Thursday, 5 October, 2006
Peridot Communications
The distillery is located on a 12.6 hectare property, which includes the actual distillery as well as a dam fed by spring water directly from the Nuweberg Mountains.
The distillery boasts a visitors’ centre, tasting room and old world maturation warehouses. Some of the roofs of these stores are supported by rough gum poles, which were part of the original structure built in 1942. The extensive buildings were first constructed to house the Jax canning factory established by the American Group Gerber & Goldsmith. Sanctions in the late 1980’s forced the cannery to close its doors. In 1991, the current Oude Molen master distiller Dave Acker established his Whitby Distillery on the site and today still retains a share in the distillery business. The family-owned liquor merchant Edward Snell & Company bought the majority shares in the distillery in 2002 and thereafter embarked on a multi-million rand facility upgrade.
The decision to establish a distillery in Elgin was largely influenced by the climate of the Elgin Valley, which is cool and misty and thus ideal for the maturation of fine brandies. The area is also fast becoming recognized as one of South Africa’s premier wine growing regions.
In 2004, Edward Snell & Co purchased African Wine and Spirits, the owners of the Oude Molen Brandy trademark. Oude Molen was founded by Rene Santhagens when he purchased the Oude Molen farm in 1908 and immediately set about making his renowned brandy there. The property was situated next to the Olde Mill stream at the foot of the Papegaaiberg in Stellenbosch where the original Manor House and an early warehouse are still proudly displaying the Santhagens parrot emblem with its French motto “Touchant Toujours le But”: Forever striving towards perfection.
Urban expansion and the sale of the business by Madame Santhagens (who continued to run the business for 10 years after René died in 1937) led to the cessation of distillation activities at the Stellenbosch site. The recently purchased distillery in Elgin seemed a natural place to recall the rich and colourful life of René and Madame Santhagens and to honour Rene’s enduring contribution to the making of brandy in South Africa. It also provided a fitting home to preserve the heritage and history of Oude Molen Brandy and to secure its production into the future.
The architecture of the distillery hall is appealingly voluminous and revolves around the original copper pot stills installed by Dave Acker. The copper pot stills are impressive and believed to be the largest brandy pot stills in South Africa. Dave Acker refers to them as the big guns in the brandy distilling business and affectionately named them Big Bertha and Long Tom, nicknames of artillery pieces used in the Franco Prussian War and the Boer War respectively. He also believes that the large curved areas of the pots allow for greater condensation of the alcohol vapours and therefore creates a purer distillate, which is a characteristic notably discernable in the smoothness of Oude Molen brandies.
Two of the five storage warehouses served as the fruit cold rooms of the old canning factory and maintain their rustic charm. A JAX sign dated 1942 still remains on the wall in one of the warehouses. Barrel selection and management play a critical part in the brandy making process, since it is the wood that imparts many characteristics to the raw brandy whilst it lies maturing. The wood also challenges the blender’s art in maintaining consistency in the character of the brandy. Lightly toasted barrels are used in the making of Oude Molen resulting in a smoother style of brandy, which is immediately recognisable in Oude Molen 100 Reserve.
The distillery currently has a full-time complement of 15 employees, which will grow once the visitors’ centre opens to the public in the second half of November 2006. The distillery is committed to contributing to the development of the Elgin Valley as a tourist destination and the beneficial spin-offs that this will have for the entire community. The distillery also strives to uphold the integrity of its environment and to foster technical advancement within the brandy distilling industry generally, but particularly in the area of effluent treatment. This commitment is evident in the company’s funding of a 5-year post graduate research programme for chemical engineers at the University of Cape Town. This programme is confined specifically to the investigation of the treatment of distillery effluent within the brandy industry.