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Release Notes
A big emphasis on the citrussy side of the distillery character, with a delicious vanilla edge and tingling spices. Another revelatory young Glenrothes, destined to be a massive hit.
The Whisky Exchange
3rd Party Tasting Notes
Colour: pale gold.:
Nose: this one is rather less aromatic than the 'Alba', but also rather smokier and maltier. Roasted nuts, fresh pastries (right, croissants) and a little apricot jam. Soft and easy but not uninteresting. Whiffs of damp wood, forest.
Mouth: a bigger and more honeyed/malty version of the Alba. Loads of roasted nuts coated with honey and a little white pepper. Crystallised oranges.
Finish: rather long, malty and roasted, with some cocoa in the aftertaste.
Comments: a rather typical official Glenrothes, smooth but firm.
Rating: 82 points.
Nose: this one is rather less aromatic than the 'Alba', but also rather smokier and maltier. Roasted nuts, fresh pastries (right, croissants) and a little apricot jam. Soft and easy but not uninteresting. Whiffs of damp wood, forest.
Mouth: a bigger and more honeyed/malty version of the Alba. Loads of roasted nuts coated with honey and a little white pepper. Crystallised oranges.
Finish: rather long, malty and roasted, with some cocoa in the aftertaste.
Comments: a rather typical official Glenrothes, smooth but firm.
Rating: 82 points.
Whisky Fun
Nose: Fleshily ripe. Dried pear, clotted cream with scented estery notes. With water there' wholemeal bread, a touch of orange. Quite zippy.
Palate: A slightly strange mix of stewed fruit and dry malt tussling together. Hint of sulphur. Seems young suggesting greater things to come.
Finish: Long rich, lightly spiced slightly citric.
Comment: A teasing mix of aromas and flavours.
Palate: A slightly strange mix of stewed fruit and dry malt tussling together. Hint of sulphur. Seems young suggesting greater things to come.
Finish: Long rich, lightly spiced slightly citric.
Comment: A teasing mix of aromas and flavours.
Dave Broom, Whisky Magazine #59
Nose: Orange: pith and rind. Lemon Jif and geraniums.
Palate: Dark chocolate, baked apples, hazelnuts and something sweet yet savoury like black bean sauce.
Finish: Dry roasted peanuts.
Comment: A full-on, after dinner style and a bold, characterful spirit.
Palate: Dark chocolate, baked apples, hazelnuts and something sweet yet savoury like black bean sauce.
Finish: Dry roasted peanuts.
Comment: A full-on, after dinner style and a bold, characterful spirit.
Arthur Motley, Whisky Magazine #59
The Distillery: Glenrothes
| Established: 1879 |
| Silent since: False |
| Address: Rothes, Morayshire AB38 7AA , UK |
| → website |
The maturing malt whisky that"s produced at Glenrothes is stored in one of sixteen warehouses on the distillery grounds; twelve of the traditional "dunnage" type and four racked warehouses. The nearby "Rothes House" is a sight for sore eyes as well.
The Glenrothes malt whisky has always distinguished itself from the "brands" of most other distilleries by not having a regular "range" of expressions like a 10 years old, a 12 years old, etcetera. Instead, they release different vintages in different years, like a 1989 vintage in 2002 and a 1991 in 2005. That would be an excellent policy if there would actually be big differences between them. However, there usually are not - at least not to my relatively unrefined palate.
The fairly steady expansion of the number of stills could indicate that the history of Glenrothes has been relatively uneventful, but the distillery has actually enjoyed a fairly "explosive" history - especially around the start of the 20th century. In December 1897 there was a massive fire at the young distillery. It caused quite a bit of damage, but it also gave them the perfect excuse to add two more stills in 1898. The bitter pills of a big explosion in 1903 and another big fire in 1922 (this time in the warehouses) were not sweetened like that, but they made up for that in more recent times. Despite ten stills blazing away, Glenrothes is now a picture of tranquility...
