At the inaugural 2012 Cullen Skink World Championships, the local Glenglassaugh Distillery created what is believed to be the world’s most expensive bowl of the famous soup at the time.
Working with Chef Paul Buxton and speciality fish processor Louie Paterson, the soup was presented at the event as a demonstration of the flexibility of the traditional recipe.
Glenglassaugh Distillery, which is located between Portsoy and Cullen, restarted production in 2009 after being mothballed for 22 years.
The whisky-laced version of Cullen Skink would normally cost £100 a bowl, but visitors to the competition that year were able to taste it for free.
A large measure of Revival – the first single malt Scotch whisky to be produced by Glenglassaugh Distillery in recent times – is a key ingredient to the innovative version of the Scottish classic soup.
Chef Paul Buxton has worked with Glenglassaugh Distillery and local fish merchant Louie Paterson to create the perfect blend of smoked fish, potatoes, milk and malt.
To start the process, Louie Paterson marinated the haddock in Revival before smoking it in his 100-year-old kilns in his smokehouse in Buckie.
It was then up to Paul Buxton to find just the right measure of the whisky to add to his own traditional Cullen Skink recipe.
Stuart Nickerson, managing director of Glenglassaugh Distillery, said everyone has been surprised by the results.
“Malt whisky has been paired with everything from ice to Irn-Bru – we thought we had seen it all but combining it with milk and smoked fish is certainly a new one on us.
“Louie has done an excellent job in combining the sweet flavours of Glenglassaugh with the haddock and Paul has created a truly fantastic dish. Cullen Skink has so much history and heritage stretching back hundreds of years, which is a complete contrast to Revival, a dram which is young and just about to make its own mark on the world.
“As Glenglassaugh is Scotland’s most coastal mainland distillery and is located only three miles outside Cullen, it’s fitting that it should be used in one of the country’s greatest seafood dishes.”