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Release Notes
A single barrel cask strength bottling of a 24yo Tamdhu distilled on September 15th of 1988 and bottled for A.D. Rattray on August 28th of 2013. One of 272 bottles from Sherry Butt 3730.
Yours Truly
The Bottler: A.D. Rattray
| Established: 2004 |
| Silent since: False |
| Address: Kirkoswald |
| → website |
In 2004 Tim Morrison, formerly of Morrison Bowmore Distillers, revived the Dewar Rattray company first established by his ancestor Andrew Dewar Rattray. His aim was to bottle single cask, single malt whisky. The firm also developed Stronachie, a single malt sourced from Benrrinnes distillery on Speyside, and intended to replicate whisky produced at the now long lost Stronachie distillery, located on the old Perthshire/Kinross-shire border.
Dewar Rattray also operates the Whisky Experience and Shop in Kirkoswald, Ayrshire, which offers a variety of sampling experiences as well as a wide range of whiskies for sale. Additionally, the firm has received planning permission to develop a distillery and visitor centre beside the River Clyde in Glasgow.
Andrew Dewar Rattray set up in business in Glasgow during 1868, trading as an importer of French wines, Italian spirits and olive oil, as well as blending and retailing Scotch whisky. Ultimately the firm was sold to the whisky broker William Walker, but was brought back into family ownership by Tim Morrison, who created the ‘new’ Stronachie in 2002. Back in the late 1800s A Dewar Rattray had acted as agent for Stronachie distillery, so there was already a historic connection.
Morrison also established the Cask Collection label for single cask bottlings, and in 2011 the peated blended malt Cask Islay was released, being transformed into a single malt two years later. 2012 saw the release of a five-year-old blend named Bank Note, a year after the Whisky Experience and Shop opened in Kirkoswald. Plans for the new Glasgow distillery were approved during 2014.
The company name is derived from the older family history of the Morrisons. In 1868 Andrew Dewar, an ancestor of the Morrisons, founded a wine and spirit trade company called Andrew Dewar Rattray Ltd. Beside trading, the company also exclusively distributed the products from the Stronachie Distillery. During the economic crisis of the 1920s the company had to be broken up. In 1928 also Stronachie was closed for good. Some decades later T. Morrison bought the rights to the names Rattray and Stronachie.
After legal quarrels with the blend producer Dewar's, the bottling company was renamed A.D. Rattray.
Dewar Rattray also operates the Whisky Experience and Shop in Kirkoswald, Ayrshire, which offers a variety of sampling experiences as well as a wide range of whiskies for sale. Additionally, the firm has received planning permission to develop a distillery and visitor centre beside the River Clyde in Glasgow.
Andrew Dewar Rattray set up in business in Glasgow during 1868, trading as an importer of French wines, Italian spirits and olive oil, as well as blending and retailing Scotch whisky. Ultimately the firm was sold to the whisky broker William Walker, but was brought back into family ownership by Tim Morrison, who created the ‘new’ Stronachie in 2002. Back in the late 1800s A Dewar Rattray had acted as agent for Stronachie distillery, so there was already a historic connection.
Morrison also established the Cask Collection label for single cask bottlings, and in 2011 the peated blended malt Cask Islay was released, being transformed into a single malt two years later. 2012 saw the release of a five-year-old blend named Bank Note, a year after the Whisky Experience and Shop opened in Kirkoswald. Plans for the new Glasgow distillery were approved during 2014.
The company name is derived from the older family history of the Morrisons. In 1868 Andrew Dewar, an ancestor of the Morrisons, founded a wine and spirit trade company called Andrew Dewar Rattray Ltd. Beside trading, the company also exclusively distributed the products from the Stronachie Distillery. During the economic crisis of the 1920s the company had to be broken up. In 1928 also Stronachie was closed for good. Some decades later T. Morrison bought the rights to the names Rattray and Stronachie.
