Glen Flagler - 1970s - Miniature

Glen Flagler was a short-lived Lowland malt whisky distillery built by Inver House Distillers within their Moffat distillery complex in Airdrie, which was also home to the Killyloch malt and Garnheath grain distilleries. 

The Moffat complex began operations in 1965, but none of the distilleries survived for long - Killyloch closed in the early 1970s and Glen Flagler was dismantled in 1985 before Garnheath finally fell silent in 1986 and the site was demolished soon afterwards.

A number of Glen Flagler official bottlings appeared from Inver House in the 1970s-’80s, but unfortunately they also later bottled several ‘pure’ malts under the Glen Flagler name. Only bottles labelled ‘100% Pot Still Malt’ are believed to be Glen Flagler single malt. Elsewhere, Signatory released a few casks of 1970s vintage Glen Flagler between 1994-97, and Silver Seal bottled a cask in 2001. The final bottling of Glen Flagler single malt was a 29-year-old Glen Flagler 1973 official bottling in 2003.

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.