Kininvie, a lesser-known distillery in Dufftown, is often overlooked due to its modest appearance, but it has a unique and intricate production process. The distillery does not use any of Balvenie’s own-malted barley, but the mashing and malting occur in dedicated vessels within Balvenie. Kininvie’s fermentation period is slightly longer than Balvenie’s, and after fermentation, the wash is pumped to the stillhouse, where three sets of stills are located. These include one wash still feeding two spirit stills. While the spirit stills are similar in shape to those at Glenfiddich, the wash stills are larger, resulting in a more floral character and a soft, tongue-coating quality.
Kininvie whiskies age in a variety of casks, including first-fill Bourbon, refill, and some Sherry casks. The distillery was established in 1990 by William Grant & Sons due to pressure on stock from the success of Glenfiddich, which had its production ring-fenced for single malt. Kininvie was created to produce single malt for blending purposes. In more recent years, Kininvie has become the backbone of Grant’s blended malt brand, Monkey Shoulder.
Though Kininvie has rarely been seen as a single malt, it has had occasional releases, such as the Hazelwood bottlings and a limited 23-year-old in 2013, which was initially released for the Taiwanese market. A 17-year-old followed in 2014 for global markets. In 2019, Kininvie launched an innovation arm called Kininvie Works, which introduced experimental whiskies, including a triple-distilled single malt, a single grain whiskey made from a rye and barley mash, and a single distillery blend comprising the latter and double-distilled malt.
