Glenesk 12 Year Old - 1980s

Originally built in 1897, Hillside / Glenesk had a chequered past during which its name and function changed frequently - the distillery was earlier known as Highland Esk, North Esk or Montrose and was at different times used to distil either malt or grain whisky, or just as a maltings for other distilleries.

Diageo forerunners DCL took over what was then the Montrose grain distillery in 1953, and turned it into the Hillside malt whisky distillery in 1964 under their Scottish Malt Distillers subsidiary. Hillside produced old style grassy, minerally single malt whisky until its closure in 1985, by which time the name had been changed, for the final time, to Glenesk.

Hillside / Glenesk was never officially bottled in its lifetime; at auction, the best Hillsides are the official Rare Malts editions released between 1995-97, while most independent bottlings use the Glenesk name.

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.