Auchroisk 2001-2017 - 16 Year Old - Cadenheads - Single Cask

Auchroisk is a large modern Speyside distillery founded by Justerini & Brooks, which was part of Grand Metropolitan by the time the distillery was completed in 1974. Grand Metropolitan merged with Guinness to become Diageo in 1997.

Unlike many similar distilleries from the same era, Auchroisk was never intended just for blending - Auchroisk’s malt whisky was officially bottled from the late 1970s and was sold as Singleton of Auchroisk from the mid-1980s until 2001, when Diageo introduced a Flora & Fauna 10-year-old. The Singleton brand was later repurposed without Auchroisk, but Diageo have released small batch limited edition Auchroisks for the Rare Malts and Special Release series. The Flora & Fauna edition remains Auchroisk’s only ongoing official bottling, but independent Auchroisk is abundant, with recent highlights from reliable bottlers including Gordon & MacPhail and the SMWS.

In 1842 George Duncan established a wine merchant and distillery agency business in Aberdeen. Duncan was joined in the early 1850s by his brother-in-law William Cadenhead, who took over the business after Duncan’s death in 1858, changing the company’s name to Wm. Cadenhead. When Cadenhead died in 1904 the company passed to his nephew Robert Duthie, who developed the spirits side of the business.

Duthie died suddenly in 1931, and employee Ann Oliver was put in charge of Cadenhead’s. Sadly, Oliver’s tenure ended in financial difficulty and on her retirement in 1972 the business was forced to sell its entire inventory. Cadenhead’s was acquired soon afterwards by J & A Mitchell, proprietors of Springbank distillery, who relocated the business to Campbeltown. Cadenhead’s has flourished under Mitchell’s stewardship, releasing many legendary single malt bottlings in the 1980s and 1990s and now has outlets in Edinburgh and London as well as Campbeltown.