Octaves – What is Your Favourite Cask Type

I am never sure if we should listen so closely to customers suggestions but we do aim to please so when I was asked if we could find ex-Port Octaves and ex-Fino sherry Octaves then I at least had to try.

The result is that we have now managed to locate a number of additional options for Octave cask maturation. In addition to the original refill casks in 2011 we added ex-Oloroso sherry and ex-PX sherry and subsequently ex-Bourbon. These casks will form the basis of our core range for future sales.

However we have managed to obtain around 50 ex-Port Octaves, which will be the only ones of this type purchased in 2011 and I cannot guarantee that we will manage to get them again next year. The first 30 arrived yesterday and the aroma from these is fabulous.

We will also, in around 2 months time, take delivery of a very small number, around 12 of each, of ex-Fino, ex-Amontillado and ex-Manzanilla Octaves.

We have already changed the order form on the website with  details for the ex-Port Octaves and the price for the other new sherry options is the same price as the Oloroso and PX Octaves.

Earlier in the month we filled 5 ex-Bourbon Octaves for a group of animators from a certain animation studio in California, who were just completing work on a forthcoming film, which is based in Scotland. We had great fun with the cask filling as you see in you tube

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-ideR9DAhQ&context=C3b6c0fdADOEgsToPDskL8Th2tp4nPWMgkckRiIo65

Visitor Centre

Progress continues to be made with a new disabled access ramp installed and a small piece of decking at the front entrance. The internal work is progressing well but there is still a lot of work to be done to complete the work although we are still hopeful of it being ready to open at the end of March.

Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival

Yes I know that we are not in Speyside but a proud Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky, nether the less we are very close geographically and one could say a fringe neighbour.

Anyway once again we will have several events taking place including “Behind The Scenes” tours, “Fill your own cask” and “Bottle your own Glenglassaugh whisky”.

You can also spend a luxury weekend at our very close neighbours, Durn House, and enjoy a special tour and tasting of some of our very special whiskies with Ronnie Routledge.

Details of all the events can be found at http://www.spiritofspeyside.com/events.php

Out and About

We are just finalising our plans for attending events around the UK during the year but we will once again be visiting a number of locations including, for the first time, The Royal Highland Show in Edinburgh in June.

The RHS coincides with The Traditional Boat Festival in Portsoy so we will be very stretched that weekend and the current plans mean that Ronnie and I will be in Edinburgh while Mhairi will be mustering a team from the distillery to manage the stand in Portsoy.

I will be heading further afield over the next few weeks and months and having already been at the Finest Spirits Festival in Munich, I will shortly be visiting our importers in Netherlands, Belgium and France and then heading to Moscow for a view days.

At the end of March I will be at WhiskyFest in Chicago and the following week at the Whiskies of the World fair in San Francisco, while at the start of May I am planning to go to Banff, not the one in Scotland but the one in Alberta, Canada.

Production

We have also been busy at the distillery with production back on stream while in the warehouse there has been a lot of activity including a large number of Octave cask fillings.

January is normally a quiet month in bottling but not this year for us as we received a very significant order from one customer which has kept us busy.

Later in the year we are planning to extend and alter our small bottling facilities so that we can continue to meet the growing number of orders which we are receiving.

Revival

We have completed the final designs for our forthcoming new product called Revival, and are now eagerly awaiting the delivery of the packaging materials.

Revival will be the first whisky produced at Glenglassaugh since the distillery was refurbished and has already been featured in whisky tastings in Linkoping in Sweden and in Munich and on both occasions was extremely well received. A number of you will also have tasted a “nearly Revival” as a miniature of this was included with The First Cask Bottling.

We expect to have the bottles available for shipping by the end of March but will provide more information before that.

That’s all for now.

Slange

Stuart

Christmas 2011.

Well it is coming to that time of the year again when many people throughout the world over are doing the final preparations for Christmas, for many this will be the usual mad dash looking for the last minute present and attending the office Christmas party. We are just the same here with Christmas Lunch last Saturday and I for one still have some presents to buy but there is a slight difference this year at Glenglassaugh as there is no snow on the ground and although it is cold, it is still above freezing.

