
           | 08-15 wrote:
           | Oops, looks like I overlooked an "also". But I still can't
           | think of a protein poor and energy rich waste stream in
           | whisky making.
        
       | freeopinion wrote:
       | The world--and especially the tech world--is such now, that I
       | never know if a word is misspelled or if the spelling is
       | intentional and has a meaning I have not yet learned. Or learnd.
        
         | [deleted]
        
         | dean177 wrote:
         | The name means "valley of the deer" in Scottish Gaelic.
         | 
         | Glenfiddich was founded in 1886 in Scotland.
        
         | austinl wrote:
         | Guessing you're referring to "Glenfiddich", but it reminded me
         | of the case of whiskey vs. whisky:
         | 
         | It's generally spelled "whiskey" -- with an e -- in the United
         | States and Ireland. It's spelled "whisky" -- without the e --
         | in Scotland and Canada. Since this article is about
         | Glenfiddich, which is based in Scotland, it makes sense that
         | it's spelled without the e.
         | 
         | The reason for this is purely historical -- there's not
         | necessarily a difference in the product. That said, "Scotch"
         | must be produced in Scotland, and hence you'll always see
         | "Scotch whisky" (no e).
        
           | smcl wrote:
           | The way I understood it, Scottish distillers had widely
           | adopted the extremely productive Coffey still and were quite
           | willing to use non-barley grains, which allowed them to
           | produce a LOT of quality whisky for export so they went on to
           | dominate world consumption of whisky. This was to the
           | detriment of Irish producers, who at the time stuck to the
           | more traditional pot stills and barley (some point after they
           | got a bit more flexible). To distinguish their own product
           | from Scotch whisky the Irish chose to start spelling what
           | they sold as "whiskey".
           | 
           | It's actually not so cut-and-dry as you might think regarding
           | the USA. Even some bigger brands like Makers Mark call theirs
           | "whisky"
           | 
           | But anecdotally as a Scot, the only people who really get
           | upset about that extra "e" are non-whisky drinking Scottish
           | people :D Those who drink it are, in my experience, generally
           | pretty chilled out and understanding.
        
       | twic wrote:
       | I find the terminology used here incredibly annoying.
       | 
       | > It will convert its production waste and residues into an
       | Ultra-Low Carbon Fuel (ULCF) gas that produces minimal carbon
       | dioxide and other harmful emissions.
       | 
       | > The biogas emitted by whisky's production process cuts CO2
       | emissions by over 95 per cent compared to diesel and other fossil
       | fuels and reduces other harmful particulates and greenhouse gas
       | emissions by up to 99 per cent, Glenfiddich said.
       | 
       | Biogas is a mixture of methane and CO2. When burnt, it produces
       | less CO2 per unit energy than petrol, because it's got more
       | hydrogen, but it absolutely still produces lots of CO2. It is
       | definitely not cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 95% or 99%!
       | The important difference is that the carbon is not from fossil
       | sources. This is vital! But CO2 is still being emitted!
       | 
       | Essentially, "carbon" has become a metonym for "fossil-derived
       | carbon". This is going to lead to lots of confusion by anyone who
       | doesn't have a firm grip on that fact.
        
         | fsckboy wrote:
         | the average person will take this to mean this use of a
         | sustainable, renewable fuel will reduce the carbon footprint of
         | the distillery... I don't see the problem
         | 
         | it definitely is reducing greenhouse gas emissions because the
         | source of the energy is byproducts of plantstuffs they grow
         | anyway for the purpose of making their whiskey
        
         | Denvercoder9 wrote:
         | "Emissions" has become synonym for "net emissions" in non-
         | technical discourse. I'm not sure what to think about that: on
         | one hand it can be confusing as you said, but on the other
         | hand, in the grand scheme of things it doesn't matter if
         | someone takes a ton of CO2 out of the atmosphere and then re-
         | emits it. After all, net emissions is the interesting number
         | for climate change.
        
