Tormore

On 20 June 2022 Pernod Ricard agreed to sell the Tormore brand and distillery to Elixir Distillers, whose founders had sold it The Whisky Exchange in 2021.^12,16,19 The deal was said to include aged stock, and it completed on 20 December 2022.^6,7,12 Elixir received the keys in January 2023, and distillery manager Polly Logan's team began making spirit on a site that needed significant repair work.^7,8 It made around 3.2 million litres of pure alcohol a year, and the first 2.5 million litres each year for three years were set aside for Chivas.^7,8 Logan says the team has looked at traditional Scottish barley types such as Laurette and Sassy, and adds some ale yeast alongside distillers' yeast.^7,8,20 They also lengthened fermentations by a few hours, as Elixir works to turn a distillery built for blends into a single malt brand.^7,8,20

Tormore has 4 wash stills and 4 spirit stills.³ Each still has a purifier with copper plates: vapour passes over a baffle, and heavier parts fall back into the still, giving a lighter spirit.^3,8,21 The wash stills are heated by external steam heaters and the spirit stills by internal steam coils.³ Condensers turn the vapour back into spirit: Whiskypedia lists heat recovery condensers on the wash stills, and the SMWS describes shell and tube condensers.^3,13 Fermentation takes place in 11 stainless steel washbacks, the tanks where yeast turns the sugary wort into beer, spread across three rooms.^3,5,8 It uses unpeated malt and water from the Achvochkie burn, though other sources name the Allt an Torra Mhoir Burn or a spring in the Cromdale hills.