heating by steam generated from a coal-fired boiler. In 1965 an underground supply of water, created during the Second World War for an airfield, was acquired and used for cooling spirit vapour. In 1970 the distillery was expanded by adding a second pair of stills and converting the coal-fired boiler to oil-fired. New racked warehouses were built in 1975 to replace the older traditional warehouses that were still in use at the time. The Royal Brackla Distillery closed again in 1985. The casks of whisky remained on site in the warehouses where they continued to mature and be used for blending, as required by the owners. The distillery reopened in 1991. Methods of production Royal Brackla has a mash tun of and eight wash backs with a total volume of . Cawdor Burn has been the constant water supply for Royal Brackla, with the Cursack Springs being used for mashing. The distillery uses four stills to produce its whisky, two wash stills with a combined capacity of i and two spirit stills that have combined capacity of 42,000 litres. The fermentation process lasts for a total of 70 hours and is followed by the distillation process. Tall Royal Brackla stills, designed to allow plenty of reflux, are operated slowly in the distillation process to smooth the blend to maximise copper contact and produce a light spirit. The final stage is maturation and this takes place in oak casks. Proprietary bottlings 1991: To commemorate the re-opening of Royal Brackla Distillery, a special 60-year-old Royal Brackla single malt was released. It was claimed the cask (from 1924) was discovered in a warehouse in 1984. 40%, 70cl. 1993: Royal Brackla was released as a 10-year-old in the Flora and Fauna series, produced by United Distillers. The label featured a small bird called a siskin. 43%, 70cl. 1998: Part of United Distillers Rare Malts Collection included a bottling of Royal Brackla at 20 years old. It was distilled in 1978 and was cask strength. 50.8%, 70cl. 1999: John Dewar & Sons Ltd released a minor bottling of Royal Brackla with a burgundy label and no age statement. 40%, 70cl. 2003: A limited edition 25-year-old was released for the keepers of the Quaich, each label signed by Tom Aitken, John Dewar & Sons' sixth Master Blender. 43%, 70cl. 2004: Dewar's released the 10-year-old single malt bottling in order to make a small amount of the