           | joshjdr wrote:
           | I appreciate the original comment's explanation- it's helpful
           | to understand how the marketing points can potentially
           | obfuscate the real/technical points.
           | 
           | I also think your feedback is here accurate, and beyond that
           | would take the side of ringing relevant.
           | 
           | If when they 're-emit' they're replacing what would otherwise
           | be gross emission, that's a net reduction, and a good thing.
           | 
           | Is good the enemy of great? Jim Collins and many corporate
           | managers would agree yes. At a global/societal scale? I think
           | it's probably more debatable, at least.
           | 
           | I remember learning reduce>reuse>recycle and I think this
           | falls somewhere in the middle which might make it an ethical
           | conundrum; but unless we expect to the whiskey company to
           | reduce whiskey production, it seems to me like we should
           | likely applaud the effort.
        
         | User23 wrote:
         | Isn't fossil-derived carbon the problem? The whole point is
         | that fossil carbon was sequestered. How does using non
         | sequestered carbon in place of sequestered carbon not massively
         | reduce the rate of atmospheric CO2 increase in the long run?
        
         | laurencerowe wrote:
         | > but it absolutely still produces lots of CO2. It is
         | definitely not cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 95% or 99%!
         | The important difference is that the carbon is not from fossil
         | sources. This is vital! But CO2 is still being emitted!
         | 
         | Isn't the presumption here that otherwise the CO2 would have
         | been emitted anyway when the waste decomposed in landfill? So
         | using it as fuel doesn't emit additional CO2 beyond the energy
         | used processing it.
        
           | ac29 wrote:
           | Landfilling organic waste leads to methane forming during
           | decomposition, which is a substantially more potent
           | greenhouse gas than CO2.
        
             | gameswithgo wrote:
             | More potent but shorter lasting, by a lot. Once CO2 is in
             | the atmosphere you are stuck with it for centuries.
        
               | wizzwizz4 wrote:
               | Yes, but CH4 degrades into CO2 and water (in the presence
               | of oxygen).
        
               | IgorPartola wrote:
               | Shh. You are going to spoil HN poo pooing another
               | renewables initiative with your science.
        
           | hinkley wrote:
           | Cogeneration is generally good, but it's not perfect. It
           | tends to include perverse incentives. As someone pointed out
           | in a recent thread, when you sell the byproduct you have an
           | incentive to keep producing that byproduct. No incentive to
           | remove it, reduce the volume, or reduce consumption. "The
           | fuel is free anyway, so who cares?"
        
         | throwawayboise wrote:
         | The CO2 emitted is not a concern because it's carbon from the
         | current environment. Just like it's fair to call wood-fire
         | heating carbon-neutral (even though it's not so great from a
         | particulate standpoint)
        
           | moralestapia wrote:
           | >The CO2 emitted is not a concern because it's carbon from
           | the current environment.
           | 
           | Nope, it doesn't work like that.
           | 
           | Source: Business _very_ related to this exact activity.
        
             | readflaggedcomm wrote:
             | In what way? Regulations that don't consider the source?
        
               | moralestapia wrote:
               | Because the CO2 goes back to the atmosphere.
        
             | sokoloff wrote:
             | If you grow 2021 grain (taking CO2 into the grain's
             | carbon), then burn part of that carbon back into CO2 in
             | 2021, how is that not strictly better than taking millions
             | of years old carbon and turning it loose into the
             | atmosphere?
        
               | moralestapia wrote:
               | It's definitely better than doing nothing, but an
               | hypothetical company doing business as usual and then
               | buying the necessary carbons offsets from permanent
               | carbon sequestration projects would be better for the
               | atmosphere.
               | 
               | Of course, the ideal scenario would be a company that
               | does both things (reduce + offset).
        
           | Denvercoder9 wrote:
           | _> Just like it 's fair to call wood-fire heating carbon-
           | neutral (even though it's not so great from a particulate
           | standpoint)._
           | 
           | As long as you grow these trees specifically for burning.
           | Once you start chopping down forests without replacing them,
           | you're still adding to the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere.
        
         | mytailorisrich wrote:
         | Burning fossil fuels is the main issue with CO2 emissions
         | because that it adds CO2 into the atmosphere by releasing
         | carbon that was sequestrated underground.
         | 
         | On the other hand, burning renewable plant matter is pretty
         | much neutral: The plant absorbs carbon from the atmosphere
         | while growing and that carbon is released back into the
         | atmosphere when the plant is essentially burned to release
         | energy.
         | 
         | The main problem with biofuels is that they may compete with
         | other crops for land, etc. But if they are produced from plant
         | waste that was already being produced anyway then they are a
         | pretty good option.
        
