G&M Discovery GlenAllachie 14 Year

Tasting Notes

Producer Tasting Note

Aroma: Perfumed green apples with dried banana and lime zest. Soft milk chocolate gives way to salted almonds and vanilla pod.

Taste: Smooth and creamy custard combines with lemon posset and malted biscuit. Blossom honey undertones develop alongside subtle white pepper.

Finish: Medium bodied with spice.

Distillery

Adapted from an article written for the August 2018 Issue of Celtic Life Magazine by Andrew Ferguson:

Like many an Anorach - an extreme subspecies of whisky nerd - I was gutted when I heard the news that Billy Walker and his team had sold the BenRiach Distillery Co. to Brown Forman two years ago. For the previous 12 years, BenRiach, and its sister distillery Glendronach, were two of the most dynamic and innovative of Scotland’s distilleries.

They catered their brands not just to the general public but also to whisky aficionados and collectors, with interesting limited releases and lots of single casks. What I didn’t know at the time was that Walker didn’t want to sell. His partners, however, wanted out, and the Brown Forman offer was just too good to turn down.

I recently bumped into Walker during my first ever visit to the GlenAllachie Distillery. In the 12 years that I had worked closely with his other brands, our paths had come close to crossing, but we had never actually met. Walker and a new consortium were still digesting their purchase of the GlenAllachie Distillery in late 2017. After selling The BenRiach Distillery Co. the year prior, Walker told me that he was eager to find a new project. He approached Pernod Ricard, from whom he had bought BenRiach (2004) and Glendronach (2008), with a proposition to help them bring their Scapa single malt from the Orkneys more to the fore. The offer was politely rebuffed, but they came up with a tantalizing counter; would he be interested in buying GlenAllachie Distillery? The answer to that question should now be self-evident.

GlenAllachie Distillery was built in 1967 at the height of a major whisky boom, opening a year later just outside the Speyside village of Aberlour. The distillery was commissioned by Mackinlay McPherson, the company which had provisioned Sir Ernest Shackleton’s expedition with whisky in 1907. Blended scotch whisky skyrocketed in demand through the 1960s and early 1970s, prompting producers to increase capacity and lay down ever-increasing stocks of malt whisky. The industry, however, way over-shot the mark.

Distilleries that had either just gone through major upgrades, or which - like GlenAllachie - had only opened a couple of decades earlier, were permanently closed, mothballed or sold. GlenAllachie shut its doors in 1985 but would reopen just 4 years later under new ownership. The distillery was relatively new and modern by Scottish standards, and an attractive acquisition for a company looking for a workhorse to serve their blends.

Under the ownership of Pernod Ricard, the whisky became an important component of the Chivas Regal blends. Only a handful of official single malt bottlings were ever released, primarily under the Chivas Cask Strength label. These whiskies were not readily available, however, and independent bottlings have been surprisingly rare.

As part of the acquisition, GlenAllachie’s new owners assumed nearly 50,000 casks of maturing spirit. True to fashion, Walker was quick to sort out which casks were maturing nicely, and which needed to be re-racked into better quality wood. As with Glendronach and BenRiach, different cask types were acquired for finishing and maturation. He has also tinkered with GlenAllachie’s new make of spirit, telling me “the spirit is good, but I can make it even better!” GlenAllachie has always been known as a big, though soft and fruity malt. Under the new stewardship, GlenAllachie has slowed its fermentation and distillation to encourage an even fruitier, though more muscular spirit. The facility is also now laying down casks of peated spirit - about 20 per cent of total current production.

The distillery is not yet set up to receive visitors, though they have made some exceptions for friends in the trade. A visitor center is planned, but its construction is still some time off as well. Consumers won’t need to wait too long to start seeing expressions of the whisky however; a core range of 10, 12, 18 and 25-year-old whiskies is being rolled out 
in Canada this fall. I had a chance to sample both the 12 and 25-year-olds with Walker at the distillery, and they did not disappoint!

