Founded way back in 1797, Glen Garioch is one of the classic Highland distilleries. After several changes of ownership, Glen Garioch was bought by Stanley P. Morrison of Bowmore fame in 1970 and is now part of Beam Suntory. Glen Garioch has changed stylistically in the last few decades - the distillery’s whisky was peated (sometimes very heavily) until 1975 but the smokiness was reduced thereafter and was cut altogether from 1997 onwards.
1960s-1970s vintages of Glen Garioch are famously complex, with oily, meaty, waxy, farmyard flavours often intertwined with the epic peat presence. Many of the legendary bottlings of the 1966-75 vintages also benefitted from maturation in phenomenal sherry casks. The official bottlings and the Samaroli editions of these vintages are the most highly sought-after at auction.
Distillery bottlings are, as the name suggests, bottled by or for the distillery from which the whisky has originated and are thus often referred to as Official Bottlings or OBs. Distillery bottlings are generally more desirable for collectors and usually fetch higher prices at auction than independent bottlings. They are officially-endorsed versions of the whisky from a particular distillery and are therefore considered the truest expression of the distillery’s character.
This ideal of the distillery character is regarded so seriously by the distilleries and brand owners that casks of whisky that are considered to vary too far from the archetype are frequently sold on to whisky brokers and independent bottlers. When this happens, it is often with the proviso that the distillery’s name is not allowed to be used when the cask is bottled for fear of diminishing or damaging the distillery’s character and status.
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