Can you predict the future?

Can you predict the future?

Producing and selling whisky with age requires patience. It often takes a very long time from the time the raw drops run off the stills and are stored until the whisky is bottled and sold.

If you want to sell a good 21-year-old single malt, it's not now, but 21 years ago that you should have thought about how much whisky you actually need. It's an almost impossible estimate to make. 

The calculation is further complicated if the distillery has been shut down for periods of time.

And this is exactly the case for GlenDronach, where production has been suspended for several periods, including the period from 1996 to May 2002. Furthermore, there was a longer production stop in 2005, when the boiler house was rebuilt to switch from direct heating of the boilers to steam heating.

The whisky from GlenDronach has become extremely popular, and the demand for the oldest bottlings is far greater than the production. In recent years, the "production gap" from 1996 to 2002 has been a real tease. For example, for a long time it has been impossible to bottle 18 years, if you take it literally. And right now it is completely impossible to bottle 21 year old GlenDronach, as there was no whisky production at all 21 years ago. Similarly, years ago it was a problem to bottle 15 year old and 12 year old GlenDronach. However, the owner has chosen to do it anyway, albeit in smaller quantities. The way to solve the problem is to use whisky that is significantly older than what is stated on the label. Right now, the whisky in GlenDronach 21 Years Old Parliament is necessarily a minimum of 25-year-old whisky, as you have to use whisky from production before 1996.




GlenDronach has a long and exciting history

The Highland Distillery is one of Scotland's oldest, and it can draw an exciting historical line to the very first licenses issued for legal distilling in the Highlands. The founder of was James Allardice, who was a protégé of the lord who was directly responsible for the legislation in 1823. was built a few years later in 1825, but whisky has certainly been produced on site long before official registration, as the first building on the distillery site dates back to 1771. This is the ' Glen House', which still stands tall on the site today, majestically overseeing the activities of the entire distillery. The building, which has been home to several of the distillery's managers over the years, was originally called Boynsmill, but it was renamed " Glen House" by James Allardice. Since its establishment in 1826, the distillery has been burned down, changed hands numerous times and its capacity has been expanded. In the 1860s, was the highest tax-paying distillery in the Highlands, with more than 50 families living in and around the distillery, all of whom were employed at the distillery. At this time was almost a small village in the Highlands. was among the last distilleries to stop floor malting (in 1996) and was the very last Scottish distillery to abolish direct coal-fired boiler heating as recently as 2005. was one of the very first distilleries to market the cask types used to age the whisky's label, and was among the first to open its doors to the public by establishing a visitor center on the distillery grounds in 1973. GlenDronach GlenDronach GlenDronachTheThe

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GlenDronach

GlenDronach

GlenDronach was a sleeping giant.

In terms of quality, the distillery has been a sleeping giant. Most whisky fans agree that a more concerted effort from previous owners would have made one of the best-known distilleries in Scotland. Today, is best known among real whisky enthusiasts around the world, and for many, the great single malt whisky has almost achieved cult status. As in many other similar situations, several of the previous owners never had much of a vision for the distillery. The malt from here was simply used as a semi-finished product for the owners' blended brands. In very small quantities, however, malt whisky has been bottled, which has always been highly regarded by whisky drinkers, but it was too small a business for the owners at the time, and therefore it was never really a priority. GlenDronach GlenDronach



New life

That all changed in 2008 when Billy Walker and thus " Distillery Company" bought the distillery from Pernod Ricard. Billy Walker took over not only a fantastically well-trimmed - and in the best sense - an old-fashioned, traditional and beautiful production facility, but also a stock of old malt whisky that was truly unique. In the warehouses at there was a myriad of interesting casks. Especially sherry butts and sherry puncheons. It didn't take long for Billy Walker to transform into an internationally recognized brand among malt whisky enthusiasts. It all culminated with the " Distillery Company" receiving the honorable distinction of "Global Whisky Distiller of Year" at the 2015 Icons of Whisky Awards. This was an amazing achievement for a small, privately owned Scotch business. As co-owners of the " Distillery Company", Billy Walker had a couple of South African partners who wanted to retire from the Scotch whisky industry in 2015, so the search for new owners for the small distillery group began. It turned out to be a quick process, and in the same year the American spirits group Brown-Forman Corporation took over the group. It consists of the three distilleries;The BenRiach GlenDronach GlenDronachThe BenRiach the

The BenRiach GlenDronach, BenRiach and Glenglassaugh, with the sharp Master Blender Rachel Barrie at the helm.