Welcome to Day 8. Today we head back to Scotland with a nice little bit of a peated offering from Glenglassaugh distillery. Lets tuck into that whisky
Story
Glenglassaugh Distillery, at the east end of the beautiful Sandend Bay, was founded by Col. James Moir in 1875. He quickly established a reputation for making a quality whisky and the company prospered.
He ran the distillery with his two nephews until 1892, when Glenglassaugh was purchased by Highland Distillers. After being completely re-built in 1960, the distillery continued to produce whisky until 1986 when it was mothballed.
The distillery sat silent for over 20 years until it was purchased by a group of investors and started production again in December 2008. In 2013, the BenRiach Distillery Company took over Glenglassaugh distillery with the intention to bring this iconic distillery fully back to life by giving it the investment, commitment and care it deserves.
Glenglassaugh is produced using the highest quality of Scottish barley and traditional distilling methods, our key focus being on quality. While many distilleries have become highly automated, here at Glenglassaugh our spirit is still handcrafted by a small, highly skilled team dedicated to creating the highest quality product. Only the finest casks are selected to slowly mature our precious spirit in our coastal warehouses until it is ready.
HISTORY
A late-Victorian distillery, Glenglassaugh was built in 1874 by local businessman James Moir and 18 years later became part of Highland Distillers. It didn’t have a huge amount of time to prove itself as a downturn in the market saw it close in 1907 and not re-open until 1960, when once again the market was showing a sharp increase.
Blenders however found it a difficult customer, one of those highly individual malts which didn’t rub along particularly well with other elements in a blend. Had the single malt market been up and running in the 1970s its story might be very different, but its sheer awkwardness meant it was deemed surplus to Highland’s requirements when the whisky loch was filling in the early 1980s and firms were rationalising their estates. When it closed in 1986, no-one thought it would ever re-open.
Amazingly however it did. In 2008, a Russian-financed firm bought the plant and restarted production. In 2013, it changed hands once again, becoming the third member of the BenRiach Distillery Co. [with Benriach and Glendronach].
Although there is obviously a massive 22-year hole in stock, releases are being cleverly balanced between occasional (very) old bottlings and incremental works in progress from the new regime.
Glenglassaugh was purchased – along with Benriach and Glendronach – by Jack Daniel’s producer Brown-Forman in 2016.
Tasting Notes
Nose: light smoke, butterscotch, apples, pears, light cream, hint of cinnamon
Taste: need more, Doritos, cream, eggnog, cookie batter
FInish: delicious, light smoke, something sweet, charcoal, fresh cookies, lingering charcoal