It is a distillery that has never quite garnered the worldwide reputation that its quality certainly deserves. This is a 25 yo grain whisky from the north british distillery, which was matured in a 500liter sherry butt. Glenfarclas scotch malt whisky distillery profile malt madness. Distilled in 2004 and bottled exclusively for the distillery visitor centre at cask strength. Apparently it is best to book a tour prior to visiting. But it was only in 1836 that the distillery obtains a license, thanks to robert hay who officially founds it.
Unusually glenfarclas continues to use direct fired stills, although in 1980 there was a brief experiment with indirect firing in one spirit still using coils from miltionduff distillery. Find out more about the characteristics that has made our independent distillery such as continued success since it was established in 1836. After he acquired it, george grant son of john and john smith cousin of john, became responsible for taking care of the distillery. The whiskey vault episode 37 glenfarclas 12 year old. Glenfarclas is one of the few scotch distilleries that is still family owned. Glenfarclas scotch whisky distillery glenfarclas distillery,ballindalloch, banffshire ab37 9bd tel. Glenfarclas distillery ballindalloch all you need to. The distil lery has six stills which are the largest on speyside and are heated directly by gas burners. Glenfarclas 105 is a superb cask strength whisky, with a history that can be traced to 1968. This bottle was part of a private collection if youd like more detailed photos just get in touch. Indeed, the distillery farm ran from the late 1790s until 1988. If you are a highland whisky enthusiast, you can book an appointment with us and get a much more elaborate tour of the glenfarclas distillery, where you will be exposed to not just the favorite brands of the renowned distillery but also the history and success around the organization. The distillery is reached by an access road directly from the a95 some four miles south west of aberlour and a. When mcolleague whisky rover and myself rocked up to glenfarclas distillery early doors on the thursday, we purchased a bottle of the glenfarclas aged 26 years 1989 distillery exclusive right away.
Glenfarclas 2002 distillery exclusive 1l whisky master. When the original incarnation was released that year, glenfarclas became the first distillery to release a more info. Dear collectors, it is with great pleasure that i introduce a very special whisky collection. Today we talk about glenfarclas 12 year old from the glenfarclas distillery. In addition to the regular tour, a connoisseurs tour is offered in fridays during summer months. Matured for years, this is bottle number 168 of 599. Glenfarclas distillery in speyside, scotland the tour.
On june 8th, 1865 john grant became tenant of the farm and bought the distillery for the price of. The history of glenfarclas started when the farmer robert hay built a distillery on the rechlerich farm in 1836. Glenfarclas distillery is a speyside whisky distillery in ballindalloch, scotland. Glenfarclas family cask trunk and the 1971 vintage whisky. As far as the tasting, the room is beautiful and whisky is good. Scotlands glenfarclas distillery is known for having some of the oldest existing scotch single malt whisky aging away in its warehouses. The glenfarclas distillery has a great whisky tour and tasting. Glenfarclas which means glen of the green grassland started life as a typical farm distillery. The distillery was first licensed in 1836 by tenant. Scottish whisky distillers are weighing a bottle tax for companies outside the country. Glenfar clas translates as meaning valley of the green g ra ss. It offers an interesting perspective from a midsize distillery and its vulnerability to the whisky business blends that led the grant to reduce their dependency on the blended market. Glenfarclas history glenfarclas means valley of the green grass, an indication of the richness of the pasture land which surrounds the distillery. Glenfarclas distillery sits in the middle of open farmland at the end of a short road that connects the distillery to the a95.
But that is exactly what glenfarclas distillery has achieved under the management and care of the grant family. Since 1865 glenfarclas has been owned and managed by just one family, the grants of glenfarclas. The tour guides are so knowledgeable of the history and make everything. It is rare for any business concern established in the reign of william iv to remain in family ownership in the year 2011. Successively, robert passes away, and the distillery is bought by john grant and his son george. The distil lery is owned and run by the grant fa mily. Glenfarclas is located on the rechlerich farm in ballindaloch, speyside. Together with keeper of the quaich stephen notman, we explored our finest reserves and selected glenfarclas quintessential and very finest super premium aged casks. One of the books features the history of the distillery, the second contains tasting notes by george grant on each of the vintage bottlings, and the third is for the buyers personal notes. Glenfarclas distillery the distilleries of scotland. Nothing better than to do a tour and a wee tasting afterwards, like some chaps of whisky club utrecht did.
But honestly, the glenfarclas tour was very personal and educational. The tour guides are so knowledgeable of the history and make everything very enjoyable. Glenfarclas distillery ballindalloch 2020 all you need. Visit our website today and find out little more about our brand and heritage. A total of 60 of the glenfarclas family cask trunks are available globally. Glenfarclas translates as meaning valley of the green grass. Glenfarclas whisky buy glenfarclas whiskies online.
