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Release Notes
Distilled on May 31st, 2002, bottled in 2013, one of 483 bottles filled from this cask.
Yours Truly
3rd Party Tasting Notes
The nose offers buttered popcorn, puff candy, toasted almonds, pot-pourri and Christmas essential oils - maple syrup, bacon, malt and wood with water. the chewy, tasty palate has lemon zest, moist gingerbread, duck in orange sauce, syrup of figs, pepper and leather.
Scotch Malt Whisky Society
The Bottler: Scotch Malt Whisky Society
| Established: 1983 |
| Silent since: False |
| Address: Scotland |
| → website |
The Scotch Malt Whisky Society (SMWS), founded in Edinburgh in 1983, is a membership organisation which bottles and sells single cask, single malt whisky. It purchases individual casks from more than 125 malt whisky distilleries in Scotland and throughout the world, bottles them and retails directly to its members. It also runs three private members’ rooms in the UK and in several international locations.
The origins of the Society lie in Phillip “Pip” Hills’ travels around the Scottish Highlands in the late 1970s, during which he sampled several whiskies drawn straight from the cask.
Hills was so affected by what he tasted that, in 1978, he persuaded several acquaintances to share in the cost of a cask from the Glenfarclas distillery. Over time, the group of friends expanded to become a small syndicate and more casks were purchased, bottled and distributed to subscribing members.
Coinciding with the decision to open membership to the wider public in 1983, the Society purchased its first property, The Vaults, in Leith; a building, whose vaulted wine cellars reputedly stretch back to the 12th century.
The Society created a set of members’ rooms there.
In 1996, the Society launched a share scheme for its members, the proceeds from which were invested in the purchase of a London venue.
2004 saw the Society purchase a second venue in Edinburgh – a Georgian townhouse on Queen Street. In the same year, the Society was acquired by Glenmorangie PLC.
To mark the 25th anniversary of its foundation, the Society redesigned its bottles, to include more information and a full tasting note on the front of the bottle.
The origins of the Society lie in Phillip “Pip” Hills’ travels around the Scottish Highlands in the late 1970s, during which he sampled several whiskies drawn straight from the cask.
Hills was so affected by what he tasted that, in 1978, he persuaded several acquaintances to share in the cost of a cask from the Glenfarclas distillery. Over time, the group of friends expanded to become a small syndicate and more casks were purchased, bottled and distributed to subscribing members.
Coinciding with the decision to open membership to the wider public in 1983, the Society purchased its first property, The Vaults, in Leith; a building, whose vaulted wine cellars reputedly stretch back to the 12th century.
The Society created a set of members’ rooms there.
In 1996, the Society launched a share scheme for its members, the proceeds from which were invested in the purchase of a London venue.
2004 saw the Society purchase a second venue in Edinburgh – a Georgian townhouse on Queen Street. In the same year, the Society was acquired by Glenmorangie PLC.
To mark the 25th anniversary of its foundation, the Society redesigned its bottles, to include more information and a full tasting note on the front of the bottle.
from Wikipedia
The Distillery: Glenlossie
| Established: 1876 |
| Silent since: False |
| Address: Morayshire |
One of the colourful people in the whisky world of the second half of the 19th century was John Duff, former manager at Glendronach and founder of the Longmorn distillery. After running a hotel for a few years he started John Duff & Co. with a few business partners in 1876. In the very same year they launched Glenlossie distillery
Glenlossie is a remarkable distillery for many reasons, but the malt whisky it produces is fairly obscure. One thing that sets Glenlossie apart from most other malt whisky distilleries in Scotland is the fact that the premises actually house two separate distilleries; in 1971 the Mannochmore distillery was constructed next to Glenlossie. But I'm getting ahead of myself - there's more history to convey...
John Duff had been an innkeeper at Lhanbryde and had a keen business sense; as partners in his enterprise he chose the local public prosecutor and the burgh surveyor. However, in 1888 (after a decade of running Glenlossie) he decided to emigrate to South Africa with his wife and three daughters. John had planned to build a new distillery in Transvaal and invested large sums of money in what would likely have been Africa's first malt whisky distillery. Unfortunately, president Paul Kruger obstructed John Duff's plans; he loathed anything British - which included Scotch whisky.
After his African dream had been shattered John Duff decided to try his luck in North America - but he didn't fare much better there. In the USA many distillers were active (some of them illegal) and the anti-colonial sentiments against the British were still alive and well in some circles. In 1892 John decided to return to Scotland with his family. Back 'home' he returned to the whisky world as a distillery manager at the 'Bon Accord' distillery in Aberdeen (renamed later to 'North of Scotland'). This kept John off the streets for a few years, but his entrepreneurial spirit grew restless again at the end of the 19th century when the whisky industry was booming, so he started another whisky distillery.
In 1894 John Duff partnered up with George Thomson and Charles Shirres to build the Longmorn distillery with their company; the Longmorn Distillery Company. After a fairly modest investment of 20,000 pounds the four stills were heated up for the first time in December 1894. The whisky produced there quickly became popular with blenders, so it wasn't long before John Duff became overly confident and decided to buy out his two partners so he could become the sole owner of Longmorn. What's more, he decided to invest 16,000 pounds in building yet another distillery; Benriach (a.k.a. Longmorn #2).