We are still very busy at the distillery with bottling of First Cask last Friday and then the despatch of the bottles yesterday. Friday was a very busy day for all of us, Alan and Blair were in the distillery carrying out some cleaning while the rest of us were organised by Michelle and given specific tasks for the day. It went, almost, like clockwork and although a very busy day it was also enjoyable and thanks to everyone who wished us well on Facebook and by email, as it obviously worked because 11 people went home feeling that they had achieved a lot and been part of a small piece of history that will be recorded for posterity by those who keep records of The Scotch Whisky Industry.

In the distillery today, Tuesday 20^th December, we are on the last run of spirits for the year and we hope to have this spirit in cask and in the warehouse either tomorrow or Thursday and then on Friday we close until the 4^th of January, for a well earned break.

While in the warehouse we  are filling a number of recent orders for larger casks as well as last minute Octave orders, while other warehousing activities continue.

The conversion of the old office into a small visitor centre is continuing and we hope to have this ready for the end of February, although there is still much to do.

2012

We have a number of events to look forward to in 2012 but I will cover this in my next blog, however one thing that will happen is that we will be increasing the price of our Octave casks as of 1^st January 2012.

The increase is due to increasing malt prices which have risen by almost 40% since last year, increasing gas/energy prices, increasing cask prices and finally increasing postage charges (for the annual samples). We have tried to keep the increases to a minimum and anyone who orders an Octave before the end of the year will be charged at the 2011 rate.

As usual please feel free to comment or to send me an email.

Slange

Stuart

It doesn’t seem like three years since Alex Salmond pushed the button to start grinding the very first mash for the refurbished Glenglassaugh, but it is. That momentous occasion took place on the 24^th of November 2008 and already it is the 28^th November 2011, the anniversary of the first mash and we are rushing towards the 4^th of December, when the first spirit ran and then the 16^th December when we filled the first cask.

To mark the occasion of the first cask filling we will be emptying and bottling the contents of the first cask on the16th December 2011. This will be the first whisky from the first cask filled at the re-furbished Glenglassaugh, truly a piece of history not only for Glenglassaugh but also for The Scotch Whisky Industry. It is not often that a distillery comes back to life after such a long silent period, 22 years of non-production, and shortly afterwards wins praise for its new spirit and innovation but more importantly top awards from the most rigorous and independent spirit competitions in the world, the IWSC and the SFWSC, for its aged whiskies.

If you want to find out more information on how to buy a bottle or about the contents then look at my last blog or go directly to our on-line shop www.glenglassaugh.co.uk. This exclusive bottling is only available from the on-line shop or at the distillery.

More Awards

November saw yet another award for our aged whiskies.

We have been reluctant to enter competitions recently as entry itself is expensive and requires submission of a number of samples, in addition the number of competitions grows annually and the integrity and standards employed by each is not universally consistent. However the Scottish Field Magazine awards are known for their high standards with a number of independent judges and true blind tasting used and the whiskies themselves evaluated over several rounds.

I was therefore very pleased and proud to accept, on behalf of all the team, the Gold Award for the best Scotch Whisky in the Over £80.00 category 2011 for “The Managers’ Legacy – Walter Grant” at the recent award ceremony in Edinburgh. The award now sits beside the other awards which we have won in last few years in our display cabinet at the distillery for all visitors to see.

Special Bottling

As mentioned previously we have had a series of country exclusive bottling releases; in Austria a 1983 ex-sherry butt, in Canada and USA we have a 1974 ex-sherry butt, in Germany a 1983 ex-Sauternes hogshead finish, in Norway a 1983 ex-sherry cask, in South Africa a 1986 ex-sherry butt and in Singapore both a 1973 and a 1975 hogshead. These last 2 both very different and a fantastic contrast, the black ox and the white rabbit.

Bourbon Octaves

Our Octave filling has never been more popular and we have now sold out our second deliver of Oloroso Sherry Octaves as well as our first delivery of PX Octaves. We will not have any more of these Octaves until late January or early February.

To allow more choice we now have available first fill bourbon Octaves and the first of these will be filled this week on the 30^th November. All the information on how to order these or any other Octaves is available on the website www.glenglassaugh.com .

More Work and Travel  in December

I am writing this on the return flight from Frankfurt, and another very enjoyable few days at Inter-Whisky Frankfurt renewing existing friendships and making new ones.

