If you are a banker and have managed to hold onto your millions during the credit crunch, but want to join your friends, who were formally minted, in poverty, I can suggest two ways to lose your money. The first plan I have is to blow all your money in Stringfellows, spraying Cristal and drinking Hennessy Paradis from the navel of one of the dancing girls. The second is that you open a whisky distillery and sink all your money into that. To make it “commercially viable” you’ll have to put in a hundred grand a year in casks, plus wages, rates, power, raw materials and a hundred and one other things, and keep doing that for at least ten years before you see any return. You will lose your money so fast you will be begging on the streets within a year.And it is this length of investment which has caused various companies to release new make spirits onto the market over the past year. Companies or individuals who have sank every penny they have into making a whisky, and they are now realising that the bills don’t pay themselves and they are needing to get some income and cannot wait for their spirit to become a fully mature whisky.
And today I tried the products from the latest distillery to be resurrected from the dead, Glenglassaugh. Owned by Highland Distillers, this distillery was closed in 1986, but reopened last year under new Dutch ownership. The distillery has just released three whiskies, a 21, 30 and 40 year old, comprising of old stock bought from Highland Distillers, and have also released new spirit, distilled since the company’s rebirth.
The Glenglassaugh 21 year old, bottled at 46% abv, costs £150 and is a release of 8700 bottles. This price, I’m afraid to say, is a bit much. It is a nice whisky, lots of pineapple aromas, a touch of petroleum jelly on the nose, some almonds and raisins too. The palate is ripe, sweet fruit, some spice zipping around your mouth and lots of nuts. It a nice whisky, but just a bit pricy – it should be £50 less. 7.5/10
But what interested me was the new spirit. Named “The Spirit Drink”, it is around £30 per bottle and is bottled at 50% abv. It was really tasty! Pear drops, vanilla cream, lots of toffee, herbs and marshmallows on the nose, and then on the palate, white pepper, tinned pineapple and a delightful texture. More spice and some more fruit on the finish. This is a bit of a revelation. I was expecting something akin to moonshine, but this is a very tasty and drinkable spirit. I’m a little dubious about the suggestion that you maybe mix it, thirty quid for a 50cl bottle is a bit much to pay for something you would mix cranberry juice with, but as a sipping spirit, like a good vodka, this is a very pleasant drink. 8/10
I hope Glenglassaugh is a success, we need more privately owned distilleries producing whisky, but I fear it is going to be a bit of an uphill struggle for them. Unlike distilleries like Bruichladdich, who bought a wealth of old and young stock with the distillery, Glenglassaugh only has older stock, which means higher prices and no entry level products to get people interested. The Spirit Drink is a nice drink, but their real money is going to be made in Single malt whisky, not new spirit. With their range of older whiskies starting at £150, and the only people who will buy such whiskies are collectors and tourists, which is a limited market. Lets hope the bankers start making bonuses again, because then they could buy 21 (£150), 30 (£400) or 40 year old (£1500) Glenglassaugh to drink from a stripper’s belly button!
Glenglassaugh Website
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