Unfortunately, the whisky bubble imploded shortly afterwards. Within a year after his bold investments John Duff went bankrupt. When the legal proceedings were wrapped up in 1909 the Longmorn distillery had already been taken over by some of his customers, including Arthur Sanderson and Thomas Dewar. While Longmorn and Benriach went through some difficult times around the year 1900, Glenlossie did just fine.
In 1919 Glenlossie was taken over by DCL (Distillers Company Ltd.). After a fairly large fire in 1929 (this was always a risk with distilleries) Glenlossie was transferred to SMD (Scottish Malt Distillers) in 1930. In 1962 the number of stills was expanded from four to six and in 1971 the Mannochmore distillery was constructed right behind Glenlossie. This counts as a separate distillery, but it's hard to see from the road - its buildings are not identified as part of the Mannochmore distillery.
The Glenlossie distillery itself may not seem like a very large plant, but the Glenlossie Bonds are fairly massive. Some 200,000 casks are stored there - originating from many different Diageo distilleries. After the Mannochmore buildings were added to the site, the workforce used to switch between Glenlossie and Mannochmore, each operating only six months in a a year. Later, when demand for malt whisky increased, both distilleries operated full time.
Glenlossie may be relatively obscure as a single malt, but it's considered to be a top class malt whisky by blenders. That's why the Glenlossie malt whisky used to be an important part of the Haig blends - among other things.
In the New Millenium:
Glenlossie is a remarkable distillery for many reasons, but the malt whisky it produces is fairly obscure. One thing that sets Glenlossie apart from most other malt whisky distilleries in Scotland is the fact that the premises actually house two separate distilleries; in 1971 the Mannochmore distillery was constructed next to Glenlossie. But I'm getting ahead of myself - there's more history to convey...
John Duff had been an innkeeper at Lhanbryde and had a keen business sense; as partners in his enterprise he chose the local public prosecutor and the burgh surveyor. However, in 1888 (after a decade of running Glenlossie) he decided to emigrate to South Africa with his wife and three daughters. John had planned to build a new distillery in Transvaal and invested large sums of money in what would likely have been Africa's first malt whisky distillery. Unfortunately, president Paul Kruger obstructed John Duff's plans; he loathed anything British - which included Scotch whisky.
After his African dream had been shattered John Duff decided to try his luck in North America - but he didn't fare much better there. In the USA many distillers were active (some of them illegal) and the anti-colonial sentiments against the British were still alive and well in some circles. In 1892 John decided to return to Scotland with his family. Back 'home' he returned to the whisky world as a distillery manager at the 'Bon Accord' distillery in Aberdeen (renamed later to 'North of Scotland'). This kept John off the streets for a few years, but his entrepreneurial spirit grew restless again at the end of the 19th century when the whisky industry was booming, so he started another whisky distillery.
In 1894 John Duff partnered up with George Thomson and Charles Shirres to build the Longmorn distillery with their company; the Longmorn Distillery Company. After a fairly modest investment of 20,000 pounds the four stills were heated up for the first time in December 1894. The whisky produced there quickly became popular with blenders, so it wasn't long before John Duff became overly confident and decided to buy out his two partners so he could become the sole owner of Longmorn. What's more, he decided to invest 16,000 pounds in building yet another distillery; Benriach (a.k.a. Longmorn #2).
Unfortunately, the whisky bubble imploded shortly afterwards. Within a year after his bold investments John Duff went bankrupt. When the legal proceedings were wrapped up in 1909 the Longmorn distillery had already been taken over by some of his customers, including Arthur Sanderson and Thomas Dewar. While Longmorn and Benriach went through some difficult times around the year 1900, Glenlossie did just fine.
In 1919 Glenlossie was taken over by DCL (Distillers Company Ltd.). After a fairly large fire in 1929 (this was always a risk with distilleries) Glenlossie was transferred to SMD (Scottish Malt Distillers) in 1930. In 1962 the number of stills was expanded from four to six and in 1971 the Mannochmore distillery was constructed right behind Glenlossie. This counts as a separate distillery, but it's hard to see from the road - its buildings are not identified as part of the Mannochmore distillery.
The Glenlossie distillery itself may not seem like a very large plant, but the Glenlossie Bonds are fairly massive. Some 200,000 casks are stored there - originating from many different Diageo distilleries. After the Mannochmore buildings were added to the site, the workforce used to switch between Glenlossie and Mannochmore, each operating only six months in a a year. Later, when demand for malt whisky increased, both distilleries operated full time.
Glenlossie may be relatively obscure as a single malt, but it's considered to be a top class malt whisky by blenders. That's why the Glenlossie malt whisky used to be an important part of the Haig blends - among other things.
In the New Millenium:
- 2007 - For many years the same production crew switched back and forth between the Glenlossie distillery and the Mannochmore distillery, operating each distillery for circa six months and laying down stocks before relocating to the other. From 2007 onwards both malt whisky distilleries worked full time again.