A very exclusive master-class was undertaken on Saturday with 1 Spirit Drink (2 years and 10 months old) and 6 whiskies, the youngest of which was 28 years and the German exclusive bottling for 2011 and the other ones a 35 year old (The Chosen Few – Ronnie Routledge), a 36 year old (Our latest over 30 year old single cask bottling, and my personal favourite), a 42 year old (The Managers’ Legacy – Bert Forsyth) and a 43 year old (The Managers’ Legacy – Walter Grant)

While it was a great occasion to sample all of these whiskies with a very audience it was disappointing that due to constraints of the organisation we only had 30 minutes available. To do any justice to this number and quality of samples would have needed four times as long and so I will again apologise to those that were there for the speed with which I went through the presentation and tasting. At least many people made sure that they took their samples with them to appreciate later.

On the 2^nd December I will be travelling to Zurich where I will be attending the Whisky Ship Whisky festival with House of Single Malts, who are our Swiss Importer and then after travelling to Austria on Monday, I have a tasting in Vienna at Potstill , the home of our Austrian importer on Tuesday evening and another one at the Whisky Club in Graz on Wednesday the 7^th December.

In the meantime we will be winding down production at the distillery and finishing the year producing some more peated spirit, which is becoming ever more popular. It is now 2 years since we started producing batches of peated spirit at various times in the year and so next year at this time we will have some three year old peated spirit that will have become whisky, something to look forward to.

All for now.

Slange

Stuart

Once upon a time there was a poor distillery, unloved by its owners who no longer had any need for its fabled whiskies. The dust was gathering in corners of the building, water was coming through holes in the roof and small items like pumps were disappearing.

Then after a period of around 21 years along came a group of investors who wanted to buy a distillery which could produce whiskies of the highest quality that they would be proud of. Samples of whisky were taken, consumed and it was declared that here was a whisky of the very highest quality, capable of winning the ultimate accolades. So discussions took place, money exchanged hands and soon the distillery was under new ownership, new
hands were on the helm and the distilling equipment was being lovingly refurbished, ready for use.

On the 24^th November 2008, 22 years after it fell silent, Alex Salmon, first minister of Scotland started the inaugural milling for the first mash of a new era for Glenglassaugh distillery. The first mash itself took place on the 28^th November and the first spirit distillation on the 4^th December with the first cask being filled on the 16^th December of 2008.

In the meantime the owners faith in their investment has been rewarded with the aged whiskies winning the most prestigious awards of “Best Single Cask Scotch Whisky” and “Best 40 Year Old Scotch Whisky” at the International Wine and Spirit Competition 2009 plus a double gold medal for the
26 year old whisky at San Francisco International Spirits Competition and voted best 40 year old Scotch Whisky in Jim Murray’s Whisky Bible 2010.

Those first casks filled in 2008 which will become 3 years old and officially single malt scotch whisky on the 16^th December 2011.

To mark this momentous occasion Glenglassaugh Distillery Company is pleased to announce the release of a very special bottling. The very first cask, a refill butt, that was filled on that “first cask filling day in 2008” was emptied and refilled into 2 smaller casks on the 16^th December 2010. These smaller casks were a first fill ex-Pedro Ximenez (PX) sherry hogshead and a first-fill ex-Palo Cortado sherry hogshead. On the 16^th September 2011 the whiskies were returned from these two casks into the original butt and are now marrying  for a period of exactly three months.

On the 16^th December 2011 the cask will be emptied and approximately 650 bottles will be filled with the whisky, at cask strength, at natural colour and with no chill-filtration, by the employees of Glenglassaugh. It will then be shipped to those lucky individuals who can pre-purchase one of these unique and very rare bottles and we will try to achieve this in time for Christmas.

The bottles are now available for pre-ordering by either purchasing direct from the on-line shop, www.glenglassaugh.com or by visiting us at the distillery.

The 700ml bottle which will be packaged in an outer tube with a certificate of authentication and will cost £90.00 plus shipping. It is possible to pick-up the bottle direct from the distillery from 19^th December onwards in which case there will be no shipping charge.

The Small Print

There will be no discounts for cask owners on this purchase.

Sales will be restricted to one bottle per person per email address and anyone who tries to purchase multiple items will have any money paid refunded for the second and any subsequent purchase and there will also be an administration charge added.

All orders received through the on-line shop will be accepted as confirmation of purchase of a bottle, unless the money is refunded due to duplication of order.