Do you remember "the other William Grant" ("& Sons") I mentioned earlier? They were born around the same time as Glenrothes and had spent the century wisely by growing into one of the whisky industry"s leading companies with their brands Glenfiddich & Balvenie. In 1999 William Grant & Sons partnered up with the Edrington Group to buy Highland Distillers Limited, the parent company of Glenrothes. I believe it was a 50/50 partnership that also gave them control of Bunnahabhain (since sold on), Glenglassaugh (since mothballed), Glenturret, Highland Park, Macallan and Tamdhu. That makes William Grant & Sons and the Edringtom Group the #3 and #4 on the list of Scotland"s top producers, between Pernod Ricard at #2 with 12 distilleries and then Bacardi at #5 with five distilleries.
William Grant & Company experienced a growth spurt around the very same time William Grant & Sons built Glenfiddich, but like I said that"s a different company. In 1887 William Grant & Co. merged with the Islay Distillery Co. (who own Bunnahabhain) to form Highland Distillers Company Ltd.
The capacity of Glenrothes was expanded in 1898 when they doubled the number of stills from two to four. They added another pair in 1963, another pair in 1980 and yet another pair in 1989, bringing the total to ten stills at the Glenrothes distillery.
I actually think it"s too bad - a few independent bottlings I"ve tried have proven that they have some brilliant casks lying around at Glenrothes. I fear that a lot of those beauties are currently "drowned" into the mega-vattings that make up each vintage of Glenrothes. The flip side of that coin is that I haven"t found an official bottling yet that scored below average - so Glenrothes is a "sure bet".
The first Glenrothes whisky was distilled in 1879 - although the distillery was officially founded a year earlier. The founding fathers of Glenrothes were a colourful bunch that included James Stuart (who had taken over the license of Macallan in 1868), John Cruickshank (a banker) and William Grant and Robert Dick (both from Caledonian Bank). The partnership soon dissolved because of James Stuart"s financial problems (he later sold the nearby Macallan distillery to Roderick Kemp), but the others continued their whisky adventures as William Grant & Co. Another William Grant would build the Glenfiddich distillery later, but that"s another story.
The picture at the right shows some of the certified malt maniacs during a "fact finding mission" in Speyside, Scotland in 2003. In the foreground you can find (from left to right) Craig Daniels, Krishna Nukala and Cutty Sark"s Ronnie Cox who seem to have made themselves comfortable on a cask. In the background Serge Valentin, Davin de Kergommeaux, yours truly and Craig"s wife Rosemary are simply in awe of their feline grace.
As for the Cutty Sark logo on the wall behind us; the Glenrothes malt whisky is an important ingredient of the blend and its visitor centre (which includes a comfortable tasting room) is located at Glenrothes. There are strong ties with blender and independent bottler Berry Brothers from London as well; they are the agents that market and sell the range of Glenrothes malt whiskies. Pretty successful too, it seems - perhaps partly due to the distinctive shape of the bottles.
2010 - Berry Brothers & Rudd become the new owners of the Glenrothes brand - although confusingly enough the Glenrothes distillery itself remains in the hands of the Edrington Group.
CORRECTION - Contrary to what I wrote earlier, Glenrothes now also offers at least one "regular" expression without vintages, the "Select Reserve". If I"m not mistaken this was first released circa 2005. The "Select Reserve" whisky from Glenrothes doesn"t specify a year of distillation or a year of bottling - and the label doesn"t carry an age statement either. Around the same time a 30 years old "top of the line" bottling was released as well. The maniacs that tried it were happy...
In the New Millenium
2005 - The Glenrothes "Select Reserve" is launched; the first official bottling without vintages in a long time. A 30 years old official bottling is released as well.
