Deanston Dramfest 2025

A 12 year old Deanston, a distillery bottling, at 53.7%. Deanston is a Highland single malt distilled in a converted cotton mill on the River Teith near Doune. Its old weaving shed, once full of looms, is now a cool stone warehouse for the casks.

Run through the bulbous stills with their upward sloping lyne arms, the long ferment building a fruity, estery character. A Rum cask held it, shaping the honeyed spirit over the years. Through integration spirit and wood marry, vanillin settling into a rounded vanilla as ethyl esters lend a riper apple and pear. A gentle maturation suits the soft make, the honey and wax growing richer with time. It runs an open top mash tun, two wash and two spirit stills of a bulbous shape. The distillery sits on the River Teith near Doune, between Stirling and the Highlands. Deanston is the only distillery in Scotland to generate all its own power from the river.

At a natural 53.7% it is full and waxy. Green fruit, honey and a soft spice, with a soft brown sugar and a tropical fruit from the cask. The texture is soft and waxy, the fruit lifted by vanilla. The finish runs long, fruity and warming. This is Deanston, the mill turned distillery on the Teith.