More Octave  Developments

Our initial sales of ex-sherry Octaves for filling and maturing, was so successful that we had started a waiting list for the second shipment even before we had received the first delivery. Well most of the first orders have all now been filled and the good news is that the second, larger order, should be here before the end of the month. So far we have not sold it all out but even as I type this blog, another order appears so we may end-up pre-selling them all before they arrive.

All of the original delivery of the sherry Octaves had been ex-Oloroso sherry but in the next delivery we will be able to offer the alternative of ex- Pedro Ximenez Octaves too. We will also be able to offer filling either type of cask with peated or un-peated spirit.

If you have already ordered your sherry Octave and it is due to be filled from the second delivery then please let us know whether you wish an ex-Oloroso cask or an ex-PX cask.

Once again please feel free to leave any comments.

Slange

Stuart

A first bottling of a new exclusive series of single cask bottling from Glenglassaugh Distillery titled “The Chosen Few” is now available.

Each bottling in this series is limited edition, from a single cask of Glenglassaugh and has been chosen by a different member of the team at the distillery. Each of the ten members of the team has made their choice and over the next 3 years the selected casks will be bottled and made available for sale. The selected casks include some from the very old stock of pre 1986 while others have not yet reached the age at which we can call them whisky but they will soon.

The first cask in the series is a 1976 sherry butt, chosen by Ronnie Routledge who is well known in the industry and beyond having previously worked with both Single Malts Direct and Gordon and Macphail. Ronnie is our customer accounts manager and is regularly active on “Friends of Glenglassaugh” on Facebook.

The whisky is a great example of a 35 year old cask which has loads of sherry, but not overpoweringly so,  to complement the expected fruit medley notes and array of spices at the end, which is typical Glenglassaugh.

There are 654 bottles of the whisky, which is bottled in a 700ml tall round bottle and comes in a gold coloured round tube, in a similar livery to The Managers’ Legacy range. The whisky will retail in the UK at £300.00 per bottle. (Unfortunately due to bottling all of the cask in 700ml bottles it will not be available in USA or South Africa)

As usual it is bottled on site, at cask strength, with no chill filtration and with no colour added.

More Exclusive Releases

We have been working hard with  a number of our distributors around the world and so will soon be able to  announce exclusive releases of more single cask bottling in a number of  markets. This follows the great success of an exclusive bottling for our German  distributor Caminneci Wine and Spirit Partner which sold out extremely quickly.

I can reveal that we have  agreed exclusive releases with importers in 4 different continents so if you  are wanting to find one then you will have good chance that one will be coming  to a country, relatively, near to you.

As the bottles are despatched to  market I will let you know more about each bottling.

This activity has meant that we  have been much busier in our small bottling operations recently and although it  won’t help for this year, we are looking to move the bottling into a larger  area on site and have a bottling and packaging area which is larger and better  laid out and easier to work in.

Sherry Octaves

At the end of August we will  receive delivery of our first batch of sherry octaves, direct from Spain. This will  be another first in the industry as no-one else has matured spirit for full  maturation in an ex-first fill sherry  50  litre cask. Many of you have taken the opportunity to order one of these casks  and be one of the first people to own one and such has been the demand that we  have pre-sold  all of the first delivery.
However the good news is that we have a second batch due later this year and we  are starting to take orders for this second delivery now.

Peated Spirit

Rather embarrassingly we have  found that demand for our octaves to be filled with peated spirit has  been greater than we  xpected and we have no
peated spirit left. However we will be back in production shortly and as we are  starting with peated malt then we will catch-up with the outstanding orders.
The growing demand for our peated spirit and the number of compliments that we  receive about the quality has meant that we have decided to increase the volume  of production of this type of new spirit again in 2011, which was already  larger than 2010.

Visitor Centre

Well the windows, which we have  been waiting on for a long time, have finally arrived. Ronnie Lawrence has been  working hard on installing them and they have really transformed the place,  although there is still a lot of work to be done.

The next stage will be  installing the electrics, then loft insulation, then the  flooring before moving on to the fittings and decoration.

We aiming to have it completed  by the end of this year but with the above workload then Ronnie may a hand at  times

Glenglassaugh in the press

We have recently made more  appearances in the press, firstly  our  recently released 45 year old single cask single malt Scotch whisky winning the  summer Merchants Challenge in Scottish Field magazine. Ronnie Routledge was previously a  judge for this magazine, although he is now barred as he works for a whisky  company, and assures me that the competition is both fiercely competitive and tough with a high number of excellent whiskies.