Trivia:
- The labels of the OB"s from the 1990"s and early 2000"s have printed signatures for the "checked" and "approved" dates on the label. This gives the impression that these are small batches, but in fact all the "vintage" releases are massive "vattings" of many different casks. And the dates themselves don"t always make a lot of sense either. My 1987/2000 vintage was checked by one J. L. Stevens on 23/5/"87. That makes sense; I assume that was on (or around) the distillation date. But the fact that it was approved by someone who"s name I can"t read (R. H. Fenwick?) on 3-9-98 while the whisky was bottled in 2000 makes no sense at all. The fact that all the (printed) "approved" dates on the labels are identical suggests that the date applies to either all the casks in the vatting or the vatting itself. OK - let"s think about that a little, shall we? If the vatting itself was "approved" on September 3, 1998 and it was bottled in 2000, where did they keep the vatted whisky for over a year? You"d need one very big container, that"s for sure. I guess the big players like Edrington must have some huge blending vessels available but I imagine they don"t want to use those for long -term storage. On the other hand, if all the casks in the vatting were individually approved on a single day in 1998 and then the casks were left alone to mature for more than a year longer, wouldn"t the wood of the casks have worked its magic in the time between approval and bottling, altering the whisky in all kinds of unpredictable ways? And then, what"s the use of approving them? All this was a mystery to me until Ronnie Cox responded to questions from Ho-cheng and Martine about the matter. Mystery solved, it seems! "Dear Johannes, I received this from one of the Malt Maniacs and perhaps you"d like to share this reply with the others. The Glenrothes Vintages are a collection of casks chosen to represent a style, mood or personality of The Glenrothes. Each Vintage will be different and vary in accordance with time spent in the cask and the type of casks selected. It is certainly true that some Vintages have sold several thousand cases (sold over a few years) but others can be measured in hundreds of cases. A Malt like The Glenrothes which sells less than 20,000 cases of combined vintages p.a. is tiny compared to the top volume malts. Vintages of The Glenrothes represent no more than 2% of the distilleries" annual production capacity. To put it into perspective Glenrothes can produce 870,000 equivalent cases of spirit @ 43% per annum. To your doubts: The "Checked" date merely indicates the year when the New Make Spirit was approved, by the laboratory or distillery, for maturation in the casks selected for this Vintage. The "Approved" year is when is was originally approved by the Malt Master and ourselves in London, for bottling. If there is a difference on the label between the "Approved" year and year of bottling, it means that whilst the whiskies were from the same original vatting, they were bottled after the approval date. The process is as follows: once vatted and reduced to 45% the vatted Vintage is returned to cask where it remains until it is needed. This "marriage" will occur over several months (normally about 6) before the first bottling is made. A second bottling of this same Vintage (and original stock) is sometimes made in a subsequent year. The casks used for the marrying process are what we call "inactive" casks - having served their useful and active life. They contribute nothing to the flavour at this stage but simply act as a vehicle to store the Vintage and to allow the marrying process to take place following the disturbance of water reduction. I hope that this answers Ho-cheng Yao"s question as well. I should perhaps add, for clarification, that when the marrying takes place in "oak casks of a capacity not exceeding 700 litres", it is legally ageing. This isn"t relevant to The Glenrothes as we don"t talk about age (as age tells us little about the maturity and flavour) but, of course, we make sure that the correct year of bottling is on the label for those who want to know."
- Berry Brothers in London are licensed to release all the official bottlings of Glenrothes. In 2010 they also became the owners of the Glenrothes brand - although the distillery still belongs to Edrington.
- The new owners of Glenrothes (as well as Glenturret, Glenglassaugh, Highland Park and Macallan are an investment vehicle known as "The 1887 Company Ltd.". It"s controlled by the Edrington Group (70%) and Wm Grant & Sons (30%) - who also own Balvenie & Glenfiddich. (Both distilleries were founded at the same time as Glenrothes.)
