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Release Notes
It's rare to see a 25 year old whisky for less than $150 these days, and even when we do see the occasional bottle our first instinct is often to ask: what's wrong with it? Understanding that natural reaction we had to ask ourselves: how will people respond when we offer them a 28 year old, single barrel, cask strength, Highland single malt for $89.99? We're hoping you'll be excited because we're absolutely thrilled! Glenturret isn't a household name among whisky drinkers, but for those in the know it's part of the Edrington portfolio: the group that owns Macallan, Highland Park, and Glenrothes. Glenturret is also considered the oldest distillery in Scotland, having been founded in 1775, and today it's the home of Famous Grouse: the world-renowned blended whisky in which it plays a large role. This 28 year old expression has reduced naturally down to a perfectly-drinkable 46.4% ABV and has the richness, oiliness, and concentration that only mature whisky can offer. It's full of brandied fruit, resin, supple caramel, and creamy malted goodness. Despite its old age, the whisky is surprisingly lithe and light on its feet. By no means is this a heavy, full-bodied number, but rather a classic Highland whisky with plenty of barrel-aged complexity. For the price, it's a no brainer.
K&L
The Bottler: Douglas Laing & Co
| Established: 1948 |
| Silent since: False |
| Address: Douglas House, 18 Lynedoch Crescent, Glasgow, G3 6EQ, Scotland |
| → website |
They are proud Scots - and the Scottish attitudes of honesty, courtesy and friendliness is amply demonstrated as they go about their business at home and abroad boosting their business and customer satisfaction.
This guarded and cherished stock - sold by allocation - and was previously reserved for their blended whiskies - like the King of Scots, seen here.
But the brothers, once they"ve stopped looking longingly at their pride and joy, will cheerfully dig out a bottle from the corner of a warehouse and happily sell it to discerning customers with accompanying explanatory booklets and carefully-worded tasting notes penned by self-styled, in-house wordsmith, Fred with Stewart checking his spelling.
A key feature is their vast stock of different Malts built up over the last 50 years and it"s been a pleasing perk, benefit and privilege for the current directors to nose and taste some of the finest quality samples.
Fred and Stewart, astute as their father was ground-breaking, got their heads together at one tasting session and boldly declared: "Some of these malts are too good to blend." And so it was in 1998, before they headed off to celebrate the new Millennium, that their much sought-after OLD MALT CASK selection was rolled out.
And, in truth, they"ve not let their Dad down over the past 25 years in charge. Indeed, they"ve grafted to uphold the traditions of the family - apart from the sheep stealing and cattle rustling.
They have successfully expanded their markets so that their highly-rated ranges now regularly features blends up to 25 years old, using the original blend specifications handed down to them - and written out so they wouldn"t forget them.
Glasgow-based Douglas Laing & Co are independent bottlers and blenders headed by brothers, Fred and Stewart Laing, who proved the value of nepotism when they succeeded their father, Fred Douglas who founded the company in 1948.
Today the company has contented clients in the Far East, Europe, the USA, Russia, South Africa and Australasia and, increasingly, in the UK where London giants, Harrod"s, Fortnum & Mason and Selfridges as well as premium independent Whisky specialists like The Whisky Shop Group and Vintage House are on the customer manifest.
The brothers" passports are rarely in their desk drawers as they carry out extensive tastings throughout the year all over the world, always dressed appropriately in the kilt, not the same one, of course.
from DouglasLaingWhisky.com
The Distillery: Glenturret
| Established: 1959 |
| Silent since: False |
| Address: United Kingdom |
| → website |
Glenturret in the Midlands claims to be Scotland's oldest whisky distillery. In fact, they have boldly put that claim on their distillery buildings. Hmmm... That's a little odd - given the fact that those buildings were not refurbished before the late 1950's - and I'm pretty sure distillation of whiksy had been invented at least three centuries earlier. There has been another distillery by the name of Glenturret in the area (constructed in 1826), but that was closed again within a few decades - and had nothing to do with this one.