Shortly after that I was interviewed  as part of a article in SMWS magazine which elicited opinions on what a few people  from the industry would do if there was no legislation on how Scotch whisky is  manufactured. I voiced my opinion that more innovation should be allowed, particularly  around in maturation and discovered that I had been described as “The  Maturation Maverick”, must admit I kind of liked the title.

Finally the result of an  interview with a business journalist in Edinburgh was a 2 page feature spread  which appeared in the Scottish Daily Record business section and also in the  Scottish Business Insider on-line magazine. http://www.business7.co.uk/features/business-profiles/2011/07/29/stuart-nickerson-profile-growth-has-been-double-digit-since-we-relaunced-106408-23305143/

Once again please feel free to comment below or send me an email or comment on “Friends of Glenglassaugh” on Facebook.

Slange

Stuart

Changing Faces

As I announced last time, Graham Eunson will shortly be moving on and therefore the search was underway for a new manager. Although I received a number of applications and interviewed some top candidates in the end I decided that we already had some excellent talent on the site who were ready to take on larger roles and so decided to share the role between Mhairi McDonald, who will become Production Manager and Graeme Morrison who will be Maturation Manager.

Mhairi has a first class honours degree in Brewing and Distilling from Heriot-Watt University and has previous experience working with Diageo and Chase distillery as well as working in a marketing role with us a couple of years ago.

Mhairi checking the quality of the distillate

Graeme has previously been in charge of a large filling and warehousing complex operated  by Chivas, in Keith.

Graeme Morrison

I know that both of them will do exceptionally well and for those of you that visit us then you will get the chance to meet them in due course.

This of course left a vacancy within the team and when we combined this with the need to increase our bottling rate due to increased orders then it resulted in a need to recruit 2 people. We duly advertised in the local paper and to date have received around 150  applications, I am not sure if this is a reflection on the(un)employment situation or the attractiveness of working in a distillery.

New Importers

As mentioned last time we have been working hard on extending the numbers of countries where Glenglassaugh is available and within the last month we have received orders from 3 new countries.  

In Switzerland our importer is “House of Single Malt”, in Singapore “The Whisky Store” and in China “Xiamen Spirit Empire Corporation”.

This brings the number of countries where Glenglassaugh is available to twenty-four and we are continuing to work on increasing it further.

The overseas importer page on the website, www.glenglassaugh.com , has been updated with details of each country where we have an importer appointed and their website.

In addition we are working hard with each importer to increase distribution throughout their own country and for the USA, there is an updated list in “Friends of Glenglassaugh” of which state has Glenglassaugh available.

New Products

Exclusive Bottling

As well as interviewing  for new roles and searching for new importers we have been busy working with some of our existing importers to release new exclusive single cask bottling for their specific market. These follow on the success of exclusive “Andrea Caminneci” bottling for Germany in 2010. I cannot reveal details yet but will shortly be able to let you know of when and where these will be available.

The Chosen Few

As announced last time this will be a new series of single cask releases, each cask chosen by a different member of the distillery team. The first cask selected is Ronnie Routledge’s choice and is from a 36 year old butt.

Following the success of “The Manager’s Legacy” series where we have sold out, then we will again need to release this on an allocation basis for each market.

We hope to be able to confirm release date, and retail price shortly.

First Three Year Old

There is nothing new to report, except to say that the cask is still maturing silently in the warehouse and we are working on the packaging design. As you can tell, we are all multi-tasking!

The Weather

I couldn’t end without mentioning the weather. At one stage is looked as if we were going to have a warm and very sunny summer, however that has turned into a wet and cool summer – good for topping up the water supply for the whisky but not for sun-bathing on Sandend Beach. Oh well there is always next year, when I will be able to also enjoy Glenglassaugh Whisky that the new team have produced!

Finally

A plug for Anne Smith who is a local photographer who we almost use exclusively when we want professional images, the two photographs in this blog were taken by her.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Photography-By-Anne-Smith/169154283136420

Slange.

Cask Owners Looking Out to Sea at Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival

New Aged Over 30 Years

We recently started filling our latest “Aged Over 30 Years” cask bottling, this whisky which is 34 years old was matured for almost 33 years in a refill sherry hogshead before spending the last 15 months of its life in a first fill ex-Sauternes cask. The result is a stunningly complex dram full of fruit notes and spices and with a long lingering after taste. Perhaps our best yet in the “Aged Over 30 Years” range? well that is a personal decision but for me it is right up there with the very best.

