Glen Garioch

Glen Garioch (pronounced glen-geery) is a traditional single malt distillery in the east Highlands, located amongst the rolling hills and farmland of Aberdeenshire. It is one of the oldest in Scotland and one of the few that remain from the 18th century. Whiskies from the distillery are highly regarded amongst whisky connoisseurs and are celebrated for their old school Highland style. Historically used in famous blends such as Vat 69, now all production is destined for bottling as single malt.

This Highland whisky is known for its malty and fruity style of single malt. Robust cereals, warming spices and tropical fruits are distinctive characteristics. The spirit is oily and viscous in texture and full-bodied. The robust maltiness is often mistaken for a hint of peat smoke. To confuse matters, Glen Garioch was mildly peated until the mid-1990s so older bottlings show a distinct smokiness. Most of the spirit is matured in American oak ex-bourbon barrels, although sherry and wine casks are also used on occasion.

The core range is compact and consists of the no age statement Founder's Reserve and Virgin Oak, plus the 12 and 15 year old. The distillery is also known for releasing small batch vintage expressions, where casks from the same year are married together and bottled. There have been numerous bottlings in this series, predominantly from the 1990s and 2000s. The oldest expressions date back to the 1970s.

Glen Garioch has an annual production capacity of 1.3 million litres. The distillery is equipped with very traditional equipment. The mash tun can hold four tonnes of grist and they operate 18 mashes per week. There are nine stainless steel washbacks with an average fermentation time of 72 hours. There is just one pair of stills. The wash still is unusual in that it is one of the few in Scotland to be directly fired from below. Most are heated internally via a coil system. The spirit still is also one of the largest in the Scotch industry with a capacity of 25,000 litres. There are four dunnage warehouses on site and these hold around 8,000 casks.

Glen Garioch was founded in 1797 by John Manson in the Aberdeenshire village of Oldmeldrum. During its first 140 years, the distillery changed ownership no less than seven times. The first was just one year after opening as Thomas Simpson took control. He was followed by Ingram, Lamb & Co. in 1825, John Manson & Co. in 1837 and J. G. Thomson & Co. in 1884. The trend continued in the first half of the 20th century with William Sanderson (1908), Booth's Distilleries Ltd. (1933) and Distillers Company Limited (1937).

Following a period of closure in the 1960s, stability was provided when Glen Garioch was purchased by Stanley P. Morrison Ltd. This was the forerunner to Morrison Bowmore Distillers, who by the 1990s owned three Scotch whisky distilleries - Auchentoshan in the Lowlands, Bowmore on Islay and Glen Garioch. In 1994, the Japanese company Suntory took control of Morrison Bowmore. Beam Suntory remain as the current owner following the joining of Suntory and the American company Jim Beam in 2014. Glen Garioch sits within their boutique whisky portfolio.