Glenfarclas family cask trunk and the 1971 vintage whisky quill. Multiaward winning glenfarclas single highland malt scotch whisky has been distilled on speyside for six generations by one family the grants. The glenfarclas distillery is one of the last family distilleries in speyside. The glenfarclas family cask trunk an extraordinary. It has to be said that glenfarclas is not the prettiest of distilleries and it. If you have a full day and enjoy a dram or two then let us take you on a tour of strathspey to glenfarclas distillery. Glenfarclas distillery is one of scotlands few independent, familyowned distilleries, and that means they can do things a little bit differently as. Again, we visited in january and had the entire tour to ourselves. The glenfarclas distillery opened its visitor centre in 1973, one of the first distilleries to do so. The remarkable story of this worldfamous malt whisky distillery is revealed in ian buxtons latest.
Glenfarclas distillery lies in the glenlivetspeyside region of scotland at the foot of benrinnes. Then in 1968 the distillers company now diageo wrote to george s. Book your tickets online for glenfarclas distillery, ballindalloch. Glenfarclas was one of the first distilleries in scotland to open a dedicated visitor centre in 1973 and still provides a very warm welcome. The partnership was shortlived as george grant realised he was best off going at it alone, and thus glenfarclas began to thrive as the independent distillery it still is today. We learned all about the history of the distillery and the whole whiskymaking process from the engaging guide lauren, and took many photos of the beautiful equipment and buildings. Our first stop takes us to strathspey steam railway and then onto the town of grantown of spey. Matured in a sherry hogshead from glenfarclas distillery. He was 60 years old and married to barbara with whom he had six children. It also comes with four tumblers, four nosing glasses, and a water jug all glencairn crystal with four slate coasters and three leatherbound books. Grant the present proprietors father informing him that they did not plan to buy glenfarclas for blending the following year. From this inventory they are able to release some rather ancient bottlings now and again, most often targeting high end whisky collectors with these releases though it used to be you could get a 40 year old glenfarclas for a relative bargain. Glenfarclas distillery tour adventures in whisky land.
Glenfarclas distillery stands at a height of nearly 800ft on the north western slopes of ben rinnes, a well known landmark whose 840m or 2,775ft summit lies three miles to the south east. This watercolour of glenfarclas as painted in 1791 suggests a history predating known records. It continues to be independently owned and run today by the grant family as johns greatgreat grandson john l. The story of the glenfarclas grants, started in 1805, when john grant, the present chairmans greatgreat grandfather, was born on the farm of lynbeg, at glenlivet, in the heart of speyside. The distillery was first licensed in 1836 by tenant farmer robert hay, although evidence suggests that distilling took place on the farm some years earlier. An episode of the whiskey vault hosted at whisky marketing school in austin, tx. Take a tour of the distillery with one of the knowledgeable guides and discover not only the magic of malt whisky production, but the unique history of glenfarclas.
If you are seriously interested in one of these glenfarclas family cask trunks, you can contact the distillery directly or ask the team of to. Glenfarclas targets high end scotch lovers with 62 year. Glenfarclas aged 26 years 1989 distillery exclusive. Like most whisky tours, it begins with the history of glenfarclas, leads you through the distillery and warehouse and then ends with a tasting. A resolute adherence to maturation in exsherry casks helps to produce a whisky which is rich, resonant and capable of extremely long ageing, itself aided by a somewhat cool microclimate which limits evaporation losses to 0. The distillery also boasts the largest stills of any of the speyside distilleries. The remarkable story of this worldfamous malt whisky distillery is revealed in. The boom times continued through the 1960s and capacity at the distillery was much increased.
The whiskies will be selected and introduced by one of the glenfarclas brand ambassadors. Glenfarclas distillery is one of scotlands few independent, familyowned distilleries, and that means they can do things a little bit differently as we learned on a recent tour. Glenfarclas distillery speyside single malt scotch whisky. Glenfarclas distillery started operations even before 1791 in ballindalloch, scotland. Also included in the trunk are four slate coasters, three handprinted and bound leather books with information on the history of the distillery, george grants tasting notes for each vintage, and a book for the buyers own tasting notes. Nowadays the familys glenfarclas malt is produced in a modern, highly. Glenfarclas distillery history wandering spirits global. The history the history of glenfarclas started when the farmer robert hay built a distillery on the rechlerich farm in 1836.
This one litre bottling of glenfarclas distillery exclusive was distilled in 2002 and bottled in 2016 exclusively for the distillery visitor centre at cask strength, 55. Its scotch, but the owners live elsewhere the new york times. The glenfarclas distillery was legally established in 1836, on the recherlich farm at ballindalloch, in t. Are you ready to open the big red doors to our distillery.