Product description
In 1961, Italian businessman and spirits importer Armando Giovinetti met the owner of Glen Gran Distillery, Douglas Mackessak. The two men took an immediate liking to each other, and the Italian expressed his desire to import and distribute Glen Grant in his country.
Giovinetti opted for the 5-year-old because its palette seemed to him the closest to grappa, and he ordered 50 cases to start with. Within a decade, he was distributing 150,000 cases a year, making Glen Grant the leading whisky brand in Italy.
Glen Grant 5 years old was the key product in Giovinetti's offer, but older whiskies were also added over time. In the 1960s and 1970s, the distillery offered limited editions called Director's Reserve, blended from barrels selected by the director. The whisky intended for the Italian importer was bottled in unique, squat, long-necked decanters. The Director's Reserve series ended with the distillery's takeover by Seagram in 1977.
Unfortunately, we didn't have a chance to taste this whisky, but we can guess that it combines strong sherry notes, sweet tropical fruits, a pinch of spices and a distant whiff of peat smoke.