The last day of our first Scotland trip had been planned for months. That would be the day we would visit Glendronach as well as Glenglassaugh. In an earlier blog we already told you about Glendronach so now it’s time to talk about Glenglassaugh. A lovely experience as well!
Before travelling to Scotland we booked a 14:00hr distillery tour at Glenglassaugh. We ended up being an hour early because we took a taxi from Glendronach directly to Glenglassaugh. A £50,00 taxi ride but in the end was worth it! Karen Mcwilliam called her colleague Lesley Wiggins at Glenglassaugh if we could come in early and off we went. It turned out that our last distillery visit was the very last tour Lesley would host at the Glenglassaugh Distillery and because Peter and I were the only participants it would become sort of a private tour.
Lesley showed us around and told us some lovely stories about the history of the distillery and of course about how Glenglassaugh whisky’s are made. We wrote about the making of whisky at Benromach and Glendronach already so I won’t do that here again. However there is one detail I have to mention regarding Glenglassaugh. The distinct smell in one of the washbacks, banana sweets and coconut. Very special to already get these aroma’s in this part of the process, at least in my opinion.
Background:
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.
Then it was time to taste a few of the Glenglassaugh expressions. In a special tasting room we sat down and tasted the Revival, Evolution and Torfa. Allthough very young all three of them showed quality. Maybe the Revival was a bit too young but the Evolution stood out very well. Here we found the smell of banana and coconut again. The peated Torfa made me think of a Springbang 10 and maybe even the French Kornog. The Evolution and the Torfa could be added to my collection in the near future.
Before going on with the tour Lesly poured another dram. The legendary Glenglassaugh 30yo! Fruity, a little spicy, great mouthfeel and a lasting finish. We took our time to finish this while talking about our whiskypassion and the website. Lesley also told us about her next step in her whisky career, a job at Glenfiddich. Should be nice as well.
Time for the last part of our tour. We were allowed to look around in some of the old warehouses where some very old casks were still waiting to be bottled. Some fantastic malts will be put on the market in the future!
Back at the visitors center there was more opportunity to taste some old expressions. We became some of the “chosen few” to taste 33yo “The Chosen Few” and the 45yo portcask finished “Massandra Collection” before handbottling our own bottle of Glenglassaugh. The very last bottle sold by Lesley Wiggins at the distillery.
We had a lovely time and we thank Lesley for the fantastic tour.
