The Glenrothes distillery is a

Speyside single malt Speyside single malts are single malt Scotch whiskies, distilled in Strathspey, the area around the River Spey in Moray and Badenoch and Strathspey, in northeastern Scotland. The two best-selling single malt whiskies in the world, The Glenlive ...

Scotch whisky distillery. The Glenrothes distillery is located in the town of

Rothes Rothes (; gd, Ràthais) is a town in Moray, Scotland, on the banks of the River Spey, south of Elgin. The town had a population of 1,252 at the 2011 Census. A settlement has been here since AD 600. History and castle At the south end of the ...

in the heart of the

Speyside Speyside can refer to: * Speyside, Ontario, a settlement in Ontario * Strathspey, Scotland, the famous whisky producing region by the River Spey ** Speyside single malts, the type of whisky produced in Strathspey * Speyside, Trinidad and Tobago ...

region of

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. The distillery sits beside the Burn of Rothes, hidden in a glen on the edge of the town. The Glenrothes is renowned for the quality, structure and flavour, the result of over 140 years of whisky making tradition. Since its opening, the whisky from the distillery has been one of the most sought after on Speyside. In 2018, The Glenrothes 25 Year Old was awarded the Ultimate Spirits Challenge top honour, the Chairman's Trophy for Best Speyside Single Malt.

Production

Under the ownership of Berry Bros. & Rudd,

vintage Vintage, in winemaking, is the process of picking grapes and creating the finished product—wine (see Harvest (wine)). A vintage wine is one made from grapes that were all, or primarily, grown and harvested in a single specified year. In certa ...

bottlings of The Glenrothes were produced from 1993 onwards. The Vintage 2004 is considered the last known vintage to be bottled by the distillery. In 2018, The Glenrothes replaced its vintage range with a series of age statement single malts that included a 10, 12, 18 and 25 Year Old. The Glenrothes is mainly matured in

Sherry Sherry ( es, jerez ) is a fortified wine made from white grapes that are grown near the city of Jerez de la Frontera in Andalusia, Spain. Sherry is produced in a variety of styles made primarily from the Palomino grape, ranging from light versi ...

-seasoned European and American oak casks, built to specification in

Jerez Jerez de la Frontera (), or simply Jerez (), is a Spanish city and municipality in the province of Cádiz in the autonomous community of Andalusia, in southwestern Spain, located midway between the Atlantic Ocean and the Cádiz Mountains. , the ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. Ex-Bourbon cask are also used but to a much lesser extent. The result is a multidimensional single malt range with a spectrum of flavours ranging from the delicate and fresh 10 Year Old to the rich and sophisticated 25 Year Old. Special bottlings include "

Single Cask Single barrel whiskey (or single cask whiskey) is a premium class of whiskey in which each bottle comes from an individual aging barrel, instead of coming from blending together the contents of various barrels to provide uniformity of color and ta ...

" bottles, which are taken from one single

cask A barrel or cask is a hollow cylindrical container with a bulging center, longer than it is wide. They are traditionally made of wooden staves and bound by wooden or metal hoops. The word vat is often used for large containers for liquids, u ...

of whisky from a particular year. The Glenrothes is one of the rare Scotch whisky distilleries to have a cooperage on site.

Character

The house style of the Glenrothes is rich, fully rounded and elegant. The whisky delivers a ripe bouquet of fruits and creamy vanilla, sometimes more spicy, sometimes more floral.

History

The distillery was built in 1878 by James Stuart & Co, who then also worked the nearby

Macallan The Macallan distillery is a single malt Scotch whisky distillery in Craigellachie, Moray, Scotland. The Macallan Distillers Ltd is a wholly owned subsidiary of Edrington, which purchased the brand from Highland Distillers in 1999.English, Shi ...

distillery. The first whisky ran off the

still A still is an apparatus used to distill liquid mixtures by heating to selectively boil and then cooling to condense the vapor. A still uses the same concepts as a basic distillation apparatus, but on a much larger scale. Stills have been used ...

s on the 28 December 1879, the same day as the

Tay Bridge The Tay Bridge ( gd, Drochaid-rèile na Tatha) carries the railway across the Firth of Tay in Scotland between Dundee and the suburb of Wormit in Fife. Its span is . It is the second bridge to occupy the site. Plans for a bridge over the Tay to ...

disaster. The distillery itself had a shaky start and turbulent history. Over-

proof Proof most often refers to: * Proof (truth), argument or sufficient evidence for the truth of a proposition * Alcohol proof, a measure of an alcoholic drink's strength Proof may also refer to: Mathematics and formal logic * Formal proof, a con ...

whisky is notoriously highly flammable and the distillery has paid the price. Extension work began in 1896 on a second malt kiln, and an increase in stills from two to four but, before the work was finished, a fire in December 1897 caused serious damage. The distillery saw further damage with a serious explosion in 1903. Then, in 1922, a fire in Warehouse Number One caused the loss of of whisky. Another fire in 1962 afforded the opportunity for expansion and a further re-build in 1982 extended the still hall to five wash stills and five spirit stills.

References

External links

The Glenrothes website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Glenrothes, The Distilleries in Scotland Scottish malt whisky Food and drink companies established in 1878 1878 establishments in Scotland British companies established in 1878 Rothes

Production

Character

History

See also

References

External links