After legal quarrels with the blend producer Dewar's, the bottling company was renamed A.D. Rattray.
from ScotchWhisky.com, Whisky.com
The Distillery: Tamdhu
| Established: 1896 |
| Silent since: 2010 |
| Address: Knockando, Charlestown of Aberlour, Banffshire AB38 7RP, Scotland, UK |
Whether or not Tamdhu distillery will ever be re-opened under the current owners remains to be seen; after the credit crisis hit the whisky world, the steady increase in demand for single malt whisky that had started in the early 1990"s finally came to an end; for the first time in many years the whisky industry was faced with excess production capacity.
The Tamdhu distillery is located north of the Spey river, right next to the Knockando Burn. It was designed by Charles Doig and built in 1896 by the Tamdhu Distillery Company (which was owned by a group of blenders). In the summer of 1897 the very first casks of Tamdhu malt whisky were filled.
The Tamdhu whisky distillery enjoyed another two relatively uneventful decades until the 1970"s, when the production capacity was increased significantly and their product was introduced as a single malt Scotch whisky for the first time. In 1972 the number of stills was doubled from two to four and three years later in 1975 another pair of stills was added. In 1976, Tamdhu was introduced as an eight years old single malt whisky.
In recent years the label of the youngest official bottling didn"t carry an age statement anymore, but several sources claim it was still around eight years old. I"d say that makes sense because Gordon & Macphail also released this whisky at this age when they used to carry a semi-official bottling in their MacPhail"s Collection series.
By the end of 1897, just months after Tamdhu distillery became operational, competitors took legal action against the young distillery. They argued against Tamdhu"s right to extract large quantities of water from various sources (wells and burns) and discharge waste products into the river Spey. After these issues were resolved Tamdhu further strengthened its position by a merger between Tamdhu Distillery Company and Highland Distillers Company (where many of the blenders that founded Tamdhu were involved with as well). At the time the company also owned Glenrothes, Glenglassaugh and Bunnahabhain and was a major "player" in the industry.
Tamdhu distillery was closed between 1911 and 1913. Between 1920 and 1925 the output increased considerably, but in 1928 (just before the global depression broke loose) Tamdhu was mothballed yet again. The distillery remained closed for two decades this time, only reopening after the Second World War in July 1948. Two years later, in 1950, the floor maltings was replaced with Saladin boxes. Tamdhu was the last Scotch whisky distillery that still used this 19th century French invention.
During the last few decades of the 19th century a lot of distilleries were constructed in the upper Spey valley, home of the "Glenlivet" style of malts. This relatively remote part of Scotland became accessible by the opening of a railway line in 1863 and during the "whisky boom" of the time many wine and spirit merchants were eager to invest their capital in new distilleries in the area. Speculation ended at the very end of the 19th century when the house of cards collapsed, but many distilleries have survived until this day.
The decline in the fortunes of the Scotch whisky industry at the end of the 19th century was known as "the Pattison crisis" - but since I"ve already written quite a bit about it in other distillery profiles (for example the Glenfarclas profile) I won"t bore you with the details here. Instead, I"ll focus on the fortunes of the Tamdhu distillery. One of the driving forces behind the construction of the distillery was a director of Highland Distilleries by the name of William Grant. He appointed Charles Doig to design Tamdhu and made every effort to make sure that Tamdhu would be as modern as possible. That didn"t prevent the distillery from running into some legal troubles, though...
During the 1990"s the affordable Tamdhu official bottling without an age statement didn"t make a big impression on me, but later on it became one of the best value single malts on the market .
Unfortunately, the "value" segment of the whisky market is not something the Edrington Group has a lot of interest in, so it came as no big surprise that Tamdhu distillery was mothballed in 2010.
In the new Millenium
2005 - During the past decade the single malt market has been booming, but the owners hadn"t really developed the brand name of Tamdhu. As a result, it had ended up on the bottom shelves of many liquorists. In an effort to join the grpwing number of profitable Scotch malt whisky brands, the range was tarted up with 18yo and 25yo bottlings.
2010 - to the dismay of many malt whisky lovers the Edrington Group (owners of Tamdhu distillery) decided to mothball Tamdhu distillery. That probably had to do with the fact that their profit margins on the whisky that is distilled at Macallan or Highland Park are much higher. It doesn"t bode well for the quality of blends in the years to come though; this means that they"ll probably use even less malt whisky in the recipes - and more maize juice...