         | hinkley wrote:
         | It's also lack of systems thinking.
         | 
         | When you turn a product liability into an asset, you increase
         | the margins of the primary product, meaning you want to produce
         | more of your primary product.
         | 
         | When that growth is coming at a cost to your competitors, then
         | this is an overall win. But if it increases the overall supply,
         | then it gets very hard to call it a carbon reduction, in the
         | same way that vehicle fuel efficiency and safety have also
         | increased total miles traveled and total land converted into
         | housing.
        
           | IgorPartola wrote:
           | I don't see how doing something like this increases the
           | global demand for whiskey/hard liquor. Also if one distillery
           | can do it, so can others which is also an overall win.
        
             | ysavir wrote:
             | It doesn't increase the demand. What it means is that if
             | Glenfiddich needs more fuel to meet its own fuel demand, it
             | will have to do so by creating more whiskey, even without
             | demand for the additional whisky.
        
             | roflc0ptic wrote:
             | It doesn't necessarily change the demand, but it changes
             | the supply curve by making it cheaper per unit to produce
             | whiskey. Previously, you could sell whiskey, and the waste
             | was garbage. Under this hypothetical scheme, now you could
             | make money on the waste, too, reducing the price of
             | production.
        
               | VBprogrammer wrote:
               | Would this be an example of the Jevons paradox?
               | 
               | https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jevons_paradox
        
               | roflc0ptic wrote:
               | I can't really tell. Certainly jevon's paradox adjacent.
        
               | ohyeshedid wrote:
               | Reminds me of Kingsford Charcoal.[1]
               | 
               | [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingsford_(charcoal)
        
         | ReactiveJelly wrote:
         | It's already a metonym for CO2, and I'm already not happy about
         | that.
         | 
         | There's lots of other tailpipe emissions worth asking about.
         | Isn't that how Europe wasted years trying to make clean diesel?
        
           | dexterdog wrote:
           | Not to mention tire and break emissions which are still
           | considerable on any vehicle.
        
             | ianai wrote:
             | My hybrid uses the brakes significantly less than a
             | nonhybrid ICE. The motors do a lot of the stopping work
             | instead of the brakes. It's easiest to see this going
             | downhills. My cars recharging while other cars are using
             | brakes. Tire wear though is definitely not abated.
        
               | simondotau wrote:
               | Is tyre wear really a comparable concern?
               | 
               | Think about how many times you refuel your car between
               | tyre changes. Contemplate the volume of fuel burned
               | versus the volume of material scraped off your tyres over
               | their lifetime. Whatever the environmental cost of tyres,
               | they cannot compete with liquid fuel.
        
               | hypertele-Xii wrote:
               | It's not just how much stuff is consumed. Different
               | materials break into different size and shape particles.
               | Tires may wear out slower but the particles they release
               | may cause more damage.
        
               | ianai wrote:
               | It's more about PM2.5 and similar particulate pollution.
               | But absolutely there are bigger concerns. Tire and brake
               | pollution gets brought up as a false equivalency between
               | ICE and EV car emissions often. Just wanted to add a
               | factoid about how electrified vehicles really are more
               | efficient.
        
               | hinkley wrote:
               | They've also banned certain materials from brake pads
               | that were causing problem. Copper is a no-no in the time
               | between when my car was built and I last talked to
               | someone about replacements (my car didn't need it because
               | while it's an ICE, the computer is smart enough to do
               | engine braking much of the time).
        
             | nick__m wrote:
             | That carbon is not a green house gas so its okay :P
             | 
             | But seroulsly, a review found on pubmed1 made me realise
             | that brakes and tires emissions are an understudied public
             | health threat. Breaks emissions accounts for 16% to 55% of
             | the PM10 emitted by an ICE car and those particles are an
             | healthy mix of iron, copper, barium, lead, inorganic carbon
             | (probably as soot and graphite, I would be terribly
             | surprised if it was as diamonds and graphene) and various
             | unlisted and unstudied organic compounds!
             | 
             | 1- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4315878/#Se
             | c8ti...
             | 
             | P.s. I tried to link directly to the conclusion but the
             | pubmed reader sometimes show a seemingly random page... so
             | the correct page is 40
        
         | LatteLazy wrote:
         | Of course, all that carbon comes from the crops grown to make
         | whiskey. So it's 99% from the atmosphere on the first place, so
         | emitting it is really "re"-emitting it.
         | 
         | And it the waste were just dumped, it would likely produce a
         | lot of methane, itself a greenhouse gas...
        
