Latest News
10.03.10
Whisky Live London - Competition Winner
At Whisky Live London earlier this month, the GlenDronach team ran a competition whereby a bottle of the GlenDronach 18yo was up for grabs.
Congratulations to the winner Floyd Jebson, who's name was selected at random from the list of entrants.
"I was really surprised and pleased to win.Glendronach 18 year old Allardice is one of my favourite drams, and I consider it to be the best sherry cask finish whisky I have ever tasted".
"A fantastic re-launch of a much-loved whisky which deserves every success."
05.01.10
Latest Competition Winner - GlenDronach 33yo
We're offering all of our newsletter subscribers the chance to win a bottle of the superb GlenDronach 33yo!
By simply entering your email address into the 'sign up' section on our website, you will be entered into our quarterly prize draw.
Congratulations to Bill Sinclair who is our latest winner! Bill's email address was selected at random in December and he is now enjoying a bottle of one of GlenDronach Distillery's finest expressions!
Our next prize draw will take place in June 2009. For your chance to win why not subscribe to our newsletter? (it'll only take a minute).
08.12.09
Dram Fine Result as 'Adorable' GlenDronach Scoops Two New Awards
The team at GlenDronach are toasting two new awards achieved by our stellar 15 year old “Revival” single malt.
Last week, at the Dutch Whisky Awards 2009, it was voted Best Single Malt Whisky of the year in the Netherlands.
And this week, it also won a top accolade in the prestigious “Malt Maniacs” 2009 Awards.
Our Dutch agent Caecil Gerrits of importers Versailles Dranken Nijmegen explained: “On the awards’ website, visitors of the festival were ask to vote for “The Best Single Malt Whisky” out of a selection of three hundred different whiskies divided into three categories. We received over four thousand votes.
“Some 62% of the votes in the non-peated category went to the GlenDronach 15 yrs old.
“After that, in a blind tasting, the six-person tasting panel chose the four best whiskies in the three categories. Even in this blind taste the GlenDronach 15 yrs was the best.”
The second success for “Revival” was in winning the Malt Maniacs’ “Non Plus Ultra Award 2009” in the Daily Drams category.
The Malt Maniacs, founded 1997 by Johannes van den Heuvel and Serge Valentin, are the most well known of all web-based whisky communities. Their twenty-four members are scattered all around the globe – in Europe, America, Asia, Australia and Africa – and amongst them are whisky writers Martine Nouet, Dave Broom and Charles MacLean.
The Malt Maniacs’ Awards, sometimes called 'The Formula One Grand Prix of Whisky', have taken place every year since 2003. More than two hundred whiskies are usually preselected and submitted by more than sixty different distillers, bottlers or brands and tasted blind by independent international jurors.
Johannes said: “It was not a huge surprise that the Glendronach 15yo did so well - Serge and I both adored it when we got the chance to sample it earlier and many of the jurors share our love for heavily-sherried whiskies. So many congratulations.”
Earlier, on his Whiskyfun website, Serge Valentin gave"Revival" 92 pointsand commented: "The fact that some distilleries still have such old-style sherried whiskies may well be the best of recent news from the whisky world. An adorable whisky."
The GlenDronach “Revival” is a remarkable full-bodied malt which is matured for a minimum of 15 years in the finest Oloroso sherry casks. Bottled at 46%, the GlenDronach Revival is non chill filtered and of natural colour.
17.11.09
GlenDronach Distillery has all your Christmas Gifts
This Christmas, the solution to your Christmas gift dilemma is dram simple...and on your doorstep!
The GlenDronach Distillery Gift Shop is open 7 days between now and Christmas.
So pop in and let our friendly team help you re-discover the full range of our superlative, warming,richly-sherried malts – the perfect Christmas gift for Mums, Dads, Aunts, Uncles, Brothers, Sisters...Everyone!
And our new pack of three GlenDronach miniatures makes a superb stocking-filler.
But not only that. We’ve got Tshirts, scarves, hats, umbrellas, drinking glasses and much more....and there’s 10% off all giftware between now and Christmas.
In addition, the Distillery Tour is available every day and everyone gets a wee warming dram at the end.
Gift Shop opening hours:
Monday - Saturday: 10am - 4.30pm
Sunday: 12noon - 4.30pm
11.09.09
£7M Investment as GlenDronach Goes for Global Growth
GlenDronach malt whisky is set to benefit from a major £7m investment this autumn.
It’s part of our to restore the malt to its former glory and accelerate its growth in new markets worldwide.
Forty years ago, GlenDronach was amongst the top five most popular malts in the world. Now a £5m investment in sherry casks over the next four years and a further £2m on brand promotion and extra staff will boost the sleeping giant.
In recent years, GlenDronach has fallen out of view but it has maintained a kind of cult status. This new investment returns it to centre-stage.
We are making sure the whisky coming through is of the highest quality and the new sherry casks will be at the heart of maturation, imbuing the whisky with its distinctively sweet, fragrant and fruity taste.
When we bought GlenDronach last year, there were less than 20,000 bottles sold worldwide. This year, having added a number of new expressions like the 15 and 18 year-old, GlenDronach will sell around 150,000 bottles. By 2014, the aim is to sell some 250,000 bottles.
The company currently employs thirty people and is now looking for a further five.
We’re pursuing our dream – to sell fine malt whisky all over the world and put GlenDronach back where it belongs.
14.09.09
Sante! Rare GlenDronach & BenRiach Malts Set to Be a Highlight of Whisky Live Paris
A number of fine and rare BenRiach and GlenDronach malts are set to be one of the highlights of Whisky Live Paris this month.