Trivia:
- Tamdhu 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, Glenrothes, Glentauchers, Knockandu, Knockdhu, Longmorn and Tomatin.
- Most of the production from Tamdhu distillery is used in blends like Famous Grouse, J&B and Cutty Sark.
- The barley that is used for Tamdhu (Cellar, Optic & Golden Promise) generally comes from the East of Scotland. Tamdhu distillery processes circa 44 tonnes of barley on any given working day.
- Tamdhu distillery has nine Oregon Pine washbacks with a capacity of over 50,000 litres each.
- In 1966 the malting capacity at Tamdhu was doubled.
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: Morrison Glasgow Distillers
| Established: 2012 |
| Silent since: False |
| Address: 100 Stobcross Rd |
Tim Morrison, formerly of Morrison Bowmore Distillers and owner of independent bottler AD Rattray, set up Morrison Glasgow Distillers (formerly Stanmorr) in 2012 with a vision to revive distilling in Glasgow. Morrison runs AD Rattray as an entirely separate entity.
The board is led by Tim Morrison as chairman and his son Andrew Morrison, who serves as commercial director. Independent whisky consultant Glen Moore, who also once worked with Bowmore as a stillman, mashman and head of marketing, serves as managing director.
The company is currently overseeing the construction of Clydeside distillery on the banks of the river Clyde in Glasgow.
Morrison Glasgow Distillers started life in 2012 as Stanmorr Ltd, a company set up to oversee the building of a new distillery in Glasgow, one that would ‘celebrate the role whisky has played in shaping both Glasgow’s and Scotland’s heritage’.
The brainchild of Tim Morrison, the distillery was to be built within the historic Pump House, at the mouth of Glasgow’s Queen’s Dock.
Planning permission for the site was granted in early 2014, but complications surrounding the foundations of the plot – the dock had been in-filled in 1977 – forced the company to orientate the distillery. This meant submitting a new proposal to Glasgow Council for planning approval.
By 2015 the company had changed its name to The Glasgow Distilling Company, to reflect its intentions to revive whisky production in the city. However, just the year previously, the confusingly named Glasgow Distillery Company beat Morrison and co. to open the first new malt distillery in Glasgow for over 100 years, with the Glasgow distillery in Hillington.
On 1 August 2016, now with full planning permission for its newly positioned distillery – which is now named Clydeside – and a more unambiguous company name of Morrison Glasgow Distillers, the group broke ground at the Pump House.
The board is led by Tim Morrison as chairman and his son Andrew Morrison, who serves as commercial director. Independent whisky consultant Glen Moore, who also once worked with Bowmore as a stillman, mashman and head of marketing, serves as managing director.
The company is currently overseeing the construction of Clydeside distillery on the banks of the river Clyde in Glasgow.
Morrison Glasgow Distillers started life in 2012 as Stanmorr Ltd, a company set up to oversee the building of a new distillery in Glasgow, one that would ‘celebrate the role whisky has played in shaping both Glasgow’s and Scotland’s heritage’.
The brainchild of Tim Morrison, the distillery was to be built within the historic Pump House, at the mouth of Glasgow’s Queen’s Dock.
Planning permission for the site was granted in early 2014, but complications surrounding the foundations of the plot – the dock had been in-filled in 1977 – forced the company to orientate the distillery. This meant submitting a new proposal to Glasgow Council for planning approval.
By 2015 the company had changed its name to The Glasgow Distilling Company, to reflect its intentions to revive whisky production in the city. However, just the year previously, the confusingly named Glasgow Distillery Company beat Morrison and co. to open the first new malt distillery in Glasgow for over 100 years, with the Glasgow distillery in Hillington.
On 1 August 2016, now with full planning permission for its newly positioned distillery – which is now named Clydeside – and a more unambiguous company name of Morrison Glasgow Distillers, the group broke ground at the Pump House.
from ScotchWhisky.com