The 'brand name' Glenturret was sold to Hosh distillery in 1875 - but that distillery was also closed in 1921. All production equipment was removed and until the late 1950's the remaining buildings were only used for storage of cask of whisky. So, the distillery that bought the name went silent too...
It wasn't until 1957 that James Fairlie bought the old distillery buildings and re-equipped them with brand new equipment. That means that the historic link with the old distillery was in name only; the stills, washbacks and mashtuns shape the character of a whisky, buildings don't. The distillery I'd like to call 'Glenturret Mark III' went into operation in 1959. That's a little ironic, because that makes Glenturret one of Scotland's youngest distilleries - not one of the oldest.
Well, we can always trust the PR people of Edrington to boldly explore the conventional borders between the truth and blatant lies - and sometimes happily skip across those boders when it suits them. They also claimed that Macallan only used sherry casks when they hadn't for decades.
But then again Glenturret isn't the only malt whisky distillery in Scotland making dubious claims about its heritage; Balblair, Bowmore , Oban and Littlemill also brag about having their roots in the 18th century. In some cases they actually have a solid claim with real ties to the past, but Glenfarclas is one of the few distilleries where descendants of the founders of the distillery are actually still involved in making the whisky. So, let's focus on facts about Glenturret's more recent history, shall we?
For a few decades after James Fairlie first started up the new stills in 1959, not much seems to have happened at Glenturret. The French drinks conglomerate Remy Cointreau bought the whisky distillery in 1981 - reminding us that 'foreign' investment in the Scotch whisky industry isn't something that has emerged in recent years. The new owners expanded the distillery with a visitor centre in the same year.
Remy Martin didn't hang on to Glenturret for very long; in 1990 Highland Distillers bought the distillery. They were themselves bought by a partnership of two new owners; Edrington Group (70%) and William Grant & Sons, the owners of Balvenie and Glenfiddich (30%). This partnership (the '1887 Company Ltd.') controls malt distilleries like Macallan and Glenrothes.
Soon after acquiring United Distillers the new owners selected Glenturret as the location for their 'Famous Grouse Experience' - a.k.a. 'Whisky Disney'. It may not be the perfect experience for seasoned malt whisky imbibers, but those who are not whisky nerds it can be an educational & enjoyable experience. Building the new visitor center required an investment of over 2,5 million pounds, but it may have been worth it - the Famous Grouse Experience quickly became one of Scotland's premier tourist attractions.
Meanwhile, the 'presence' of Glenturret on the shelves of liquor stores around the world has changed as well. During the 1990's a 12 years old expression was available (a bottle is shown above; the label at the right), but the profile was a little too 'oily' for me to go crazy over it. Nevertheless, it was an excellent alternative to almost every 'premium' blended whisky in the same price range. Nowadays Glenturret's 'standard' bottlings are 8yo and 10yo. In the New Millenium
The 'brand name' Glenturret was sold to Hosh distillery in 1875 - but that distillery was also closed in 1921. All production equipment was removed and until the late 1950's the remaining buildings were only used for storage of cask of whisky. So, the distillery that bought the name went silent too...
It wasn't until 1957 that James Fairlie bought the old distillery buildings and re-equipped them with brand new equipment. That means that the historic link with the old distillery was in name only; the stills, washbacks and mashtuns shape the character of a whisky, buildings don't. The distillery I'd like to call 'Glenturret Mark III' went into operation in 1959. That's a little ironic, because that makes Glenturret one of Scotland's youngest distilleries - not one of the oldest.
Well, we can always trust the PR people of Edrington to boldly explore the conventional borders between the truth and blatant lies - and sometimes happily skip across those boders when it suits them. They also claimed that Macallan only used sherry casks when they hadn't for decades.
