1975 Hunter Laing & Co. Old & Rare Glen Elgin 44 Year Old Cask Strength Single Malt Scotch Whisky (700ml)

A fabulous old Glen Elgin, and to our knowledge, one of the oldest ever bottled - if not the oldest. Matured for 44 years in a single cask before being specially selected and bottled for the Heritage series 'Platinum Selection' by respected independent bottler, Hunter Laing & Co. of Glasgow. 173 bottles worldwide. Less than a handful in Australia. 45.6% Alc./Vol.

Glen Elgin was built and designed by the notable distillery architect Charles Doig. The distillery was founded at the end of the whisky-boom in 1898 when Leith whisky blender, Pattisons, famously drove a buoyant market for malt whisky into recession. (Local legend has it that many of the workers went unpaid and that the steeplejacks only got their money when they threatened to demolish the chimney-stack). Despite the crisis, the owners William Simpson (former manager of Glenfarclas) and James Carle decided to continue their activities on a smaller scale. Unfortunately, they were forced to end the production and to sell their distillery as soon as November 1900, just six months after their first distillation.

Speyside’s newest distillery changed hands once more in 1902 and again in 1906, when it at last began a stable period of almost 25 years in the hands of Glasgow blender, John J. Blanche. In the 1930s, it became part of Scottish Malt Distillers, for whom it was an important component of the well-known White Horse blend. As most distilleries had to, Glen Elgin again closed during World War II. Amidst all the uncertainties, innovations were understandably rare during Glen Elgin’s first half century, though one is of interest : The site had partly been chosen for its ability to make use of abundant water supplies from the Glen Burn to drive a turbine that provided most of the power needed to run the machinery. As a result, electricity from the national supply was not needed until 1950. The distillery was finally refurbished in 1964 and the number of stills tripled. But the distillery closed yet again in 1992 and 1995. Today, the major part of the production continues to be used in the White Horse blends, however Glen Elgin again recently became available as a single malt, with exports of the 12 year old, mainly to Italy and Japan beginning in 1977. As a Speyside malt Glen Elgin's 'house style' remains mellow and sweetly honeyed. Soft spring water comes from the area of Millbuies Loch to the southeast of the distillery.