- 2011 - the owners submit plans for a 6,000,000 GBP bioenergy plant to process the draff.
Trivia:
- The Glenlossie whisky has not recently been bottled as an official bottling of single malt - unless you count the 10 years old 'Flora & Fauna' bottling (depicted above) which was first released in 1990.
- Glenlossie distillery made full use of the nearby Elgin-Perth railway line and even had its own platform.
- The Boby Mill that was used at the Glenlossie distillery came from Teanninich distillery.
- The onion shaped stills at Glenlossie have retained their shape and size since 1876. The spirit stills use a 'purifier' between the lyne arm and the condensers. The purifier acts as a mini-condenser, which returns a proportion of the alcohol vapours back to the pot to be re-distilled. The action of 'purifiers' increases the amount of reflux within the stills, which should result in a lighter, more delicate whisky. UDV's only other malt whisky distillery which uses purifiers is Strathmill in the town of Keith.
- Glenlossie distillery uses a stainless steel full lauter mash tun with a capacity of more than 8 tonnes.
from Malt Madness
The Owner: Diageo
| Established: 1997 |
| Silent since: False |
| Address: 8 Henrietta Place, London, W1G ONB, UK |
| → website |
Diageo also distributes Unicum, its lighter-bodied variant Zwack and Jose Cuervo tequila products in North America. However, Cuervo operates as a separate company in Mexico and is not owned by Diageo. Similarly Grand Marnier is distributed by Diageo in many markets, including exclusively in Canada, and a deal was reached in 2009 to significantly expand this partnership in Europe.
Furthermore, Diageo owns the Gleneagles Hotel.
Diageo was formed in 1997 from the merger of Guinness plc and Grand Metropolitan plc. The creation was driven by the two executives Anthony Greener and Philip Yea at Guinness plus George Bull and John McGrath of Grand Metropolitan. The product portfolios of Guinness and Grand Met were largely complementary with little overlap.
Diageo is the world"s biggest whisky producer with 28 malt distilleries and two grain distilleries.The company operates the Scotch whisky distilleries of Auchroisk, Benrinnes, Blair Athol (situated at Pitlochry), Caol Ila, Cardhu, Knockando, Glen Elgin, Clynelish, Cragganmore, Dalwhinnie, Glenkinchie, Glen Ord, Lagavulin, Oban, Royal Lochnagar, Strathmill, Talisker, Teaninich, Mannochmore, Mortlach and Glenlossie, which are sold not only under their own name but used to make the various blended scotch whiskies sold by the company, and owns the stock of many closed distilleries such as Port Ellen, Rosebank, Brora, Convalmore, Glen Albyn, North Brechin, Banff, and Linlithgow. The company have opened a new malt distillery adjacent to their maltings at Roseisle (1st new make spirit produced Spring 2009). This will be one of the largest malt distilleries in Scotland. The new building contains 14 traditional copper pot stills. An expansion programme is also underway at its Cameron Bridge Grain Distillery in Fife that will make it the largest grain distillery in Scotland. Diageo also owns the Port Dundas Grain Distillery in Glasgow, and jointly operates the North British Grain Distillery in Gorgie, Edinburgh, with The Edrington Group.
Diageo plc (LSE: DGE, NYSE: DEO) is the largest multinational beer, wine and spirits company in the world. The company is listed on the London Stock Exchange and has American Depositary Receipts listed on the New York Stock Exchange. The word Diageo was formed from the Latin dia (day) and the Greek geo (World), symbolising the use of the company"s brands every day, everywhere. Its head office is located in the City of Westminster in London. It is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.
Trivia:
- In December 2003, Diageo provoked controversy over its decision to change its Cardhu brand Scotch whisky from a single malt to a vatted malt (also known as a pure malt) whilst retaining the original name and bottle style. Diageo took this action because it did not have sufficient reserves to meet demand in the Spanish market, where Cardhu had been successful. After a meeting of producers, Diageo agreed to make changes.
- In 2006, the Cardhu brand quietly changed back to being a single malt.
- In July 2009, Diageo announced that, after nearly 200 years of association with the town of Kilmarnock, they would be closing the Johnnie Walker blending and bottling plant as part of restructuring to the business. This would make 700 workers unemployed and caused outrage from press, local people and politicians. A campaign against this decision was launched by the local SNP MSP Willie Coffey and Labour MP Des Browne. A petition was drawn up against the Diageo plans, which also involves the closure of the historic Port Dundas Grain Distillery in Glasgow.
- In February 2009 it was reported in the Guardian that the company had restructured itself so as to avoid paying tax in the U.K., despite much of its profits being generated in the U.K.
- Diageo is engaged in a tax scheme in the United States of America, commonly referred to as the "Rum Bailout", which will guarantee it USD$3 billion in revenues and profits.
- The National Puerto Rican Coalitionplans to run a series of ads in New York City and Puerto Rico urging a boycott of Diageo-owned alcoholic drinks to protest the giant British-owned corporation"s controversial production move of its Captain Morgan rum from Puerto Rico to the U.S. Virgin Islands.
from Wikipedia