Lloyd's Whisky Syndicate N°10 - Glentauchers 14yo

THE DISTILLERY

Glentauchers was established in 1898 by James Buchanan & Co. (one of the “Big Five” of the whisky industry at the dawn of the 20^th Century) to provide fillings for its Buchanan’s and Black & White blends. In 1910 the distillery was used to conduct experiments with continuous pot still distillation though its owners quickly reverted back to traditional pot still distillation due to the poor results.

Over the course of the 20^th Century the distillery experienced 2 closures (during WWI and in 1985) as well as 2 major renovations in the 1920s and 1960s.

Generally speaking Glentauchers is a bit of a hidden gem in Speyside due to the fact that to this day it lacks a visitor centre and has up until very recently been completely focused on serving the blended whisky market. Indeed, the distillery’s most famous single malts are independent bottlings by Gordon & Macphail. 

Since 2005 the distillery is owned by Pernod Ricard which uses its whisky as a key component of its Ballantine’s blended whisky franchise.

THE WHISKY

This expression of Glentauchers was aged for 14 years in an artisanal Oloroso sherry cask and bottled at cask strength.

On the nose the whisky appears fruity with notes of vanilla and raisins almost like a traditional Milanese panettone.

On the palate it has a clean texture with Autumn fruits mixed with spice and sugar cane.

The finish is persistent with cinnamon and Christmas cake.

After trying several “candidates”, the LLS team had no doubt in selecting this Glentauchers as our Christmas 2022 syndicate (a.k.a. “Christmas Malt”). This whisky will be an excellent partner for Christmas and New Year activities. Pair it with creamy cheeses or sumptuous puddings, panettone, pandoro and other seasonal desserts.