Blended By Bees

Perthshire flora adds delicate nuances to this honey liqueur-while offering a beleaguered species a helping hand

- EUAN DUGUID

HONEY bees first appeared on earth 100 million years ago. As well as being auld, all indications are that they were also pretty crabbit back then.

Originally carnivorous insects, bees preyed on other insects - much like their belligerent wasp relatives do today.

But, with the appearance of flowers in the Cretaceous period, their bad behaviour began to mellow. Some bees started to feed on flowers, which led to pollination - and flower populations exploded as a result.

In short, these reformed characters made planet earth flourish.

Yet, there is a sting in the tale.

Eons later in the present day, very tragically, these guardians of our ecosystem are plummeting in number.

And one development in the world of Scotch underlines just how incredible-and important-honeybees are.

Scottish whisky liqueur Bruadar is created by carefully balancing single malt Scotch whisky, sloe berries and honey - which is produced from the distillery's very own hives.

Bruadar is owned by Morrison Scotch Whisky Distillers, the independent bottler and whisky distillers, who produce a wide selection of whiskies including Mac-Talla Islay Single Malt, Old Perth, a sherry-matured blended malt whisky range, and Carn Mor.

The Morrison family is one of Scotland's oldest and most prominent whisky dynasties. Last year they approached Denrosa Honey, who have been beekeepers in Scotland for three generations, to place hives on their farm in Aberargie.

The aim was not only to enhance the local provenance of the liqueur, but to also strengthen the ecosystem around the distillery.