- Glenrothes is one of almost two dozen malt whisky distilleries that were founded over a century ago during the "whisky boom" of the late 19th century and which have managed to survive until this day. The other survivors include Aberfeldy, Ardmore, Aultmore, Balvenie, Benriach, Benromach, Bruichladdich, Bunnahabhain, Dalwhinnie, Dufftown, Glendullan, Glenfiddich, Glentauchers, Knockandu, Knockdhu, Longmorn, Tamdhu and Tomatin.
from Malt Madness
The Owner: Highland Distillers
| Established: 1887 |
| Silent since: False |
| Address: West Kinfauns, Kinfauns, Perth PH2 7XZ, United Kingdom |
Highland Distillers was founded in 1887 by the Robertson family. In 1970 Highland purchased Matthew Gloag & Son Ltd., producers of the Famous Grouse blended whisky and acquired The Macallan single malt Scotch producers in 1996. Highland also produced the Highland Park brand whisky. Highland Distillers was purchased by the Edrington Group in 1999. William Grant & Sons and the Edrington Group took Highland Distillers private in 2000.
from Wikipedia
The Owner: Edrington Group
| Established: 1961 |
| Silent since: False |
| Address: 2500 Great Western Road, Glasgow, Scotland, G15 6RW, UK |
| → website |
The Robertson Trust bears the family name of the Robertson sisters (Elspeth, Agnes and Ethel) who had inherited the Scotch whisky interests founded and developed by their grandfather and father. Keen to ensure the on-going success of the these interests, in 1961 they brought them together under The Edrington Group (named after a farm near their home in the Scottish Borders) and established The Robertson Trust. The charitable trust is funded to a considerable degree with dividend income from The Edrington Group. The Trust gave £9,900,000 million last year to a wide variety of charitable causes.
The Robertson family was also responsible for founding Highland Distillers back in 1887 and in autumn 1999, Edrington acquired Highland along with its powerful brands The Famous Grouse, The Macallan and Highland Park. These are distributed throughout the world through a series of distribution networks and partnerships.
On 3 February 2010 Edrington announced that it had finalised an agreement with Berry Bros. & Rudd (BB&R), under which it will buy the Cutty Sark blended Scotch whisky brand. Under the deal, BB&R will acquire The Glenrothes single malt brand from Edrington, which has signed long-term supply agreements to provide whisky fillings and stocks to BB&R. Edrington will retain ownership of The Glenrothes distillery. The transaction will also involve Edrington acquiring all distribution contracts on Cutty Sark in force at the time of completion. The agreement is due to be concluded by April 2010.
The origins of the Group, based in Glasgow and today one of Scotland"s largest commercial companies, stretch back to the 1850"s when W.A. Robertson began business in the city. Today, Edrington is a Scottish company controlled by The Robertson Trust.
The Famous Grouse is the best selling whisky in Scotland and has held that distinction for the last 29 years. Most recently, Edrington purchased Brugal, a golden rum from the Caribbean. The purchase complements Edrington"s leading portfolio of Scotch whisky brands, and is seen as a natural fit as the Group continues to develop its core brands through premiumisation and by targeting markets with stronger growth potential.
Edrington employs over 800 people at sites across Scotland and 220 in distribution (Nordics, Taiwan and South Korea). Brugal family members continue a 120-year tradition by playing a major role in operating their business, which employs 1,100 people at its various sites across the Dominican Republic.
The Edrington Group Limited is a major Scotch whisky company (now with interests in rum) with expertise in blending, bottling, distributing and marketing. It produces several well-known brands, including The Famous Grouse, and premium malts The Macallan and Highland Park. The portfolio also includes Brugal, the leading golden rum in the Caribbean.
Trivia:
- In the New Year Honours 2008, the Edrington Group"s chair, John James Griffin Good, was made a Knight Bachelor "for services to Scotland".
- In 2010 The Edrington Group acquired the Cutty Sark blended scotch brand from Berry Bros. & Rudd.
from Wikipedia & EdringtonGroup.com
The Owner: William Grant & Sons
| Established: 1886 |
| Silent since: False |
| Address: Phoenix Crescent Strathclyde Business Park, Bellshill, Lanarkshire, ML4 3AN, UK |
| → website |
William Grant & Sons Ltd. is an independent, family-owned Scottish company which distills Scotch whisky and other selected categories of spirits. It was founded in 1886 by William Grant, and is now run by the descendants of the founder. It is the largest of the handful of Scotch whisky distillers remaining in family ownership. "William Grant & Sons" is often abbreviated to "W. Grant & Sons" or just "Grant"s", after their leading blended whisky of the same name.