       | WheelsAtLarge wrote:
       | To me it's always hard to figure out whether this is good,bad, or
       | just propaganda.
       | 
       | My guess would be that Glenfiddich would make a greater impact on
       | the environment by reducing the whisky waste and go electric with
       | their trucks. But I have no way to know since there is no real
       | mechanism to measure the benefits. A problem that's endemic to
       | all these GREEN projects.
       | 
       | I think society would greatly benefit by creating a branch in
       | economics that focuses on the pluses and minuses of carbon
       | emissions. Anyone looking for a PhD project, here's an idea that
       | would certainly help society.
        
       | StreamBright wrote:
       | Artificial, low emission fuel has a great potential.
        
       | jagger27 wrote:
       | Glenfiddich makes some damn fine Scotch.
        
         | staticassertion wrote:
         | I like Glenfiddich (15)... but apparently others disagree. I
         | like Laphroig a lot as well, though they're totally different.
        
           | bdcravens wrote:
           | I don't drink anymore, but the GF15 was always my favorite
           | scotch.
        
         | purple_ferret wrote:
         | Heh, be careful. There are no bigger connoisseurs than American
         | whiskey/whisky drinkers. Scotch is out. Small batch bourbon and
         | Japanese whisky are in.
        
         | 1MachineElf wrote:
         | Their 15-yr Solera is one of my favorites.
        
           | smcl wrote:
           | Seems there's a few of us here who are into the 15 :)
        
         | orf wrote:
         | Honestly, not really. A lot of the blended export stuff isn't
         | great. Some of the older single malts are good (but then again
         | which aren't?), but there are _much_ better ones out there.
         | 
         | It's just got a good recognizable name that is easily
         | marketable to consumers in the US and Europe as a "good"
         | Whisky.
         | 
         | Edit: So it's not bad, it's just super mass-produced. You find
         | it in every single place that sells Whisky (corner-stores,
         | supermarkets, petrol stations, etc etc) alongside Famous
         | Grouse, Bells and the like. They make it for a particular
         | audience is all I'm saying, and IDK if I'd define it as "fine".
        
           | jdsully wrote:
           | I don't understand the infatuation with single malts. The
           | distiller has a lot more control when making a blend and
           | assuming equal skill and care can make a better product
        
             | te_chris wrote:
             | Urban legend I've heard is it was a marketing ploy dreamed
             | up by the Guinness company to charge Americans more. Seems
             | to have worked.
        
             | twic wrote:
             | Not quite: "blended whisky" is a blend of malt and grain
             | whisky. Grain whisky has very little flavour. Hence,
             | blended whiskies invariably have less flavour than single
             | malts.
             | 
             | There is also "blended malt whisky", which is made entirely
             | of malt whisky, but from more than one distillery. As you
             | say, that can be very good, but for whatever reason it
             | isn't a huge category. I think it's growing, though -
             | Monkey Shoulder is a fairly new blended malt that has
             | become a de facto standard workhorse Scotch in cocktail
             | bars, and Compass Box has been grinding out good blended
             | malts for years.
             | 
             | Bear in mind that there is enormous variation between
             | individual casks even at a single distillery. The blender
             | at a distillery has an adequately broad palette to work
             | with, even within the constraints of making single malt.
             | 
             | Indeed, it is often the case that a blender will decide
             | that some particular cask in their stock is too far outside
             | the parameters of their house style to use at all. These
             | casks go to independent bottlers, who put their own name on
             | it, and try to find some niche to market it to.
        
