Brora 1978-2019 - 40 Year Old - 200th Anniversary 1819-2019

INFORMATION

Brora 1978 - 2019. 40 Year Old. Bottled to commemorate the distilleries 200th Anniversary 1819-2019. One of 1,819 bottles. 70cl. 49.2%.

A fabulous 40-year-old Brora 1978 released in 2019 to mark the 200th anniversary of the establishment of the original Clynelish distillery in 1819. This deliciously fruity, waxy Brora was assembled from 12 refill hogsheads of the 1978 vintage and was released in an edition of 1819 bottles at its natural strength of 49.2%.

DISTILLERY:Brora

DISTILLERY STATUS:Closed

Bottle ABV:49.2%

Bottle SIZE:70cl / 700ml

Bottle PRODUCED:1,819

BOTTLER:Distillery Bottling

SPIRIT TYPE:Scotland

LIMITED EDITION:yes

CASK TYPE:Single Malt

REGION:Highland

DISTILLED YEAR:1978

BOTTLING DATE::2019

AGE:40

The distillery now called Brora was known as Clynelish for most of its working life, producing a remarkable coastal Highland style lightly peated whisky with an acclaimed waxy character. Clynelish’s success led owners DCL to build a second distillery on the site in 1967, which is the Clynelish we know today. 

The original Clynelish closed briefly in 1968, but reopened the following year as Brora to make a more heavily peated malt whisky for blending purposes. Sadly the distillery was later deemed surplus to requirements and was closed in 1983. DCL’s successors Diageo announced plans to reopen Brora in 2017 and after a lengthy restoration distillation recommenced in 2021.

Any Clynelish whiskies pre-dating the 1970s are from the distillery now known as Brora, as are most if not all of the old Ainslie & Heilbron official 12-year-olds that continued into the early 1980s. The most famous modern era Brora bottlings are the 1990s Rare Malts Editions (particularly the 1972 vintages) and the Brora 30-year-olds from Diageo’s Special Releases.