New Aged Over 40 Years

This single cask bottling is from 1966 refill sherry cask and is 45 years old, rich in sherry notes and spices with the influence of the long maturation apparent, simply a classic.

The First “New” Glenglassaugh Bottling

We will be announcing more information on this bottling in the coming months but I can reveal that we will be releasing a single cask bottling of the very first “new” whisky from Glenglassaugh since the refurbishment and which will only be available from the distillery or through our internet shop.

The first cask filling took place on the 16th December 2008 and we have already identified one of these casks to become our first release at the end of this year. Our plan is to empty the cask and then fill the bottles at cask strength and have them shipped in time for Christmas.

There will be around 650 bottles available and the price is likely to be £50.00 excluding shipping.

This is a truly one-off opportunity and I am sure that the demand will be high and is likely to outstrip available bottles.

I will provide more information over the coming months, including details of the whisky cask, confirmation of the price and details of how to order.

The Chosen Few

Following the success of The Manager’s Legacy Series we have developed a new series of single cask releases which have been chosen by individual members of the team here. Each release will be unique and could be from one of our existing older aged whiskies while others will be from one of our newer whiskies, once they are at least 3 year old.

The first of the releases is a 1976 cask which spent most of its life in a refill sherry hogshead and has then been further matured for a final 15 months in a first-fill ex sherry hogshead. The cask was chosen by Ronnie Routledge, after a hard painstaking search through many samples which seemed to last a long, long time and which always ended up with Ronnie leaving with a smile on his face each evening.

New Importers

We hope to be able to announce that we have increased the number of countries that we export to, shortly as we are in discussions with a number of companies in different parts of the world. Although it is too early to say exactly which new countries we are discussing exporting to, I can say that we are hopeful of increasing the availability of our brands in Asia.

Recent Festivals and Forthcoming Events.

I recently attended the inaugural Hamburg festival which suffered similar teething problems to other first events with a very low turnout but I am sure given the support from the industry and the enthusiasm of the organisers then it will prove to be successful in what was a first-class venue in an excellent location.

The Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival proved to be a success once again with a large number of people taking advantage of our half-price offer on “The Ultimate Tour” while other took the opportunity to fill their Octave Cask and others filled their very own limited edition “Spirit of Speyside” Spirit Drink which had matured for 2 years in a first-fill ex-Bourbon cask. All-in-all a great weekend which was enjoyed by everyone.

Fill Your Own Bottle at Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival

On the 4^th June Ronnie will be at “Whisky ‘n a that” in Ayr. This is organised by Robbie’s Drams.

On the 2^nd and 3^rd July we will once again be involved with the Scottish Traditional Boat Festival which takes place annually in Portsoy.

Changing Faces

Following on from the last blog when I announced that Mhairi McDonald had rejoined us, this time I have some sadder news. Graham Eunson has decided to leave and will soon join Tomatin as distillery manager.

Graham has become very much associated with Glenglassaugh and has been my right-hand man throughout the last three years. Our relationship has been built on trust and respect for each other’s skills and knowledge and we have operated very much as a team. I will certainly miss Graham and he leaves behind a big pair of shoes to fill but life moves on and Glenglassaugh will continue to grow and to develop.

Although Graham won’t be leaving until July, I want to take this opportunity to record my thanks and to wish him all the very best for the future. He is moving to a big challenge but one that I know he will tackle with relish and will be successful.

As always, all comments are welcome.

Slange

Stuart

The final release in this popular series of single cask bottling is now available. The idea behind the series was to celebrate the contribution of the managers who had created the spirit that we are now bottling, which I believe is something that is often overlooked when new products are developed. It is much easier just to use the present day incumbent even though he will have had no contribution to the original spirit.

During my time with Highland Distilleries in the 1980’s I had had the privilege of knowing and working with three of these managers and so wanted to do something that meant their story lived on and the most fitting way of doing this was to chose one cask from each of their respective periods of being in charge and then bottle the whisky.

The first two releases in the series “Dod Cameron” and “Jim Cryle” are now both sold out, while the third one “Bert Forsyth” was released in January. I did not know Bert previously but  met him during the research for the project and he still lives in Rothes, in the heart of Speyside and continues his interest in Glenglassaugh. I instantly liked him and found his story fascinating and I think that the whisky which is fruity and complex is a fitting tribute to him.