               | dogma1138 wrote:
               | That really depends on the country/regulation, Irish
               | blended whiskey is indeed a blend of Grain and Malt
               | whiskey, Scottish blended is a mix of single malts and is
               | usually labeled as blended malt whiskey instead of just
               | blended.
               | 
               | But indeed people tend to classify blended whiskeys as
               | inferior for some reason they aren't, especially in
               | tightly regulated countries or from good distilleries.
               | 
               | Blended whiskeys allow for a much wider flavor spectrum
               | and most importantly consistency which you can't get from
               | single malt/single cask whiskeys as each batch and even
               | cask will have quite a bit of variance.
               | 
               | Once you get to the few PS1000 per bottle often from
               | brands you never heard off including a lot of private
               | clubs, the whiskeys are nearly always blended and they
               | basically are blends of some of the most rare and sought
               | off single malts.
        
               | smcl wrote:
               | Just to add a bit more regarding what we call Scotch,
               | since there's a bit of confusion here. We have a few
               | terms which are quite strictly legally protected:
               | 
               | Single malt = a single distillery blending various
               | barrels of malt whisky they produced themselves
               | 
               | Single grain = a single distillery blending various
               | barrels of grain whisky they produced themselves
               | 
               | Blended malt = a whisky produced from barrels of malt
               | whisky from various distilleries
               | 
               | Blended grain = a whisky produced from barrels of grain
               | whisky from various distilleries ... I don't think I have
               | ever seen this :)
               | 
               | Blended scotch = a whisky produced from barrels of grain
               | or malt whisky from various distilleries
               | 
               | If you were to randomly choose a cheaper whisky it'll
               | likely be a blended scotch, if you were to randomly
               | choose a more expensive whisky it'll likely be a single
               | malt. There are exceptions of course - there are
               | cheap(er) single malts and there are pricier blends - and
               | "blended" does not necessarily imply bad whisky (nor does
               | the presence of _grain whisky_ necessarily imply bad!).
               | And indeed there are pricey single grains (Arbikie in
               | Arbroath were doing a Rye whisky for a few hundred pounds
               | a bottle). The only way to know anything for sure is to
               | sample for yourself, which is a delicious and fun thing
               | to do :D
               | 
               | Edit: oh and "grain" refers to a bunch of things that
               | aren't barley - it could be corn, millet, wheat, rye,
               | rice or other things.
        
               | twic wrote:
               | How could i have forgotten Royal Salute Tribute to
               | Honour:
               | 
               | https://robbreport.com/food-drink/spirits/taste-royal-
               | salute...
        
             | FridayoLeary wrote:
             | I'm also not sure why almost every whisky out there seems
             | to be watered down to 40%.
        
               | bboreham wrote:
               | Bound to be for tax reasons.
               | 
               | However, if you haven't read this story it's quite
               | interesting.
               | 
               | https://www.newscientist.com/article/2144353-why-adding-
               | a-dr...
        
               | [deleted]
        
               | chrisseaton wrote:
               | Doesn't it get pretty hard to actually drink it above
               | 40%?
        
               | te_chris wrote:
               | Not at all. Acquired taste perhaps, but high-strength,
               | well-made spirits can be wonderful. Need to treat them
               | with respect though, as the downsides are obvious. Loads
               | of the over-proof whiskys and rums are glorious.
        
               | smcl wrote:
               | The strongest you'll likely see is 60% (I have a
               | Glenfarclas 105 at that ABV) but you are right it gets a
               | little challenging at a higher ABV. However between
               | 43-46% is a little richer in flavour without being too
               | nippy even for beginners.
        
               | dageshi wrote:
               | 40% is the legal minimum to call it Whiskey in the UK.
               | It's watered down to increase profit.
        
             | OJFord wrote:
             | I think in general (i.e. not just w.r.t. whisky) it comes
             | from the constituents being non-vintage, since not many
             | vintage crops declared a {relevant mark for 'good year'}
             | wind up blended, and then since correlation of course
             | equals, er, backwards causation, we end up with this 'all
             | blends are worse than _any_ single X '. Which of course
             | isn't true.
        
             | scarytom wrote:
             | A single malt is not made from a single cask, and each cask
             | behaves slightly differently. The distiller therefore has a
             | lot to work with, and will very carefully blend multiple
             | casks to create the desired single malt product before
             | bottling.
        
           | randallsquared wrote:
           | "blended export stuff"? Does Glenfiddich even have a blended
           | expression? (Does the Solera vat count as a blending method
           | for your statement?)
        
