Glen Garioch is one of the oldest distilleries in Scotland. For most of the 20th century production was self-sufficient, malting proprietary barley and using peat from Pitsligo, giving it a unique smoky character. In 1968 it was shortlisted by the then owners of DCL to switch to heavy peat production in order to make up for the drought deficit on Islay. In a strange twist, the decision was made to reopen Brora and close Glen Garioch. In 1973 Morrison Bowmore began salvage and production until 1995 when it closed again. In 1997 it was relaunched with the now modern Glen Garioch displaying an unpeated single malt profile. The new style was first bottled in 2006 while here we have a whiskey that was distilled in 2008 and aged for 14 years in ex-sherry butts before being bottled at 44.9% abv and released in just 573 bottles.
