Glenugie 1978-1997 - 18 Year Old - Cadenheads Authentic Collection - Single Cask

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.

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.