The Scotch Malt Whisky Society of the United Kingdom is a storied old whisky club dating back over 40 years.  The organization has grown to appreciate more than just Scotch whisky, but also whisk(e)y from around the world.  They publish a periodical for their members, and this month, Catoctin Creek was highlighted in their distillery profile.  Lee "Connas" Conner writes:

Although Rebecca’s background is as a chemical engineer, she clearly advocates the philosophy of the distilling process being a hands-on process, where the operators communicate and adapt according to what happens during production.

“You have a relationship with your still, it’s like a living creature, it has moods. Sometimes it can be difficult, but you get a feel for how it runs and how to control it. I instil this into our team when we’re training them, you just have to feel it!”

This relationship and human involvement with the whiskey endures right the way through to cask selection, as Rebecca explains.

“Obviously we want a degree of uniformity with our end product, but some casks can turn out sweeter than others, or spicier and so on,” she says. “When I put a batch together what I’m looking for is absolute consistency of flavour. For instance, I like our 80 per cent proof [40% abv] to be easy drinking and not too overpowering. Whereas our Distiller’s Edition [46% abv] is a little bit spicier. For me it’s about flavour delivery – even our cask proof whiskey is very much about flavour before the heat from alcohol.”

Scott agrees: “I must say, Catoctin presents very well at cask proof, our lighter side of rye fits well with no dilution in my opinion.”

You can read the full article, here.