Walter Grant  is the man who as Production Director of Highland, employed me in my first distillery management role when he took a chance on a 28 year old to become the manager of Highland Park in 1984. He is no longer with us but I believe that the 43 year old whisky which was chosen from a 1968 cask with its sherry influence and elegant qualities sums up his character and I am sure that he would have enjoyed it.

Walter Grant Retirement 1986

Jim Cryle (2nd Left Middle Row), Dod Cameron (with glasses, 4th Left Middle Row),Stuart Nickerson (with beard beside Dod), Walter Grant (seated front row with decanter)

101 Whiskies To Try Before You Die

101 Whiskies to Try Before You Die

A great little book that has taken on an almost cult status as many people are working their way through all of the whiskies in the book. We feature 3 times in the book with the 26 Year Old and “The Spirit Drink That Dare Not Speak Its Name” in the main list while Ian also states in the forward that he would have liked to include the Glenglassaugh 40 Year Old (original single cask bottling which won the IWSR Best 40 Year Old Trophy in 2009) but the price of the product was above that which he wanted for products in the list.

I am very pleased that the book has done so well because I also found it very easy to read and very enjoyable and because I like Ian and he deserves the success.

An Opportunity to Purchase Special Octaves.

Following a number of requests, we can now offer ex-Sherry Octaves for filling. These will be priced at £100.00 more than the existing Octaves which means £600.00 for non-peated spirit and £700.00 for peated spirit.

They are being delivered direct from Spain and consequently there is a long delivery time with the casks only arriving around 4 months after we place the order.

If you are interested in one of these Octaves then please let us know by the end of March, at which time we will place a bulk order. We have modified the order form and it is now available for download from the website.

Slange

Stuart

I was due to go to Christchurch last weekend to be part of Dramfest, which was planned to be the final stage of a short trip to Asia and Australasia but due to the earthquake the event was cancelled. I know that Michael and his team at Whisky Galore had been working hard to organise the event and it must be a great disappointment that it had to be cancelled at the last minute. However the good news is that although the event was cancelled and their shop was wrecked all of the staff and their families are well and survived the disaster.

Hopefully Michael can get the business up and running again soon and I know that I speak for everyone in passing on my best wishes for the future.

Whisky Live Japan

This was my first visit to Japan and I was very impressed by the politeness of the local population as well as the knowledge of whisky that all the consumers had. The show was extremely well planned and  managed and the attendance was high which made the events pass very quickly.  Each day started with a parade of kilted Scotsmen, led by the “punk piper”, going from ground level in a shopping plaza area down to the exhibition area and was a great way to generate interest in the event and was a fitting daily start.

As usual there was a lot of interest in Glenglassaugh as many people had not heard of us but those attending proved to be extremely knowledgeable about Scotch Whisky and enthusiastic to learn more about Glenglassaugh. The whiskies again received acclaim from everyone who tried them and the Spirit Drinks also proved to be extremely popular with “Peated” and “Fledging XB” the most requested.

The show ended on Sunday evening with a communal rendition of “Auld Lang Syne” led by the same kilted Scots on the main stage and I am just pleased that my voice was drowned out by those that can actually sing.

"A rose by any other name"

A New Point of View

Had a few flights with Quantas while I was abroad last week and discovered their new innovation of mounting a camera in the tail wing which allows you to view what is happening outside including taxi, take-off, flight and landing. It leads to fascinating viewing, especially watching a night landing at Sydney but I am now sure how I would have felt if something had gone wrong on landing and I was sitting watching it.

Question. What Does John Know ? Answer. A Good Whisky.

Another accolade for Glenglassaugh with our 40 year old being chosen as one of “The Top Ten New Whiskies in 2010” http://www.whatdoesjohnknow.com/

Munich

While I was in Japan, Graham was in Munich for the Whisky Fair and led a whisky tasting, which due to the lights making the power-point presentation difficult to read, was carried out in the dark. Is this yet another innovation from Glenglassaugh?

The Changing Faces at Glenglassaugh

Neil McGarvey who has been part of the team here at Glenglassaugh since 2008, and was living on the site while it was still owned by Highland Distillers, has decided to move on and leaves us on Friday to take up a position with a local engineering company.

