Glenfarclas Distillery

In a world where distilleries change hands rapidly in response to the market, Glenfarclas stands out for remaining a family business for more than 150 years. The distillery was officially founded by Robert Hay in 1836 in the heart of Speyside at Ballindoch. But it had likely been operating as an illicit farm distillery prior to that. Water for the distillery comes from springs rising in the Ben Rinnes mountains Hay died in 1865 and the distillery was bought by John Grant and his son George, starting a legacy that has endured for six generations. J. & G. Grant Ltd was formed in 1870 after a brief experiment leasing the distillery to John Smith, who left to found Cragganmore.

Ownership and operation of Glenfarclas would continue from one Grant to the next from here on. John Grant died in 1889, and George followed the next year. George’s wife Elsie held the licence then and the distillery was run by their sons, also called John and George Grant. Glenfarclas got into serious financial difficulties in 1898 during the infamous Pattison crash. The Grants had in fact formed a partnership with Pattison, Elder & Co three years prior to this. But they survived the crash that wiped out many other distilleries by selling off their warehoused whisky.

In almost a direct rebuttal of that scenario, when the whisky industry was suffering in the 1980s Glenfarclas decided to ramp up production. This meant that when the market recovered they had stock to spare. More than 100,000 casks are now kept in 38 warehouses on site to age into Glenfarclas whisky.

The number of stills was doubled from two to four in 1960, and increased again to six in 1976. Floor malting at the distillery was halted in 1972. Today the distillery is equipped with a 16.5 ton wash tun and 12 stainless steel washbacks. The six stills are still heated with direct fire rather than with steam coils.

Glenfarclas has a core, aged range with something for everyone. It consists of 10, 12, 15, 17, 21, 25, 30, and 40 year old single malts. Glenfarclas are devotees of sherry maturation, and these are all aged in ex-Oloroso Sherry casks. In order to have so many Sherry casks available the distillery has a strong partnership with the José y Miguel Martin Bodega in Huelva, Spain.