Scotland, Speyside: Single malt whisky through the producing distilleries: history, making, production and tasting notes
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Glentauchers

Description of the whisky

The distillery

Glentauchers
Glentauchers Distillery
Mulben, Keith
Banffshire AB55 2BL
+44 1542 860 272
Owner: Pernod-Ricard
Creation date 1898

Photos

The construction of the distillery began in 1897 and one year later, the first spirit came out of the stills. A hydraulic turbine was installed instead of the traditional steam engine to run the distillery.
The distillery has been created by W.P. Lowrie, a blender of Glasgow and James Buchanan.
James Buchanan marketed his own first blends with Lowrie's stocks and financial help under the name of "Buchanan Blend". He changed the name of his blends in "House of Commons" later. His blended whisky was marketed in a black bottle with a white label, and people nicknamed this bottle "Black & White". James had the good idea to add 2 fox terries on his label (a black and a white one).
He was really successful with his blends, so he could pay his debts in no time, and he became one of the three most important characters in the whisky world, together with Dewar and Walkers.
When Lowrie retired, he sold his shares to Buchanan.
From 1910, some experiments took place in the distillery, in order to produce malt whisky in a continuous process .
The Buchanan and Dewar groups merged in 1910 and 01 years later, the group became part of DCL which would become UDV in 1987.
Important refurbishment works took place between 1923 and 1925. Electricity was installed in 1958, after the turbine was replaced by a steam engine in 1955.
The malting floors were suppressed in 1963, while the stills were altered to work on steam in place of being warmed up by coal.
Four new stills were installed in 1965 and 1966.
Glentauchers was closed during World War II from 1939 until 1946, just like most of the distilleries in Scotland, and a second time between 1985 and 1989.
The closing in 1985 was decided by UDV, while the reopening in 1989 was the consequence of the purchase of the distillery by Allied Distillers.
Glentauchers is part of the blends Black & White and Ballantine's.
Nearly 100% of the production is used for blending purposes.

The whisky

A propos des notes de dégustation Your own tasting notes

List of the bottles

Description of the distillery

 Glentauchers independent bottlings
 

Glentauchers

Gordon & MacPhail 1990
Collection
 Gordon & MacPhail
Age
 11 years
Alcohol percentage
 40,0 %
Bottler
 Gordon & MacPhail
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links & average quote
 78/100
 Glentauchers
 The colour is yellow, with some amber glints. The nose detects wax, candied apple and malted barley hints.
The palate reveals also the sweetness of cereal and some fine woody notes.
The finish goes on on ripe fruits and honey hints.
This whisky is pleasant from the very first nosing, with a slightly spiced malt smell. The taste reveals malt, but also a certain lack of complexity. A long and pleasant finish. The whole makes it a good whisky, even though it is not essential. 
74/100
The impressions at the second tasting are rather different from the first time. The nose reveals sherry notes, and a touch of spices on a cereal background is present. A great sweetness, again on a malted background characterizes the palate, with some woody tastes in addition. The percentage of alcohol is not really optimal to taste all the nuances of this potentially great whisky. A sweet and pleasant, but rather short finish.
79/100
The nose is clearly dominated by sherry, with a touch of smoke and spices and some slight medicinal hints. In the mouth, a nice impression, however too much marked by the sherry, which covers and masks the other fragrances, but some malty hints seem to be hidden behind the sherry taste. This whisky would probably have revealed more of its complexity if it had been bottled at 43 or 46% rather than its 40%. The finish is interesting, but too short.
79/100
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Glentauchers: samples

Glentauchers

1975-2010
Collection
 8th series: Still life I
Age
 35 years
Alcohol percentage
 47,3 %
Bottler
 The Whisky Agency
Dates
 Distil: 1975 Bottling: 2010
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links & average quote
 84/100
Color: Gold
A subtle nose free from dramatic odors , but pleasantly so subtle that it becomes high art. Deliciously complex as well. A harmonious blend of gentle bitterness, nice but discrete fruity notes, a hint of smoke, a true happiness. A nose that is truly in the lace (not sure this is a correct English expression).
The mouth is slightly below the expectations originated by this magnificent nose. Less discrete, with acid notes breaking somewhat the nice balance announced by the nose. A hint of metallic taste in the beginning, but fortunately it disappears pretty quickly. For the rest, a fine subtle whole.
The finish is relatively short, intense at first, a mixture of sweetness and bitterness.
Extremely endearing whisky . Especially because it is a distillery that does not offer many single malts on the market
.87/100
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Glentauchers

Rare Auld 1990
Collection
 Rare Auld Cask Strength
Age
 17 years
Alcohol percentage
 57,6 %
Bottler
 Duncan Taylor
Cask number
single cask 14435
Dates
 Distil: 1990 Bottling: 1-2-2008
Particularity
 Non chillfiltered cask strength
links & average quote
 90/100
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Speyside

Speyside Map

The Speyside area is situated at the North of the Cairngorm mountain and goes to the Moray firth. It is delimited by two rivers: the Findhorn at the West side and the Deveron on the East side.
The area is named after the river Spey. Most of the distilleries take their water in one of its affluents; the Fiddich, the Livet or the Avon.
About sixty distilleries from Speyside are described on this site.

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Click on the map for a list of the distilleries of the area, on the title for further information
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