Spirit Drinks range from Glenglassaugh

The Glenglassaugh Distillery Company has released a unique range of “Spirit Drink” products – an opportunity for malt whisky fans to sample the evolution of the spirit that will eventually become whisky.
 
The range – packaged in 200ml bottles and all at 50% abv – initially comprises four products under the Spirit Drink brand umbrella:
 

• ‘Clearac’ – brand new ‘new make’ spirit straight off the still
• ‘Blushes’ – the Glenglassaugh spirit aged for – 6 months in ex-wine casks, and
• ‘Fledgling XB’ – new spirit aged for – 12 months in Bourbon casks
• ‘Peated’ – brand new ‘new make’ spirit produced using peated malted barley

The distillery’s MD, Stuart Nickerson, says: “.The Spirit Drink range follows the successful one-off bottling of The Spirit Drink that Dare Not Speak Its Name, the world’s first release of a single mash
 
“Malt drinkers told us that they wanted to try as many variants of our evolving spirit as possible; that they wanted affordable sampling packs and that different cask types were of great interest.  The Spirit Drink range is the result.
 
“We have other variants in the pipeline including spirit aged in quality sherry wood and spirit aged for longer time periods.  The variation is interesting and the overall quality incredibly exciting.  The prospects for Glenglassaugh when fully matured are exceptional.”
 
The Spirit Drink range will be available from August 26 at good independent retailers; from the distillery shop and via Glenglassaugh’s international distributors. UK RRP is £13 per 200ml bottle.
 
Plans are currently being made for a triple pack containing Clearac, Blushes and Fledgling XB to be available, within the next few weeks.

About Glenglassaugh
 The Glenglassaugh Distillery is situated on the Banffshire coast in the North-East of Scotland, close to the small village of Portsoy. The distillery was built in 1875 by local businessmen to satisfy the growing global demand for Scotch Malt Whisky and the site was chosen due to its close proximity to a high quality water supply and easy access to the nearby barley fields.
 
After a visit in the late 1880s, the highly-regarded Victorian commentator Alfred Barnard described Glenglassaugh as “too well known to need any praise.”
 
More recently, spirit from Glenglassaugh was used primarily in blends such as Cutty Sark and The Famous Grouse. In 1986 the then owners mothballed Glenglassaugh as part of wider cutbacks in production and the distillery has remained silent thereafter. In 2008 The Scaent Group of Amsterdam purchased the distillery and have invested more than £1m to recommence operations and to reintroduce to discerning customers the distinctive and high quality attributes of The Glenglassaugh Single Malt Scotch Whisky.  For more information, please visit www.glenglassaugh.com <http://www.glenglassaugh.com>

Redevelopment
The refurbishment and reopening of the Glenglassaugh Distillery have been managed by Stuart Nickerson, a renowned whisky expert, who was the sole consultant during the acquisition. Nickerson has worked in the Scotch Whisky industry since 1981 with a significant part of his career being with William Grants, where he was Distilleries Director.  Previously, he managed Highland Park Distillery, Glenrothes and Glenfiddich Distilleries in succession. He was appointed the new Managing Director of the Glenglassaugh Distillery Company in February 2008.
 
One of Stuart Nickerson’s first actions was the appointment of Graham Eunson as Distillery Manager, effective from 1st April 2008. Graham joined the Distillery from Glenmorangie where he was Manager of the world famous distillery for the last 12 years. Graham has also worked at Glendronach and Scapa distilleries.
 
Production at Glenglassaugh was restarted on November 24, 2008 by Rt Hon Alex Salmond, Scotland’s First Minister and the distillery’s MP. Distilling was thus commenced under the guidance of Stuart Nickerson and Graham Eunson, the new management team, who have now released a number of innovative new products.

1 August 2010 - Felicity Murray