Glenturret 12 year old Single Malt Scotch Whisky from the 1980s (30ml)

About This Dram

Chapter By The Dram shares the cost of expensive whiskies between customers by splitting bottles into drams.

The 12-Year-Old whisky in release NO.10 was distilled by the Glenturret distillery. The ‘dumpy’ style bottle used in the original bottling was released in the 1980s.

The current retail price of a 750ml bottle is £200

About This Whisky

Distilled: Glenturret Distillery

Region: Highlands

Bottled By: Glenturret Distillery

Type: Single Malt Scotch Whisky

Age: 12 Year Old

Bottled: 1980s

Dram Size: 30ml miniature 

Alcohol by Volume: 40%

About The Glenturret distillery

The Glenturret distillery claims to be Scotland’s oldest distillery established in 1775, although this is almost certainly a reference to an illicit still known as ‘The Hosh’, which operated at the Glenturret distillery site. Licenced distilling at the site first began in 1818 under John Drummond, with the distillery continuing to use the Hosh name. The Glenturret distillery name was adopted in 1875 when the distillery was acquired by Thomas Stewart, who renamed it for the centenary anniversary taking the new name from a nearby distillery which had failed 20 years previously.

The Glenturret distillery closed in 1921, and by 1928 the distillery equipment had been dismantled and the buildings were used for agricultural storage. The Glenturret distillery looked destined to become one of Scotland’s lost distilleries, but in 1957 it was revived by James Fairlie who re-equipped the distillery and resumed production a year later. Fairlie, a whisky enthusiast, recognised the potential and profitability of whisky tourism opting to open a visitor’s centre; the Glenturret distillery was the second distillery to open its doors to visitors.

In 1999, Highland Distillers (later the Edrington Group) purchased the Glenturret distillery, and by 2002 had radically transformed the distillery and site by making it the home of the Famous Grouse Experience as the malt is a core component of the Famous Grouse blend. The distillery is currently in the process of change once again as the Famous Grouse Experience closed 2018 and Erdington put Glenturret up for sale. The site now operates as a working distillery and visitor experience showcasing the Glenturret as a single malt. Often overlooked as a classic single malt, Glenturret’s character is fresh, floral and lightly honeyed with mild vanilla notes derived from maturation in oak casks.

The 12-year-old expression was first released in the 1960s following the distillery’s revival and remained the entry-level bottling until it was discontinued in 2003 and replaced by a 10-Year-Old. In this Glenturret dram, the drinker will discover a floral and lightly honeyed style, a taste of this often-overlooked Highland distillery.