Glentauchers Distillery

Glentauchers Distillery
Mulben
Keith
Banffshire AB55 6YL

Speyside, Scotland - Active

Flavour profile

Expressions of this whisky are difficult to come by, but the ones I've tried so far are quite distinctive in some ways. There are a lot of sweet and light flavour elements present, as you can see from the wordle below. However, there are two obvious flavours - black tea and butter. I associate this with Russian food, somehow. Maybe it's the way black tea, sugar, butter and black bread always go with a Russian meal.

The black tea flavours are not astringent on the tongue. Rather, there is a hint of bitterness that lingers a little in the finish. So with the butter - most whiskies are a little buttery and sweet because of a high alcohol content. The butter flavours here are slightly milky, salty, and different. I wouldn't call the whiskies from Glentauchers particularly outstanding, but they are unusual, drinkable, and, in some cases, rather good!



All the Glentauchers I've tasted so far are here.

SMWS 63.22 (Glentauchers 18 yo 1989/2008) - good
SMWS 63.21 (Glentauchers 18 yo 1989/2008) - good
Glentauchers 1990 10 yo (1990/2001) - good

Distillery history

This distillery was founded in 1898 by James Buchanan and WP Lowrie (by way of the Glentauchers Distillery Co.). The company changed names a few times, eventually becoming James Buchanan and Co. and was merged with Dewars in 1915. Buchanan-Dewars joined Distillers Company Ltd in 1925, eventually becoming United Distillers. They sold Glentauchers to what was eventually to become Allied Domecq in 1989. Pernod Ricard acquired Glentauchers in 2005 by buying Allied Domecq.

There's a semi-official Gordon & Macphail 10 yo bottling, which is the most widely available. A 15 yo official bottling was released in 2000. Other than that, there are some independent bottlings released in 2006. There's a lot of this whisky in Teachers, Ballantine's and Black & White.

Potted distillery facts

Water source: Reservoir fed by Rosarie Burn or Mulben Springs
Washbacks: Six, larch, 60,000 litres each
Wash stills: Three, normal neck, 10,000 litres
Spirit stills: Three, normal neck, 10,500 litres
Spirit still Lyne arm: Nearly 15 degrees descending
Production per year: 3,400,000 litres

- The Scottish Whisky Distilleries, Misako Udo