Experience March 6
Glenmorangie The Original 10 Years
Glenmorangie has been one of the best-selling Single Malt whiskeys from Scotland, reaching a position among the first in the United Kingdom and in the global market. The distillery is located near the town of Tain, in historic Ross and Cromarty County, on the Morangie farm, a place once known for moonshine distillers.
It was established in 1843 by William and John Mathenson. By 1849 production had reached 20,000 gallons per year. Glenmorangie began producing Single Malts in the 1970s. In 1996 Glenmorangie became a public limited company; in 2004 it bought the Scotch Malt Whiskey Society, the Macdonald family sold its shares, and both companies were acquired by the French luxury goods giant, Louis Vuitton Moët-Hennessey (LVMH).
Glenmorangie has 4 washing stills and 4 distillation stills, which are characterized by being the tallest in Scotland with a total height of 8 meters, with a 5.14 meter gooseneck. The approximate height of an adult giraffe.
Glenmorangie is one of the best selling Scotch in Britain and one of the top 10 sellers worldwide. The distillery has a visitor center and a small museum that opened in 1997. For “The original” version, the ex-bourbon oak barrels are used only 2 times.
Curious fact:Until the acquisition of the distillery in 2009, less than 20 people worked at the distillery, which already produced 3 million liters per year.
Auchentoshan 12 years
For many years, Auchentoshan billed itself as the only triple distilled single malt Scotch whisky. The distillation technique is commonly advertised, especially by Irish distillers, as a method that results in "a lighter, smoother spirit." But Auchentoshan is far from the only triple distilled Scotch whisky, for example: Benrinnes, Springbank and even brands like Benriach, Benromach and Bruichladdich have expressions using this technique (Bruichladdich even has a four times distilled expression).
Auchentoshan Distillery was founded in 1823 by Irish refugees in Dunbarton, very close to the River Clyde. The triple distillation process was common practice in the 19th century, but was lost over the years as the industrial boom in the Lowland region waned. The ghost distilleries of Dunashill, Clydesdale, Greenock among others produced triple distillation (although at that time most of their whiskey went for blends).
The truth is that today only the Auchentoshan distillery uses triple distillation for all its production of Single Malts. The other distillery noted for using this method is Hazelburn in Campbeltown, but with one radical difference. Hazelburn does a second blank distillation (no cuts are made) to increase the volume of heavy compounds, Auchentoshan takes the heart of the second distillation. The result is a whiskey with less reflux than Hazelburn and an overall lighter style.
Curious fact:Auchentoshan is one of the few distilleries that came under attack during World War II. In 1941, a German bombardment whose main objective was the ports and sawmills of the River Clyde also destroyed the whiskey warehouse.
Johnnie Walker Double Black
The history of this brand begins with a young man named John, a farmer's son but with something special, just like George Ballantine, life takes him to the grocery business. It all begins with a step, a step he takes in 1819 after the death of his father when he was only 14 years old, instead of working the farm, entering a factory or a mill, young John sells his father's farm where he was born and grew up to open his grocery store in Kilmarnock with his name on the door “John Walker”.
At that time the stores sold everything, miscellaneous, where you could get all kinds of liquor, rum, vodka, gin, and of course whiskey that they produced locally but it used to be of dubious quality or with a lack of consistency. The years passed the first son of John and Elizabeth was born on February 10, 1837, Alexander Walker, who years later will join his father's business in 1856. It is Alexander Walker who convinces his father to jump right into the grocery business and turn the home art of blending whiskeys into a business. Possibly John Walker never glimpsed what this proposal meant, nor the impact that his son would cause in the industry, since only a year later he died.
Alexander Walker at the head of his father's business and with the vision of selling whiskey, introduces the iconic square bottle and convinces ship captains to commission his whiskeys, reaching an annual sale of 450,000 liters in 1862. The importance of the square bottle is that it breaks less and takes up less space. In 1865, Alexander creates the brand “Old Highland Whisky” and registers it two years later, making it one of the first copyrighted brands. This was the precursor to Johnnie Walker Black Label.
Cardhu is considered the heart of Johnnie Walker since it was the first distillery that the company acquired, in 1893 under the direction of George Paterson and Alexander II Walker, the third generation of the Walkers.
With the entrance of the 20th century, the brand reinvents itself to what we know today, the red and black labels are created, as well as the iconic Johnnie Walker walker. Legend has it that this character was drawn by Tom Browne on a menu while having lunch with James Stevenson (then CEO) and George Walker with the classic catchphrase “'Born 1820 - Still Going Strong”. It continues to grow and the slogan becomes this emblematic phrase “Keep Walking”, a symbol of progress, adopted by progressives, parliamentarians, advertisers and self-improvement.
Curious fact:Johnnie Walker's label is at 24°, this is also part of their trademark since 1877
There was the white label of Johnnie Walker, presented at the beginning of the 20th century, but this label was eliminated after the claim of Dewars who had already been using it since the 19th century.
For Winston Churchill, whiskey was one of the most valuable assets that the United Kingdom had for the revival of the post-war economy.