William Grant & Sons pioneered single malt Scotch whisky as until Glenfiddich, only blended brands were common In 1997 the Grant entered into a joint venture with the Robertson family (The Edrington Group) creating a new company, Highland Distillers.
The company"s leading single malt Scotch brand is Glenfiddich, the best-selling brand in the worldwide single malt Scotch market (700,000 cases/year and 17.37% market share). This is more than the sales of the next two single malts combined. Their leading blended Scotch brand is Grant"s, the 4th best-selling brand in the worldwide blended Scotch market and the Scotch market as a whole (4 million cases/year). Grant"s is also the 4th best-selling brand in the domestic United Kingdom Scotch market (420,000 cases/year and 14.6% market share).
William Grant was born in Dufftown in 1839. The young Grant worked at Mortlach Distillery and dreamed of one day running his own distillery. He worked hard and saved and in 1886 Grant and his 9 children laid the first stone of the Glenfiddich Distillery. It was Christmas day 1887 when the first spirit ran from the stills.
In 1892 William Grant & Sons bought a second neighbouring Distillery called Balvenie. In 1898 the two distilleries started blending their whiskies and Grant"s Whisky was "born".
The company is the 3rd largest producer of Scotch whisky (10.4% market share) after Diageo (34.4%), and Pernod Ricard. The company"s central headquarters are in Strathclyde Business Park, North Lanarkshire. Sales and marketing headquarters are in Richmond, London. The company is a member of the Scotch Whisky Association.
The master blender of Grant"s is David Stewart, who has been in his post for 47 years, the longest serving master blender with one distiller in the industry.
Core brands include: Glenfiddich, Grant"s, Balvenie, Hendrick"s Gun, Sailor Jerry Rum. Other brands include: Reyka Iclandic Vodka, Sailor Jerry Spiced Rum, Old Vatted Demerara Rum, Wood"s 100 Old Navy Rum, Vat 19 Rum, Gibson"s Finest, Clan MacGregor Blended Whisky, Monkey Shoulder Triple Malt Whisky, Taboo, Milagro Tequila, Solerno. The company also produces a number of rare whiskies such as Girvan First Batch (from 1964 casks) and Ladyburn (silent distillery closed in 1975) as well private vintage bottlings. Via Highland Distillers the company has a stake in the following brands: The Famous Grouse, The Macallan, Highland Park, Black Bottle and Gloag"s Dry Gin. The company has also co-developed Virgin Vodka with Richard Branson"s Virgin Group
The company owns several distilleries including Glenfiddich, Balvenie, Girvan Grain Distillery, Convalmore (only the bonded warehouse), Kininvie and Ailsa Bay Distillery.
