page_title: Oude Molen Distillery
section_title: The Distillery
hierarchical_section_title: Oude Molen Distillery / The Distillery
caption_attribution_description: English: One of the pot stills used for brandy distillation at the Oude Molen Distillery in South Africa.
context_page_description: Oude Molen Distillery is the home of Oude Molen Cape Brandy and is situated in the Elgin Valley near the town of Grabouw in the Western Cape province of South Africa.
  The area is part of the Elgin Wine of Origin district and is home to several celebrated wine estates.
  The distillery is open to the public by appointment.
context_section_description: The distillery is located on a 12.6 hectare property, which includes a dam fed by spring water directly from the Nuweberg Mountains. Chenin blanc and colombard vineyards are planted behind the facility, on the bank of the Swannie River. 
  The building retains its rustic charm despite being part of a modern complex, with some of the roofs of the maturation cellars still supported by the original gum poles that were put in place when the first buildings were erected on the site in 1942.  
  Oude Molen houses the three biggest pot stills in South Africa - Big Bertha, Long Tom and Long Cecil. Made entirely of copper, the stills are more than a century old and are renowned for the freshness and purity of the spirit they yield.           
  Several cavernous maturation chambers contain thousands of barrels of maturing spirit. The high humidity in the Elgin Valley makes it particularly suitable for this purpose, as the amount of alcohol lost to evaporation is limited.          
  The distillery is family-owned and the current Brandy Master is Kobus Gelderblom.
caption: Big Bertha - the largest of Oude Molen's pot stills.
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