Whisky Magazine – August 2019

Insight

6 Whisky Magazine | Issue 161

Digging up secret history

Archaeologists are hoping to shed light on farmstead distilling

Scenes from Blackmiddens, a ruined steading in the Cabrach on the border between Moray and Aberdeenshire

Researchers are hoping to dig up evidence of
Scotland’s whisky-making past with an archae-
ological excavation at one of the earliest legal
whisky distilleries in Scotland.
Š‡†‹‰‹•–Š‘—‰Š––‘„‡–Š‡β‹”•–‡š…ƒ˜ƒ–‹‘
of a traditional small-scale farm distillery,
and it’s underway at Blackmiddens, a ruined
steading in the Cabrach on the border between
Moray and Aberdeenshire. This was one of the
β‹”•–ˆƒ”•–‘„‡‰”ƒ–‡†ƒŽ‹…‡…‡–‘’”‘†—…‡
whisky following the Excise Act of 1823 which
effectively formalised the small-scale distilling
of whisky (previously an illicit black market
activity), leading to the global success story we
know today.
The archaeological dig is being led by the
Cabrach Trust, established to preserve the
history of an area notorious for illegal whisky

distillation and smuggling.

The excavation is especially exciting for 66

years old Joan Harvey whose great, great uncle,

James Sharp, was the tenant farmer at Black-

middens and the ringleader of a gang of whisky

smugglers based there.

She said: “I was always told that my great,

great uncle was the head of the gang at the time.

We were the ‘freebooters’ who took the whisky

to Aberdeen to sell in the pubs. Stories about

their adventures were passed down my family.

“Apparently my great, great grandfather had

a white stallion and when the excisemen were

billeted locally he would ride his white horse,

alerting everyone that the excisemen were in

the area so that the whisky smugglers could go

to ground.

“I was also told that, one time, the excisemen

were trying to catch the smugglers and had set

up barricades all around Aberdeen. My great,

great uncle hired a horse-drawn hearse and

Ž‘ƒ†‡†–Š‡…‘ˆβ‹™‹–Š™Š‹•›ǤŠ‡Š‡”‡ƒ…Š‡†

the excisemen, they all took off their hats as a

mark of respect for the dead, and the whisky

went through!”

Chief executive of the Cabrach Trust, Anna

Brennand, said: “The farm would have had a

small 40 gallon (180 litre) still compared to

whisky stills today which hold many thousands

of litres. However, despite the fact that farms

Ž‹‡–Š‹•™‡”‡ˆƒ‘—•ˆ‘”–Š‡‹”⋐‡“—ƒŽ‹–›•’‹”‹–ǡ

whisky production at Blackmiddens stopped

just eight years after it began and the farm

fell into ruin. We hope to uncover some of the

secrets of early whisky making in the Highlands

with this exciting dig.”