Trivia:
- allegedly the first company to market Scotch whisky abroad (this claim is very contentious - there are several, particularly Glen Grant and Glenmorangie, which would dispute it)
- revolutionized bottle design in the 1950s, creating a triangular bottle
- was the first to open up its distillery to visitors
- introduced the solera concept to Glenfiddich to create Glenfiddich Solera Reserve
from Wikipedia
The Owner: Berry Bros. & Rudd
| Established: 1698 |
| Silent since: False |
| Address: 3 St James"s Street, London, SW1A 1EG, UK |
| → website |
The Pre & Post-War Period: 1920 - 1945: Between the two wars the two Berrys and Hugh Rudd had steadily built up an ever larger and more rewarding business. In 1931 they were able to restore the width of No. 3 to the full extent enjoyed by William Pickering and John Clarke. By happy circumstance the new lease was signed by Sir Charles Bunbury, the direct descendant of the original landlord of 1731, but it was not until 1966 that the firm was able to acquire the freehold. A rather good dinner celebrated the 1931 signing and mention must be made of Sergeant Dufty, whose culinary skills became legendary during the 39 years that he worked as chef at No. 3. Two other great characters of the time, Strange and Brown, also worked long contented hours in the shop. Success continued to attend the house, but not always good fortune. In 1936, only five years after his retirement, and at the early age of 59, Francis Lawrence Berry suddenly died. His elder son George Berry was already a junior partner along with Walter"s son, Reginald Berry, and the family"s continuity seemed doubly assured. However, in March 1939, ill health led Reggie to retire, and in 1941 George Berry was killed in action in North Africa. It had been agreed that George"s younger brother, Anthony, should also enter the firm, but as a rating in the R.N.V.R he was called up for service almost immediately. And soon Walter Berry was to be lost to the firm as well. Hugh Rudd managed the business with help from a greatly reduced staff. It cannot have been much fun - rationing, regulations, the need to disappoint customers, and all sorts of other shortages and privations, though bearable taken one at a time, added up to misery in total. The only alleviations were in entertaining Very Important Persons and in reflecting that nothing goes on forever, and to read the roll of V.I.P."s is to read the pages of history. The Post-War Period: In the immediate post-war years the management team at No. 3 consisted of Anthony Berry, Kenneth Upjohn and Leonard Rowell under the guidance of Hugh Rudd, whose son, John, joined in 1948 after completing his military service. For legal and financial reasons the firm had in 1943 become a limited liability company. Hugh Rudd was Chairman and Governing Director. Kenneth Upjohn held a valuable appointment as Clerk of the Royal Cellars and also played a leading role on the export side. Leonard Rowell was the Director and was responsible for the care of the buildings and cellars, which now included No. 4 St James"s Street, brought largely at his instigation during the war. With the U.K. market still strangled by import restrictions and price controls, Berrys looked to develop sales abroad. The drastic reduction in whisky distilling during the war meant that every drop was still precious and it was almost twenty years before supplies of Cutty Sark matched demand. Hugh Rudd had worked stupendously hard during the war and in 1946 he suffered a stroke. Although he lived until April 1949, his illness naturally restricted his capacity and in his absence the four other directors ran the day-to-day business and Mrs. Rudd became a Non-Executive but highly competent Chairman until 1965, when Anthony Berry took over. Anthony Berry was to continue as Chairman for twenty years until handing over to John Rudd and retiring in 1985. Between 1961 and 1971 Cutty Sark totally dominated the U.S. market, with sales rising to more than 2.5 million cases annually. If the 1960s was the decade of USA, the "70s was the decade of Japan. Cutty Sark raced ahead and by 1979 was selling almost half a million cases a year, and challenging the leader in the complicated Japanese market. Meanwhile, the rest of the world was not being neglected; by 1970 Cutty Sark was sold in over a hundred different countries including such unlikely places as New Caledonia, Nepal, Tahiti and Taiwan.
