Glen Spey

Glen Spey is a distillery in the famous Speyside region of Scotland. Founded in 1878, it produces spirit for use in Diageo’s blended Scotch brands.    

Glen Spey is often described as light and fragrant, grassy and nutty. Common tasting notes include tropical fruits and a slightly smoky finish.   

Glen Spey draws its water from Doonie’s Spring, a source it shares with other distilleries. This often led to conflicts with neighbours with problems occurring when distillers returned warm process water to the stream. The issue was resolved when laws were put in place to regulate the disposal of wastewater.

The distillery is equipped with four copper stills: two wash and two spirit stills. Their lantern shape ensures only the purest of vapours pass through. Purifier pipes act as mini condensers, adding a light oiliness to the spirit.

Spirit matures in a combination of bourbon whiskey casks and ex-sherry casks. Most matures in the lowlands but there is some racked warehousing onsite.

Glen Spey is capable of producing 1.4 million litres per year.

The only widely available bottling is part of Diageo’s Flora & Fauna range. In 2010, a 21-year-old was bottled as part of that year’s Special Releases.

Glen Spey malts have also been released by the likes of Douglas Laing and Duncan Taylor.    

Glen Spey began life as an oat mill before grain merchant James Stuart converted it to the Mill of Rothes distillery in 1878. In 1887, Stuart bought the Macallan distillery and sold Mill of Rothes to W&A Gilbey. The new owner changed the name to Glen Spey and used the distillery to supply their Spey Royal blend.

In 1962, W&A Gilbey merged with United Wine Traders to form International Distillers and Vintners (IDV). This was one of several mergers that eventually led to the creation of spirits giant, Diageo. 

The distillery has long supplied spirit for the J&B blended Scotch brand.