When I walk into the stills room it’s second nature for me to stand to attention then walk along in front of the cauldrons offering a military salute with my hand tense above my right eyebrow:

“Preseeeent arms! – Glory to the battalion commander!”

My folks think I’m crazy.

It must be because my father was a Major in the 8th Bersaglieri Regiment and imposed rigid discipline upon us – when he called us we had to reply “at your orders!” and run straight to him; we’d have been in trouble if we’d just walked–; or because I was a Lieutenant in the Bersaglieri myself and I enjoy military life or because these twelve cauldrons standing bolt upright in an orderly line remind me of a guard of honour; or perhaps my folks are right after all…

Whatever the reason, I’ll tell you this: our still – or rather each of our stills – has a personality all of its very own. And I know each one well, just as they know me.

For the moment, suffice to say that we have three distillation plants, all of them strictly of the traditional artisan type defined as “discontinuous cycle”.

If you’d like to find out more about them, continue reading.