             | orf wrote:
             | I've not seen one locally, but I've definitely seen them in
             | the USA and in a couple of airport duty free sections.
             | Unless I'm going crazy
        
               | detaro wrote:
               | Glenfiddich is used in Monkey Shoulder, but other than
               | that?
        
               | orf wrote:
               | Well this is weird. I have this distinct memory of seeing
               | a blended bottle in NYC from them, and concluding that
               | it's some export version that they don't sell to the
               | domestic market because it's not very good.
               | 
               | This was quite a few years ago though, so it must be a
               | false memory or another brand entirely. And I can't find
               | anything on Google...
        
               | Gibbon1 wrote:
               | I bought a bottle of some random scotch whiskey. I t was
               | young and raw but not actually bad. I did a bit of
               | research and it's common for distilleries to sell excess
               | under a popup brand label or sell it for blending.
        
             | twic wrote:
             | "Blended" means a whisky combines both malt and grain
             | spirit. Glenfiddich make malt spirit, but not grain spirit
             | [1], so there's no way a "blended Glenfiddich" could exist.
             | There could be blended whiskies containing Glenfiddich and
             | grain spirit from another distillery, but those are just
             | blended whiskies like any other; you couldn't consider them
             | to be Glenfiddich.
             | 
             | "Blended malt" means a whisky combines malt spirit from
             | multiple distilleries, so "blended malt Glenfiddich" would
             | be an oxymoron.
             | 
             | A Solera system doesn't count as any kind of blending, as
             | long as all the inputs are malt whisky from a single
             | distillery.
             | 
             | [1] these are the grain distilleries:
             | https://www.whiskyinvestdirect.com/about-whisky/grain-
             | whisky...
        
               | GavinMcG wrote:
               | Blended doesn't mean malt + grain. Blended means producer
               | + other producer. That's why, as you said, blended malt
               | means malt spirits combined from multiple distilleries.
        
               | twic wrote:
               | That had been my belief up until i started to write that
               | comment, at which point i went to look it up. Having done
               | so, i am moderately confident that the definition of
               | "blended whisky" in the context of Scotch is that it
               | combines malt and grain whisky. Since there are (almost)
               | no distilleries that produce both, this also implies
               | combining different distilleries. But it's the malt plus
               | grain aspect which is essential.
               | 
               | Note that if you combine malt whisky from two producers,
               | you get "blended malt whisky" not "blended whisky".
        
               | randallsquared wrote:
               | This was my understanding as well, but I was confused
               | about the statement that Glenfiddich produced blendeds,
               | and wanted to draw @orf out about what they meant, but it
               | turns out that they might have just been mistaken about a
               | previous purchase.
        
           | fergie wrote:
           | The Speyside malts are pretty underrated in my opinion.
           | Equally, Bells and Famous Grouse, _are_ the purest expression
           | of what Scotch is, and in fact not that easy to get hold of
           | outside of Scotland as we scots might presume.
        
             | chrisseaton wrote:
             | > Bells and Famous Grouse, _are_ the purest expression of
             | what Scotch is, and in fact not that easy to get hold of
             | outside of Scotland
             | 
             | Pretty sure you can pick them up at any basic petrol
             | station anywhere in England, 24 hours a day. Sorry to
             | shatter that illusion.
        
             | orf wrote:
             | Bells and Famous Grouse are available everywhere in the UK?
             | Everywhere that sells any whiskey sells them almost by
             | default.
        
               | ecommerceguy wrote:
               | When I think Speyside I think Macallan.
        
           | jagger27 wrote:
           | That's fair, and I'll say I've only recently been getting
           | into scotches. I recently tried a flight of the following
           | which influenced my above comment:
           | 
           | - Glenfiddich (18)
           | 
           | - Highland Park (18, my personal favourite of these)
           | 
           | - Oban (14)
           | 
           | - Auchentoshan (21)
           | 
           | - Lagavulin (16)
           | 
           | Yeah, a Glenfiddich 12 year old isn't anything near any of
           | those.
        