But then again Glenturret isn't the only malt whisky distillery in Scotland making dubious claims about its heritage; Balblair, Bowmore , Oban and Littlemill also brag about having their roots in the 18th century. In some cases they actually have a solid claim with real ties to the past, but Glenfarclas is one of the few distilleries where descendants of the founders of the distillery are actually still involved in making the whisky. So, let's focus on facts about Glenturret's more recent history, shall we?
For a few decades after James Fairlie first started up the new stills in 1959, not much seems to have happened at Glenturret. The French drinks conglomerate Remy Cointreau bought the whisky distillery in 1981 - reminding us that 'foreign' investment in the Scotch whisky industry isn't something that has emerged in recent years. The new owners expanded the distillery with a visitor centre in the same year.
Remy Martin didn't hang on to Glenturret for very long; in 1990 Highland Distillers bought the distillery. They were themselves bought by a partnership of two new owners; Edrington Group (70%) and William Grant & Sons, the owners of Balvenie and Glenfiddich (30%). This partnership (the '1887 Company Ltd.') controls malt distilleries like Macallan and Glenrothes.
Soon after acquiring United Distillers the new owners selected Glenturret as the location for their 'Famous Grouse Experience' - a.k.a. 'Whisky Disney'. It may not be the perfect experience for seasoned malt whisky imbibers, but those who are not whisky nerds it can be an educational & enjoyable experience. Building the new visitor center required an investment of over 2,5 million pounds, but it may have been worth it - the Famous Grouse Experience quickly became one of Scotland's premier tourist attractions.
Meanwhile, the 'presence' of Glenturret on the shelves of liquor stores around the world has changed as well. During the 1990's a 12 years old expression was available (a bottle is shown above; the label at the right), but the profile was a little too 'oily' for me to go crazy over it. Nevertheless, it was an excellent alternative to almost every 'premium' blended whisky in the same price range. Nowadays Glenturret's 'standard' bottlings are 8yo and 10yo. In the New Millenium
- 2000 - A series of vatted malt whiskies (a.k.a. blended malt whiskies) from The Famous Grouse is introduced.
- 2002 - The Glenturret distillery is turned into a Whisky Disneyland called "The Famous Grouse Experience". The fact that the owners are willing to invest 2,5 million GBP in the visitor centre proves that they are confident about the commercial possibilities of the 'touristic' aspect of the Scotch whisky world.
- 2003 - The 12yo official bottling of Glenturret malt whisky is replaced by a younger 10yo standard bottling. A younger whisky is quicker (and therefor cheaper) to produce - so much higher profits can be made.
- 2009 - Glenturret starts to produce some batches of peated whisky for the Black Grouse blend. Since the Black Grouse was introduced in 2007 and Edrington didn't own any distilleries that were able to produce (heavily) peated whisky, we have to assume that they bought the peated malt whisky from others beforehand.
Trivia:
- Given the fact that they founded their 'Famous Grouse Experience' at Glenturret distillery, it's hardly surprising that the Glenturret malt whisky is an important component of the Famous Grouse blended whisky.
- The people at Glenturret had a knack for PR, even before the 1887 Company Ltd. took control in 1999. In the 1980's they managed to get their distillery cat 'Towser' in the Guiness Book of Records for allegedly killing exactly 28,899 mice. Hmmmm... Let's think about that for a moment... How did they arrive at such a precise number? That would mean one or even several people at the distillery have had to keep detailed records of Towser's exploits. Surely that couldn't have been a full-time job, but still.... Think of all the USEFUL things they could have been doing in thouse thousands of hours - like trying to get rid of that oily smell of younger Glenturrets ;-)
- There are six warehouses at the Glenturret distillery, which hold over 10,000 casks of maturing whisky.
- Around 2010 Glenturret produced around 150,000 litres of alcohol per year - a fairly modest quantity. That means that the distillery runs at only half capacity and it is among the 'smallest' Scotch whisky distilleries.
- In August 2011 the first edition of the 'Whisky & Music Festival' is held at the Glenturret distillery. Apart from the festival, the 'Famous Grouse Experience' attracts some 100,000 visitors each year.
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