Leaf n Grain Society: Cigar Pairing Headquarters

Manx Whisky Company – Isle of Man When you think of whisky or whiskey, what places come to mind? Is it the island of Islay or the beautiful scenery of Scotland? The low central plains and coastal mountains of Ireland? The bluegrass fields of Kentucky? I don’t think any of you would think of the rugged coastline of the Isle of Man. Situated in the Irish Sea, almost equal distance between the UK and Ireland the little island is home to Manx Whisky Company. The company was founded by Magnus Grinneback and Scott Young. Ably assisted by their wives, Panida and Liz, this is very much a close-knit affair. Both Magnus and Scott have a background in the e-gaming industry, but a passion for whisky. They are a fairly diverse group, with Magnus from Sweden, Panida from New Zealand, Liz from Ireland, and Scott being the only one of the group born on the Isle of Man. Using alembic stills from Iberian Coppers Lda, they have both a 400-litre wash still and an older 100-litre version. The stills were handmade in Portugal. Distillation has been varied but seemed to be settled at x2, although, typically, they experiment with that too. In the early days, this was mostly x2.5. Production takes place in a small garage unit with Magnus handling most of the production and even the odd renovation! Panida and Liz are social media, mainly Instagram although they have ventured onto Facebook recently too, with the former also being the chief taster of their new make spirit. Having tried that myself, I can testify that it is excellent and one of the best of the category I’ve tasted. Scott’s duties consist of kiln making and logistics and he is also their farm liaison officer. Why would a small distillery have…