             | orf wrote:
             | I'd highly recommend trying Laphroaig if you can, it's
             | really smokey and delicious.
             | 
             | But sorry, I didn't mean to crap on your taste in whisky. I
             | live in a foreign country and I see all kinds of "genuine
             | Scottish whisky" for sale that is absolute piss (hello
             | Scottish Meadow). Something is wrong with places charging
             | extortionate prices for not-great, young mass produced
             | whisky.
        
               | dexterdog wrote:
               | I really like Laphroaig, but it's definitely an acquired
               | taste. It's like eating moss so most people don't enjoy
               | their first taste and many don't come back for a second.
        
               | gmac wrote:
               | Moss? Peat smoke, certainly. There's a hint of it even in
               | the drinking water if you ever stay on Islay.
        
               | ecommerceguy wrote:
               | Bruichladdich Islay Barley, while being an nonpeated
               | Islay, is the best deal in all of whisky.
        
               | dctoedt wrote:
               | My nephew-in-law's groom cake (at his wedding) was in the
               | shape of a Laphroaig bottle. The whisky always struck me
               | as like drinking diluted roofing tar.
        
               | birdyrooster wrote:
               | Or just get some liquid smoke and pour it into your
               | scotch and ruin it the old fashioned way. Have had lafrog
               | and it's like cancer with a hint of cancer.
        
             | qeternity wrote:
             | A few must haves:
             | 
             | - Bunna 12
             | 
             | - Nikka FTB
             | 
             | - Craigellachie 13
             | 
             | - Springbank 10
             | 
             | - Ardbeg 10
        
             | maqp wrote:
             | HP18 is pretty damn good.
             | 
             | Few other fine experiences from over the years
             | 
             | - Aberfeldy 12y
             | 
             | - Powers John's Lane 12y
             | 
             | - Glenfarclas 40y
             | 
             | - Glen Garioch 1994
             | 
             | - Old Pulteney 21y
             | 
             | - Old Pulteney 16y Bourbon Cask strength
             | 
             | - Imperial 16y (Signatory Vintage / Rare Auld Duncan Taylor
             | bottling)
             | 
             | - Glen Moray 24y cask strength (Duncan Taylor bottling)
             | 
             | - Port Ellen 27y
             | 
             | - Bushmills 1988 14y (Cask strength, Rum Barrel)
             | 
             | - Ardbeg Uigeadail/Corryvreckan
             | 
             | - Laphroaig 18y (excellent; the 10yo tastes like exhaust
             | fumes)
             | 
             | - Laphroaig 1989 Vintage 23y
             | 
             | - Royal Brackla 1976 (Mackillop's Choice bottling)
             | 
             | - Caol Ila 1990 Mackillop's Choice bottling, single cask
             | sherry wood
             | 
             | - Evan Williams Single Barrel Vintage
        
           | ravenstine wrote:
           | It depends on what you're looking for. I've seen so much
           | "trash" wine and spirits turn out to be total hits with
           | people that I don't think anyone can outright say that any
           | drink is objectively good or bad other than perhaps absolute
           | bottom-shelf spirits. I was at a party back on fourth of July
           | where someone brought this incredible scotch that literally
           | everyone there found to be amazing. My parents decided to get
           | a bottle and we shared it with a group of relatives who
           | unanimously poo-poo'd it.
           | 
           | Maybe a connoisseur looks for certain taste and smell
           | profiles most people couldn't discern, but that doesn't mean
           | a given whisky is bad.
        
           | lostlogin wrote:
           | What do you rate?
        
             | jahewson wrote:
             | If you're after Speyside then Balvenie and Glenrothes make
             | some good bottles. Overall it's probably the least
             | interesting variety of Scotch but it's light and drinkable.
        
             | orf wrote:
             | Anything from Islay is my jam, with Laphroaig having a
             | particular place in my heart.
        
               | ericmay wrote:
               | Same here. Laphroiag, Caol Ila, Bunna, and though not
               | Islay, Talisker has a special place in my heart
        
               | nyx-aiur wrote:
               | That's the I don't know anything about whisky but I read
               | on pretentious blogs that these are good list.
        
           | twic wrote:
           | They sell an awful lot of it, so someone must like it!
        
         | marban wrote:
         | I'm into wine but my sense was that GF is more like gas station
         | Scotch in Europe.
        
           | FridayoLeary wrote:
           | my thoughts exactly. But at least it isn't Jack Daniels..
        