French whisky lovers are looking forward to sampling some of the vintage expressions which have been maturing in GlenDronach’s Aberdeenshire distillery over the last forty years.
Whisky Live provides the ultimate whisky experience and continues to be one of the leading consumer and trade-based whisky shows globally.
France has long been regarded as the leading Scotch Whisky market worldwide and it is essential that we have our brands on display on this key date in the annual calendar of events.
Although the majority of whisky sold in France is blended whisky, single malt Scotch Whisky is fast becoming a fashionable beverage within the young to middle-aged consumer groups. We hope that both BenRiach and GlenDronach will be well received by all those who visit the stand over the exhibition weekend.
This year’s exhibition has significant interest to us and we will be showcasing the newly-released GlenDronach 15-year-old and 18-year-old expressions together with some fine and rare vintage editions which will appeal to all malt whisky enthusiasts and collectors alike.
Amongst many of the products being presented are:
BenRiach 12yo ‘Sherry Wood’ matured
BenRiach 16yo
Birnie Moss ‘non aged’
GlenDronach 15yo
GlenDronach 18yo
In addition, James we will be sampling some astonishing vintage expressions from 1971, 1972 and 1996.
WhiskyLive Paris takes place at Pavillon Gabriel, 5 avenue Gabriel, 75008 Paris, from Saturday 26 - Monday 28 September 2009.
Latest Competition Winner
We're offering all of our newsletter subscribers the chance to win a bottle of the superb GlenDronach 33yo!
By simply entering your email address into the 'sign up' section on our website, you will be entered into our quarterly prize draw.
Congratulations to Tim Puett who is our latest winner! Tim's email was selected at random at the end of June and his bottle of 33yo is now on its way!
28.08.09
Malts on the March: BenRiach & GlenDronach Expand into China, Vietnam and USA
As part of our planned growth strategy, we're expanding into emerging markets such as China and Vietnam. We are also beefing up our presence in the USA.
In the past, these countries were perceived as being off the radar as target malt whisky markets. However, in recent years the booming economies and the rise in the number of wealthy individuals have helped to make malt whisky a more attainable product.
Additionally, these markets are already hugely popular holiday destinations due to improved air links and the spin-off from the Beijing Olympics.
Due to the sheer size of China – over three and a half million square miles and over 1.3 billion of a population - we intend on focus on a small number of regions rather than try to target the country as a whole. This can act as a springboard to build the brand further in due course.
Meanwhile, Vietnam has also entered a significant period of growth within the tourism sector, and this lends itself well to the introduction of premium malt whisky throughout the relevant outlets that this industry attracts.
Our plan is to conduct a series of organised tastings and corporate events in the months to come which will aid the brands’ introduction. For any new market and particularly emerging markets, it is essential that we are closely in touch with activities on the ground, as has already been successfully proven in some of our other new territories around the world.
Looking at the USA, BenRiach has been available in the US for four years now and we are gradually establishing a name for it through tutored tastings and whisky festivals across the country.
Our US Importer Preiss Imports will be introducing the new GlenDronach range – 12, 15 and 18 year old malts – towards the end of this year.
We believe GlenDronach has excellent potential in the US. We have been inundated with enquiries from US consumers via our website so there clearly remains an awareness for the brand in the States - an awareness that was built up during the past five decades via William Teacher's and Allied Distillers.
23.08.09
£7M Investment as GlenDronach Goes for Global Growth
The journey of re-discovery continues: GlenDronach is set to benefit from a major £7m investment.
It’s part of our strategy to restore the malt to its former glory and accelerate its growth in new markets worldwide.
Forty years ago, GlenDronach was amongst the top five most popular malts in the world. Now a £5m investment in sherry casks over the next four years and a further £2m on brand promotion and extra staff will boost the sleeping giant.
In recent years, GlenDronach has fallen out of view but it has maintained a kind of cult status. This investment returns it to centre-stage.
It’s testament to our ambitions as a small, niche distiller. We are making sure the whisky coming through is of the highest quality and the new sherry casks will be at the heart of maturation, imbuing the whisky with its distinctively sweet, fragrant and fruity taste.
When we bought The GlenDronach Distillery last year, there were less that 20,000 bottles sold worldwide. This year, having added a number of new expressions like the 15 and 18 year-old, GlenDronach will sell around 150,000 bottles. By 2014, the aim is to sell some 250,000 bottles.
We’re pursuing our dream – to sell fine malt whisky all over the world and put GlenDronach back where it belongs.
17.07.09
GlenDronach Releases Single Cask Batch One
We have recently selected five vintages for the first series of single cask bottlings.
In Batch One we have singled out malts from 1971, 1972, 1992, 1993 and 1996 in ages ranging from 38 to 13 years old.
All five are in the traditional GlenDronach style – richly sherried, from Oloroso Sherry Butts - and are being bottled this month.
Dating back to 1826, there have been few if any single cask bottlings from GlenDronach, so the launch of Single Cask Batch One is particularly significant..
We will repeat this exercise each year, hand-selecting a small number of the very best casks from the distillery warehouses to release as Single Cask bottlings.
Each will be bottled at cask strength, at natural colour and non chill filtered. Bottles will be individually numbered by hand and will be housed in a deluxe gift box.
Batch One is being marketed in fifteen countries worldwide, with shipments to the UK, Europe, South Africa, Asia and New Zealand scheduled for the first week of August.
The full cask list is:
1971 cask 483, 38 years old
1972 cask 719, 37 years old
1992 cask 1140, 16 years old
1993 cask 523, 16 years old
1996 cask 193, 13 years old