Independent Bottler

Adapted from an article written for Celtic Life Magazine by Andrew Ferguson:

In 1895 James Gordon and John Alexander MacPhail opened a grocery business in the City of Elgin, the heart of Scotland’s Speyside whisky region. The business sold groceries, tea, coffee and wines from all over the world. 125 years later, Gordon & MacPhail still operates the grocery business in Elgin, but its real enterprise is as an Independent Bottler and Distiller of Scotch Whisky.

In the early years of the business Gordon and MacPhail brought in a young John Urquhart as apprentice. Urquhart had a knack for selecting and blending whiskies from local distilleries. He also began brokering casks and independently bottling single malt from famous distilleries like Glenlivet, Mortlach and Glen Grant. The practice of filling casks of new make whisky, rather than simply purchasing mature casks began at this time. This is something which sets Gordon MacPhail apart from almost all other independent bottlers to this day, and it gave them a leg up through leaner years. In 1915 John Urquhart was made senior partner, and though the firm would keep its name, from this point on it would remain privately owned by the Urquhart family.

In 1933 George Urquhart, aka “Mr. George”, joined his father in the business. He was heavily involved in the firm’s whisky business, travelling widely to showcase Gordon & MacPhail whiskies. G&M’s business thrived during and after World War II. Having had the foresight to lay down large numbers of casks in the 1930s and early 1940s, they were in a strong position to meet demand, especially in America. This was a difficult time for most of the industry with barley rationing dramatically reducing distilling.

In 1968, under George Urquhart’s leadership, Gordon & MacPhail launched the Connoisseurs Choice range. At a time when few distilleries were bottling their own whisky as single malt (rather producing it for use in Blended Scotch whiskies), Gordon & MacPhail began marketing single malts from distilleries across Scotland. The range is still being bottled today.

The third generation began entering the business with George’s son Ian Urquhart in 1967. He was joined by David Urquhart in 1972, as well as Michael Urquhart and Rosemary Rankin in 1981. The family firm continued to thrive even during the industry downturn of the 1980s and ear 90’s, emerging as the undisputed preeminent independent bottler of Scotch whisky. In the 2010s the torch was passed to the 4th generation, with at least five of John Urquhart’s descendants now involved in the business.

It had always been John Urquhart’s vision for the family to own a distillery of its own. The dream was finally realized in 1993 with the acquisition of the closed Benromach Distillery in the nearby town of Forres. The distillery was in rough shape, and it took nearly 5 years to get it up and running. HRH Prince Charles was on hand in 1998 for its official reopening. Never content to rest on their laurels, the firm announced plans in 2019 to open a brand-new distillery in the Cairngorms National Park. The Cairn Distillery is scheduled to open in 2022.

One of the most remarkable things about Gordon & MacPhail is the vision it had to mature whiskies to great ages. Few other whisky firms, whether distilleries or independent bottlers, have ever had the foresight to mature casks for more than 30 or 40 years. In 2010 G&M bottled the Generations Mortlach 70 Years Old, which was the oldest whisky ever bottled at the time. They followed up on that milestone by bottling 70-year-old Glenlivet in both 2011 and 2012. And then in 2015 they once again they raised the bar by bottling the Generations Mortlach 75 Year. Of the 10 oldest whiskies ever bottled, all but 2 have been bottled by G&M.

It is almost certain that Gordon MacPhail will one day bottle the first ever one-hundred-year-old whisky, but that may still be a couple of decades away. Their oldest maturing stocks are from the late 1930s and early 1940s. A number of these casks, 15 First Fill Sherry Butts to be precise, were filled for Gordon & MacPhail at the Glenlivet Distillery on February 3rd, 1940. Most of these casks have been bottled over the decades, but G&M dipped into another of these casks this year to bottle another whisky. The Generations Glenlivet 80 Year, once more the oldest bottle of Scotch Whisky ever bottled. It isn’t inexpensive, but I can vouch for it in one regard… it doesn’t disappoint!

Gordon & MacPhail whiskies can be found all over the world with whiskies ranging from under $100 to $100,000.00 or more. Their grocery shop in Elgin is the brand's spiritual home, with a section dedicated to Scotch Whisky that showcases more than 1000 bottles. Prior to Covid-19 the shop offered both tastings and in-store sampling. As does their nearby Benromach Distillery in Forres, one of the smallest and most traditional distilleries in the Speyside.