Glenturret 50yo
A little over a month ago, the Glenturret distillery unveiled its new official offering, which includes whiskeys aged from 7 to 30 years, as well as one edition with no age declaration, the so-called NAS. There are many indications that a certain special edition was also dealt with during its preparation, but it can in no way become part of the permanent offering. We are talking about Glenturret 50yo.
Glenturret 50yo is a whisky distilled in 1972 and matured in a single refill sherry cask. It was bottled in 150 decanters, made of black crystal glass. The extremely elegant decanter was designed by Lalique's artistic and creative director, Marc Larminaux. The Glenturret distillery is co-owned by the Lalique group as of 2019. The design was inspired by the basic ingredient of malt whisky, namely barley. The shape of the entire decanter is somewhat reminiscent of the distinctive bottles in which the distillery's core range of products are sold. The cost of a single decanter among the individually numbered one hundred and fifty is 40 thousand. pounds. They will go on sale on September 13.
However, before the remaining 149 decanters go on sale, one, this special one, bearing the number one, will be auctioned by Sotheby's auction house from August 30 to September 9. The auction will be held as part of the first-ever Whisky in Lalique auction, which will feature only whisky bottled in Lalique brand decanters. Let us remind you that many exquisite whiskies have already been poured in decanters of the Lalique brand, including a whole range of extremely luxurious offerings from under the Macallan banner.
Glenturret distillery boasts the title of oldest operating Scotch whisky maker. According to the manufacturer's official line, an illegal distillery called Hosh was established as early as 1775. It was legalized in 1818, but in 1923 it was closed, and five years later it was liquidated and demolished. It had to wait until 1959 to restart it, when it resumed whiskey production using alembics and a mash vat from Tullibardine, which had just been renovated. After several changes of ownership, in 2002 the Glenturret - which was then owned by the Edrington Group - converted the Visitor Center there into The Famous Grouse Experience, a center dedicated not so much to the single malt whisky produced here, but to one of the most famous brands of blended whisky, blended whisky. Similar tactics were used, for example, in Aberfeldy, where Dewar's World of Whisky still operates today. The tourist attraction dedicated to The Faous Grous blended whisky came to an end with a recent change of ownership, the aforementioned takeover by m.in. Lalique Group. In 2019, former Macallan specialists Bob Dalgarno and Ken Grier took over the reigns at Glenturret, and the distillery itself, no longer affiliated with Edrington, no longer had room to promote one of the group's blends. One of the many changes made at Glenturret was an upgrade of the cafeteria operating there. Today it is a top world-class restaurant, where the quality of the dishes served is certified with the much coveted Michelin Guide star in the restaurant industry. This is the first time in the world that a distillery-operated establishment has been recognized in this way.
Due to a hiatus between 1923 and 1959 and the fact that it is difficult to find evidence of distillery operations as far back as 1775, Glenturret's status as the oldest Scotch whisky maker is sometimes questioned. Some whisky enthusiasts and industry experts are inclined to call the distillery Strathisla, which has been in operation since 1786 in the village of Keith in the Speyside region, rather by this name. However, it is not for us to settle such disputes here. We are only signaling that not everything in the industry is as simple as the marketing specialists of one brand or another would like it to be.
The distillery itself is a small plant, with one pair of alembics allowing a maximum capacity of 340,000. liters of pure alcohol per year. There is talk of plans to increase production to half a million liters, but based on existing equipment, without installing more vats or stripping apparatuses. Whisky here is made using kilned malt with only a small proportion of peat smoke, but a certain - very small - amount of the distillate here is made using peat-smoked malt to a level as high as 80 ppm.
It's worth remembering that, in keeping with the nature of Scotch whisky, the editions bottled today - whether as part of the basic offering or the limited editions - contain distillates made when Glenturret belonged to its previous owners. This is especially true of whiskies as old as the just debuting Glenturret 50yo, which was created back in the days of James Fairlie. Later there was Rémy Cointreau, then Highland Distillers, still later Edrington, before our "old lady" passed into the hands of the Glenturret holding company, in which the Lalique group has a majority stake.
Those interested in seeking flavors from what is undoubtedly one of Scotland's oldest distilleries are encouraged to visit and check out the the current offer of the House of Whisky Online. On the shelves of our shelves you will find a number of editions, both bottled now and from the past, as well as a portion of offerings from independent distributors.
[31.08.2022 / Photo: Glenturret]