Today: The Board of Berry Bros. & Rudd today consists of Chairman Simon Berry, Deputy Chairman Elizabeth Rudd, Managing Director Hugh Sturges, and Non Executive Directors Mr F. C. D Berry Green, Mr A. W. Easter, Mr J. R. Rudd, Mr Edward Rudd, Mr David Berry Green, Mr Simon Robertson, Mr Philip Bowman and Mr Richard Moyse. The Georgian ambiance of Number Three St James"s Street and Berrys uniquely historic image disguise the modern business methods and systems which now hide behind the facade. The physical atmosphere of oak panelling and quill pens may remain but in fact the business is conducted and controlled in a very up-to-date fashion. On the wine side, a temperature-controlled wine cellar was built in Basingstoke in 1967 and since then the premises have been greatly extended to include a bonded section, additional offices, a modern tasting room and a retail shop. In Scotland the huge stacks of Cutty Sark awaiting shipment to all parts of the world are similarly well-ordered. The Widow Bourne and William Pickering, who started humbly enough under the sign of the Coffee Mill, may take comfort in the thought that Berrys huge expansion over the years has not been at the expense of its unique character or its reputation. Berrys acknowledges the enormous part played in its prosperity by "Cutty Sark" but it also recognises the value of its traditional approach to wine. It sells not on cut prices or catchpenny appeals but on merit, value and quality of service. This is an approach epitomised by the firm"s tasting panel, which makes visits to many overseas vineyards and meets regularly to taste and choose or reject many hundreds of different wines each year. "If you penetrate behind the famous shop-front at 3, St James"s Street you find that Berry Bros. are a firm of surprising contrasts. The list of their clientele since 1698 reads like the index to a politico-social history of England: yet, today any number of regular customers drop in and take away a bottle or two in a carrier bag. Moreover they receive as warm a welcome as a millionaire restocking his cellar" (The Times)
The Rudds: Until 1914 Hugh Rudd had worked in the Wine Trade, first in London, then on the Continent, and from 1903 with his father in R.G. Rudd & Son, Wine Merchants of Norwich. But after the war, Norwich ceased to hold its former important place in wine. By agreement with his father Major Rudd then came to London to join Berry Brothers and Company as the junior partner. His arrival at No. 3 was timely. He was, like both Walter and Francis Berry, a fine judge of claret, and this was of course an essential qualification at Berry Brothers. However, he also had an unsurpassed knowledge of German wines, embracing every conceivable facet of viticulture, vinification and development in every region of the Rhine and Moselle. His palate was as accurate as his knowledge, so that when the outstanding vintage of 1921 came on the market, his advice enabled Berrys to make a selection of such supreme and unequalled merits as to secure for themselves yet another reputation, to add to the ones they already enjoyed.
Cutty Sark: On the 23rd March 1923, an important piece of Berry"s history was made.Seated round a table at lunch discussing whisky were the partners together with James McBey, the well-known Scottish artist. Berrys was already selling their own brands of Scotch Whisky to customers at home, and just a little had been sold before the war to private customers in the U.S.A. There were signs that the disastrous experiment of Prohibition would not last for ever and they now sought a new and different blend for the export trade. Like his cousin Walter, Francis Berry was an authority on fine Cognac and he supported the suggestion that they should choose a blend made up from only the very finest and most delicate whiskies. It would be bottled at its natural pale colour to avoid the danger of the caramel colouring masking or destroying the gentle and crisp flavour which they enjoyed so much - but which was far away from the fashionable idea of dark, heavy and oily Scotch whisky. All the new Scotch whisky blend lacked was a name and a symbol. At the time, the famous clipper ship "Cutty Sark" was much in the news as she had just returned to England after many years trading under the Portuguese flag. McBey, who was a keen sailor, suggested that this would be an admirable name for the new whisky. Appropriate too, for nothing could seem more Scottish, the name being taken from Robert Burns" "Tam O"Shanter" (Cutty Sark means "short shift" or "the abbreviated chemise of a winsome wench"). McBey also volunteered to design the label which remains today almost exactly as he originally drew it, even to the hand-drawn lettering and the use of the correct descriptive word "Scots" rather than the Sassenach"s "Scotch". Only the colour of the label is different. McBey had suggested a creamy shade to imply age. The printers, by accident, used a bright yellow so striking in its effect that the partners decided to keep it.
