Glenugie 1977-2010 - 32 Year Old - Chivas Brothers - Deoch An Doras

Glenugie distillery closed in 1983 and is one of the most-lamented of the lost Highland distilleries. Originally founded in 1831 as Invernettie, the distillery had a chequered past before being taken over and modernised in the 1950s and ‘60s by Schenley / Long John Distillers. Glenugie spent its active life in the shadows, with the first bottlings from Cadenhead’s and Gordon & MacPhail appearing around the end of the 1970s, just a few years before the distillery closed for good.

Glenugie was rarely bottled as a single malt, but the casks that survived have almost all been outstanding. Now owned by Pernod Ricard, at the time of writing only three official Glenugies have ever been released, the first of which appeared in 2010. Independent bottlings of Glenugie, the best examples of which are from Signatory Vintage, Cadenhead’s, The Bottlers, Douglas Laing, Gordon & MacPhail and Sestante command a premium at auction due to their scarcity and exceptionally high quality.

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.