St Drostan's Well
When we have a long dry summer here in north-east
Scotland, the Lour burn gets very low. So does the nearby River
Spey, to the alarm of many fishermen. But once autumn's here,
with winter not far behind, the rain and snow soon push the water
levels up again.
Not that we have any cause to worry at Aberlour.
The water for our whisky is drawn from pure springs that have
filtered down over many months from the peat and granite of the
hills above the glen, and is never affected by drought or anything
else. The springs have been flowing faithfully for a long, long
time.
Visitors often ask me, "Where's St Drostan's
Well?" I used to show them the old stone wellhead (now in
our museum) that stood by Number 11 warehouse. This marked the
spot where the saint had drawn the magically crystal water to
baptize his converts over 1,300 years ago. From the very same
springs we still use today, although Drostan's Well itself dried
up long ago.
Or so we thought! But one day in 1986 a most surprising
thing happened. Kenny Fraser (who was distillery manager before
me) was passing by the stone when he noticed water bubbling up
under the asphalt all around it. There was no rational explanation
for this, and it has never occurred since. Oddly enough, though,
it was just at this time that Aberlour 10 Year Old won its first
Gold Award in the International Wine and Spirit Competition. Perhaps
St Drostan was reminding us how special the water source is to
Aberlour whisky.
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