Early Days: Imagine that shortly after the restoration of the Monarchy in 1660, you are standing with your back to St. James"s Palace and looking north towards Piccadilly. Immediately to your left you would see Berkshire House, and to your right at the corner of Pall Mall and St. James"s Street, a long low Tudor building which has now been identified as Henry V111"s tennis court. This was largely still the scene in 1698, when the Widow Bourne occupied No. 3 St James"s St and opened up a grocer"s shop - The Coffee Mill. Today, as in the 1690s, the sign of the Coffee Mill still hangs outside. No. 3 remained in the hands of the Widow Bourne until her daughter, Elizabeth, was successfully wooed by William Pickering, and in 1731 Sir Thomas Hanmer, Speaker of the House of Commons, leased Pickering No. 3 to be rebuilt along with the houses in the court behind, now known as Pickering Place. In 1734, William Pickering died and his widow Elizabeth took over the running of the business until 1737, when she handed over both the grocery and the "arms painting and heraldic furnishing" side to her sons William Junior Pickering and John Pickering. Today the ground floor, entered from St. James"s street, instantly takes you back to the days when the Pickerings weighed famous visitors on the giant weighing beams, registering their weights with quill pens in morocco-bound ledgers. John Pickering died in 1754. With no suitable heir, his brother William took as his partner John Clarke who was distantly related, through his mother, born Mary Crabb. Clarke died in 1788, and while he had no son, his daughter, Mary, had married John Berry, a wine merchant in Exeter, and their son, George Berry, although only one year of age, had already been designated by his grandfather as heir to The Coffee Mill. Before he died John Clarke found as a suitable "caretaker" to manage affairs, the Brownes of Westerham, a rich and prospering family of lawyers and yeomen into which John Berry"s sister had married, and they agreed to look after the business until George was old enough to take over.
The Berrys: George Berry, John Clarke"s grandson, was only sixteen when, in 1803, he made the two day journey from Exeter. For seven years he must have played the part of apprentice, for it was not until 1810 that his name was stretched across the double-fronted facia of No. 3 St James"s Street. In 1838 the Chartist riots raged through provincial England and spread panic in London. Accompanied by his friend Prince Louis Napoleon, George Berry was sworn in as a special constable. This Prince Louis Napoleon, who as Napoleon III founded the Deuxieme Empire in 1851, had a close association with No. 3, as during his two-year stay in London he used the cellars for sundry secret meetings with Sherer the (reputed) editor of the "Standard". In 1854, George Berry died, and was succeeded by two of his sons, George and Henry. The style of "Berry Brothers" thus came into being and remained almost unchanged for almost ninety years. George Berry II had seven children, of whom Henry Berry was chosen to represent the older branch of the family while the younger of the original two brothers was succeeded by his son, one of twelve children, Henry Percival Berry. These two cousins were succeeded in due time by Francis Lawrence Berry of the senior branch, and Charles Walter Berry of the junior. While unusual wines such as Constantia or Tokay or the Tuscan Montepulciano were by this time represented in the Price List, the mainstays of the older lists were Sherries, Madeiras and Ports, wines from the classic regions of France and Germany and brandies, liqueurs and whiskies. Henry Berry was almost certainly the partner who established this policy and was the leading figure at No. 3 between 1880 and 1907. However, both Francis and Walter Berry felt that the firm did need some changes. The creation of The King"s Ginger Liqueur serves to illustrate the differences and strengths of each generation. In the early days of King Edward VII"s reign, the royal doctor approached Berrys for something to ward off the chill felt by His Majesty when out in his "horseless carriage". Henry Berry promptly produced the firm"s brandy and ginger cordial originally known as "Ginger Brandy - Special Liqueur" but in 1906, three years after its creation, it was the younger generation who thought to add it to the Price List and in 1934 rename it "The King"s Ginger Liqueur" as it is known today.
The Berry Brothers company has a long and proud history in the wine world, but they"ve also been dabbling in whisky for many years. Their little old store in the heart of London is a sight for sore eyes; very little seems to have changed in the more than three centuries since the company was founded in 1698. Since 1760, the company are official suppliers to the British royal household. Apart from their blended whisky "Cutty Sark" the Berry Brothers company carries a range of (usually fairly excellent) independent bottlings, as well as two series of "vatted malts"; Berry"s All Malt and Berry"s Pure Malt. The Berry Brothers & Rudd company also has long lasting ties the Glenrothes distillery in Speyside.
Trivia:
- While the 1887 Company (Edrington and William Grant & Sons) continues to own the actual Glenrothes distillery itself, Berry Bros. & Rudd now owns the Glenrothes brand (since 2010).
- In 2010 the Cutty Sark blended scotch brand was acquired by the Edrington Group, makers of the Famous Grouse and Macallan.
from Malt Madness, bbr.com