           | smcl wrote:
           | Ehh not really. Some cheaper blends like Grant's (same parent
           | company and bottle shape!) would be what you're thinking of.
           | But Glenfiddich is generally considered to be an accessible,
           | affordable single malt and is often recommended for beginners
           | as an introductory Highland malt.
           | 
           | I happily drink Glenfiddich 12 when I'm in the mood for a
           | whisky in a bar that doesn't have a great selection, and I
           | have a Glenfiddich 15 in my cabinet which is really pleasant
        
       | avipars wrote:
       | so they had to build a new engine?
        
         | ac29 wrote:
         | Article says they are using trucks already designed to run on
         | liquid natural gas.
        
       | ThePadawan wrote:
       | That is the most infuriating license plate I have ever seen.
        
         | 1MachineElf wrote:
         | I'm more irked by the asymmetric "FUELLED BY Glenfiddich" text
         | at the top.
        
         | smcl wrote:
         | Wait what am I missing, why is it infuriating? "WG51GAS" - I
         | guess:
         | 
         | - WG = "William Grant"
         | 
         | - 51 = no idea
         | 
         | - GAS = ... gas :)
        
           | tialaramex wrote:
           | When a vehicle is registered for use in the UK it is assigned
           | a plate number, you can buy a different ("vanity") plate and
           | do paperwork to change it, within limits, but most vehicles
           | will keep this plate for their lifespan.
           | 
           | The two digits (51 here) signify the six month period in
           | which registration took place. So 51 means between the start
           | of September 2001 and the end of February 2002. The two
           | digits are the last two digits of the year (so 01 = 2001, 02
           | = 2002, etc) and then 50 is added to indicate the second half
           | of the year, thus a brand new car bought next month here
           | would have a "71" plate, the second half of 2021.
           | 
           | I presume the rationale is that nobody will be confused by a
           | 2055 car and think it's from 2005, since both technology and
           | aesthetic preferences change enormously in such a period of
           | time.
           | 
           | Vanity plates aren't supposed to be fitted to vehicles that
           | logically could not have been registered with that plate,
           | making it appear newer than it is, but it would be permitted
           | to fit these 2001 plates to a vehicle built in say 2019.
        
             | smcl wrote:
             | I know about how UK car registration numbers work, i just
             | couldn't figure why GP was infuriated by this vanity one.
             | So I guess it's just the confusion that they chose a vanity
             | plate that happens to have two digits in the year position
             | that would normally imply the vehicle is ~20 years old. Hmm
        
       | kaycebasques wrote:
       | Title should be updated to "Glenfiddich _plans_ to use... " - the
       | article is dated July 2021 and they're talking about making this
       | transition. The current title makes it sound like it's an
       | established practice at the company already.
        
         | dang wrote:
         | Well, it does include this:
         | 
         |  _its whisky waste-based biogas is already powering three
         | specially converted trucks_
         | 
         | I've added "will" to the title. We can call that the Hedberg
         | tense (i.e. they're using, and they will use as well).
        
           | ckosidows wrote:
           | I used to do drugs. I still do, but I used to, too.
        
           | C19is20 wrote:
           | ++1 for the Hedberg.
        
       | malchow wrote:
       | Whiskey makers sit on a lot of inventory in order to use a
       | library of older spirits to backstop their highly imperfect
       | annual production. Producers also lose an astonishing 20% of
       | inventory to the "angels' share."
       | 
       | The Bloom Energy guys -- fuel cell experts -- have now started a
       | whiskey company doing interesting things.
       | 
       | https://www.sfgate.com/shopping/article/bespoken-spirits-mak...
        
         | steffen84 wrote:
         | Seems they were influenced by YouTuber tech ingredients.
         | 
         | https://youtu.be/meB09jXHhRY
        
       | dctoedt wrote:
       | FTA: "Sixteenth-century English chronicler Raphael Holinshed
       | wrote that, when consumed moderately, whisky's many medicinal
       | benefits include preventing the "head from whirling, the tongue
       | from lisping... the hands from shivering, the bones from
       | aching.""
       | 
       | Just before reading the article, I had a shot of Famous Grouse (a
       | blend), and it _caused_ , not prevented, head-whirling ....
        
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