Sweet like Wine: Love Your Dimples Even More-Chapter 68 - 42: Brunschwig Distillery

"When my father went to take pictures, the answer had just been revealed. This lonely old man married a young Asian woman, claiming she had extraordinary distilling talent and could single-handedly manage the entire distillery without any guidance."

"The media wanted to interview this woman, but they never found her. Later, it was said she had a child, but the child never appeared in the public’s view."

"This matter was still buzzing when my dad came back home with my mom, but this distillery never truly restarted and gradually faded from memory."

"Look at this bottle of whiskey I’ve brought over, and compare it with the one Jilted placed in the live stream room. Every element in this cross-border, cross-era story seems to meld perfectly together, right? That Asian woman who married the seventy-year-old disabled lonely old man must be the mother Jilted is looking for, right?"

When girls gossip, they tend to become more excited as they talk.

The excitement can be somewhat—annoying.

"Girl, what you imagine isn’t gossip; it’s mythology. The bottle of whiskey you saw in the live stream room, I placed it there on behalf of someone, hoping to find a suitable buyer for it." Gordon was inexplicably disappointed, but this didn’t stop him from further explaining:

"Jilted and I both just saw that bottle yesterday. If that bottle were really the key to finding his mother, as you imagined, would you remain silent if you were him? Girl, imagination is harmful, and talking too much does no good."

After explaining, Gordon’s disappointment didn’t diminish; instead, it increased: "Today’s live stream has ended. I am your host Gordon Sterling. Gordon’s ’Go’ and Gordon’s ’Sterling.’ Certified by national authorities, Gordon. To the 20 million fans who adore Gordon, we’ll see you in the next live stream."

.........

The Brunschwig Family is an ancient whiskey dynasty that has fallen into decline.

The surplus production of Scotland Whisky in the 1980s led to the closure of many whiskey distilleries with centuries-long traditions.

The Brunschwig Distillery, with a legacy of 500 years, was the oldest among those affected by the wave of closures.

In fact, Brunswick Whiskey is older than all now-famous Scotland Whisky brands.

The history of The Brunschwig Family can be traced back to 16th-century Strasbourg.

The family’s founding ancestor was a surgeon in Strasbourg.

In his 1512 publication, "Mixture Distillation Method," Dr. Brunswick described the process of making Aqua Vitae, "Water of Life."

This book is recognized as one of the earliest descriptions of distilled spirits globally.

Furthermore, Dr. Brunswick’s distillation method is also considered the pivotal technical origin of modern perfumery.

The former glory of The Brunschwig Family began from this point.

An old Celestar proverb says wealth doesn’t last for more than three generations, but this saying didn’t apply to The Brunschwig Family.

From the mid-16th century migration to Scotland to the mid-20th century, The Brunschwig Family flourished for over 400 years.

The Brunschwig family’s distilling art was handed down from one generation to the next.

The only blemish was that the direct heirs started diminishing from the 1950s onward.

The whiskey brought back by Summer Fairmont and Catherine Morgan was personally distilled, blended, and bottled by Westwood Brunswick, who took over Brunschwig Distillery in the 1950s.

Westwood’s distilling philosophy was remarkably progressive, as TV advertising and marketing began to ramp up in the 1950s.

Smitten with whiskey, Westwood believed firmly that the quality would speak for itself without any marketing or promotion, disregarding exchange and discussion with other outdated distilleries.

There was no reason for the world’s number one to learn distilling techniques from number two, three, or even the unknown rankings.

Throughout centuries, whiskey trends experienced numerous changes, yet The Brunschwig Family’s whiskey consistently remained unmatched, continuing to be popular until the late 1970s.

But the tide of history never fails to swallow any family that stands isolated from the world.

The peak popularity of Brunswick Whiskey in the 1970s also marked the most rapid development decade for Scotland Whisky.

Almost everything that was produced would sell out quickly.

Driven by substantial profits, more human and material resources began leaning towards whiskey distilling.

The distillation techniques of Scotland Whisky saw significant advancements during this era, with production increasing exponentially.

Distilleries amassed great fortunes, steering the historical wheel into the 1980s.

The Scotland Whisky itself had no inherent issues, yet it quietly coincided with the global surge in vodka’s popularity.

Many spirit enthusiasts at that time switched from whiskey to vodka.

Popularity doesn’t necessarily denote the best, but popularity undeniably signifies what most people buy.

The surge in production combined with the sudden drop in demand led to a severe oversupply in the Scottish whiskey market.

The whiskey from numerous Scottish distilleries piled up into mountains and flooded into lakes, with few takers.

Some distilleries opted to blend leftover malt whiskey of different ages and sell them in the market at this time.

Originally a desperate measure to clear whiskey barrels, this unexpectedly steered Scotland Whisky to today’s Single Malt Whiskey dominance.

Single malt Scotland Whisky demands the same distillery mix batch or multiple batches of malt-derived whiskey, distilled using pot stills, and then labeled with the smallest age of the original whiskey, according to the eventual age.

"Single" refers to the same distillery.

"Malt" indicates the brewing material does not contain any grain.

"Scotland" dictates that the entire mashing, fermentation, distillation, and maturing process must be completed within Scotland.

Missing any of these three conditions means it’s not a single malt Scotland whisky.

As the oldest whiskey distillery family, The Brunschwig Family was initially resistant to the single malt whiskey trend deemed "technically deficient."

Especially those single cask malts appreciated by many despite having no blending at all.

Brunschwig Distillery had malt whiskey, but never sold it separately.

Westwood sneered at the popularity of single malt whiskey.

This was not traditional Scotland Whisky.

In Westwood’s view, this potentially fleeting trend was a desecration of whiskey blending and bottling expertise.