He is being replaced by Mhairi Macdonald, who many of you will remember was previously working with us on a temporary basis in the sales and marketing role. Mhairi is now joining us on a permanent basis and her knowledge and experience in all areas of the business will prove extremely useful and I am really pleased that she was available and agreed to rejoin the team.

Coming Soon

We are about to release the 4^th and final bottling from the Manager’s Legacy series, the oldest one yet, and more information will be forthcoming later this week in a subsequent blog.

At the same time I hope to be able to provide information on the opportunity to purchase a special release of Octave casks.

Slange

Stuart

Imagine a winery with world-class wines similar in style and quality to the very best Sherries, Ports and Madeira’s. A winery that is located on the same latitude, 45 degrees North, as the Southern Regions of France, Spain and Portugal, ideal for growing wine.  A winery  that was so highly regarded by generations of Russian rulers that the Tsars had their favourite wines produced here, then when Stalin came to power he repatriated  the wines from all of the Tsars palaces to the cellars of this winery and when the Germans invaded the Crimea the wines from this winery’s cellars were removed for safe keeping until the invaders left at which time they were returned.

Imagine taking some casks from this winery, that have been used to ferment and age these exceptional wines, and then shipping them to Portsoy and using them to mature exceptional single malt scotch whisky. The result, hopefully, will be a truly exceptional range of whiskies and the good news is that we may not have to wait too much longer to find out the answer, well about 9 to 12 months.

We are very pleased that the world famous winery of Massandra in the Crimea and the Glenglassaugh Distillery Company  have reached an exclusive agreement for the use of used Massandra casks for maturation of Glenglassaugh Scotch Whisky.

Today the wines from this winery are as highly regarded in Russia and Eastern Europe as the top quality Sherries, Ports, and Madeira’s are in the West. Having visited the winery twice within the last 14 months I can testify to the quality of the wines and the knowledge and skills of the winemakers.  I am really looking forward to the impact that these casks will give to our whiskies.

The first shipment of these casks arrived in Scotland just before Christmas and are now filled and maturing in our warehouses. Some are filled with new spirit for full maturation and some with older whiskies which will be used for finishing.

I will keep you abreast of this exciting development.

January Round-Up

A busy start to the year with my visit to Edinburgh Castle to meet the Chinese Vice-Premier as his visit was toasted with a dram of Glenglassaugh, while back at the distillery Graham got production under way with his usual efficient and effective way.

The bad weather at the end of 2010 had led to casks which were coming from USA being held-up in Grangemouth and consequently our filling store vat was full over Christmas. We have now caught up with the filling programme and are moving ahead with filling this years’ production.

The mild start to 2009 has also allowed us to carry-on some work outside including removing a couple of chimneys from our old office block, which we are turning into a small visitor centre. The plan is that we will have the facility open in time for the Speyside Whisky Festival when we will be having tours plus  a special day to fill your own Octave cask and the opportunity to fill your own bottle of 2 year old Glenglassaugh.

February and another busy month

I have never been to  Japan, Singapore, Australia or New Zealand but by the end of February I will have visited all of these countries.

I am heading off later this week to visit Whisky Live Japan where Glenglassaugh is imported by Whisk-e  and then from there I go to Singapore to discuss the possibility of having our products imported there. Then it is off to see our importer in Australia, World of Whisky, where I will be carrying-out a private tasting. I then go onto Christchurch, New Zealand where our importer, Whisky Galore ,organises Dramfest  and where I will also have a master-class.  An exciting trip and the opportunity to meet new friends and hopefully introduce more people to the range and quality of whiskies that we produce.

This coming weekend, 18^th February,  also sees Graham over at Munich Whisky festival where he will also be carrying out a master-class.

New Products

Back at the distillery we have also been busy in assessing the quality of the maturing spirit as we chose the next casks for the “Aged over 30 year old” and “Aged over 40 year old” products as we have finished the existing casks. I can tell you that the casks which we have chosen are both excellent with “Aged over 30 year old” particularly exciting as it has been maturing for the last 12 months in an ex-Sauterne cask which has given it an added layer of complexity. This should be available in March.

The next “Aged over 40 years” which is from a re-fill sherry cask will be available from June.

Following the success of the first two release of the Manager’s Legacy series, both of which sold out, we have now released the third in the series, a 42 year old whisky celebrating the contribution of “Bert Forsyth”. The final bottle in the series “Walter Grant” is a 43 year old and will be available from March 2011.

Slange

Stuart