Banff 1966-2015 - Gordon & MacPhail - Rare Old - RO/15/03

INFORMATION

Banff 1966 - 2015. Bottled by Gordon & MacPhail for their Rare Old Series. Lot number RO15/03. One of 362 bottles. 70cl. 45.2%.

DISTILLERY:Banff

DISTILLERY STATUS:Closed

Bottle ABV:45.2%

Bottle SIZE:70cl / 700ml

Bottle PRODUCED:362

BOTTLER:Gordon & MacPhail

SPIRIT TYPE:Scotland

LIMITED EDITION:yes

CASK TYPE:Single Malt

REGION:Highland

DISTILLED YEAR:1966

BOTTLING DATE::2015

Founded in 1824, Banff distillery relocated in 1863 to a new site which burned down in 1877. The distillery was rebuilt and operated until 1932, when the owners went bust. Banff was bought by Diageo forerunners DCL who kept the distillery closed until after WWII. Banff was hit by the Luftwaffe in 1941, destroying much maturing stock, and in 1959 the distillery was badly damaged again by an explosion in the stillhouse. Production resumed once more, but in 1983 DCL closed the distillery during the whisky lake crisis. The distillery buildings were destroyed by fire for the final time in 1991.

Banff’s very old school, astringent Highland whisky was prized by blenders but after the DCL takeover the only official bottling was a 1982 Rare Malts Edition Banff released in 2004, over twenty years after the distillery closed. However, in October 2021 an official bottling of Banff 15-year-old bottled between 1921-32 was found and auctioned by Whisky-Online, fetching £16,200. Independent Banff was easy to find in the 1990s and early Noughties, but has slowed to trickle and the last casks will soon be exhausted.