Useful website detailing some of the history of the distillery, the tours available, their wide range of whiskies and an extensive news archive.
VisitingGlendronach has a visitor centre and runs its basic Discovery tour (£5) throughout the year - Mon-Fri from October to April, plus Saturday and Sunday from May to September.
Tasting Tour (£15) also includes the malting floor and warehouse and 3 drams - 8yo, 12yo & 18yo. Premium Tasting Tour (£20) - 18yo, 21yo and Distillery Manager's Cask (cask strength). Connoisseur's Tours (£35) Monday and Wednesday - in depth private tour and tasting including some of the rarest expressions of Glendronach. Must be booked in advance - minimum 4 people. Silent season 27 March to 14 April and 31 July to 25 August - during which time photography is permitted in the mash and still areas. On my visit in 2005, the distillery was closed for maintenance, so I didn't get a tour - but a couple of free drams. Vital Stats
Founded by James Allardice in 1826 (the 18yo is named after him - this is the spelling the distillery uses now, though Allardes and Allardyce are also recorded). The distillery was destroyed by fire and rebuilt in 1837 - a fate shared by many other distilleries in the days before health and safety was taken seriously!
In 1920 Glendronach was purchased by Charles Grant (son of William Grant of Glenfiddich) and it remained in the family for 40 years before being sold to William Teachers. Teachers eventually became part of Allied who sold up to Pernod in 2005, but they didn't keep Glendronach for long - selling it to Billy Walker, owner of BenRiach in 2008. They in turn were bought by Brown-Forman (owners of Jack Daniel) in 2016. The only distillery where the distillation's primary maturation is entirely in sherry casks. Many distilleries mature in bourbon and finish in sherry or other cask type, Glendronach is different. Malt Madness WhiskyMerchants.co.uk wikipedia scotchwhisky.com |
Getting ThereClick the map's Google logo to go to Google Maps - for Directions, Street View etc.
Open Cycle Map Bing Map Glen Deveron Glen Garioch Knockdhu Ardmore Distilleries Speyside Distilleries Deveron Huntly The nearest stations are: Huntly (HNT) (8 miles), Keith (KEH) (15), Inverurie (INR) (19) Live Train Times: HNT KEH INR. From Huntly, the A97 towards Banff (it briefly joins the A96 Huntly by-pass), right on to the B9001 at the Bognie Arms Hotel towards Forgue, and left onto the A9024 Turriff road - Glendronach Distillery is almost immediately on the left after the junction. RangeOfficial bottlings of Glendronach expanded under the BenRiach ownership. The core range consists of 8yo (Hielan' - 46%); 12yo (Original - 43%); 15yo (Revival - 46%); 18yo (Allardice - 46%); 21yo (Parliament - 48%). There is also a recently added NAS Peated (46%). In addition there are a number of finishes - 12yo Sauternes; 14yo Virgin Oak; 18yo Tawny Port; 19yo Madeira - all at 46%. Cask Strength bottlings - currently Batch 6 - 56.1%; and various other limited releases. All are non-chill filtered.
Independent bottlings of Glendronach are rare. RMW TWE MoM CyclingNearest Bike shops - Inverurie (19)
Pedal Power 29a High Street, Inverurie 01467 624323 Halfords Oldmeldrum Road, Inverurie 01467 627790 |
Photos on this page were taken by me. Click on photo to enlarge. Full size versions of all my photos of Glendronach Distillery are available on Flickr.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/martynjenkins/sets/72157627572814985
http://www.flickr.com/photos/martynjenkins/sets/72157627572814985