Glenturret

This distillery claims to be Scotland's oldest. It is located at The Hosh, Perthshire. Its location had plenty of illicit distilleries in the 18th and early 19th centuries. Rogue distillers wanted to earn extra cash by selling their spirit and dreaded the idea of paying taxes on their product. They also perceived the new UK government as a 'foreign government'.

A legal distillery was founded very close to the site of the current Glenturret site in 1818. That distillery started operating under the name The Hosh but changed its name in 1875. The distillery suffered during the Pattison crisis and the WWI restrictions. Mitchell Brothers, the owners at the time, used the site as a warehouse for whiskies from other distilleries. The parent company did not survive the economic ripples caused by the prohibition in the US in the 1920's and went bankrupt. Glenturret was dismantled in 1928.

The empty site was acquired by a brand new company headed by James Fairlie. The new company was unrelated to the Mitchell Brothers and to the previous Glenturret distilelry. Using second hand equipment from Tullibardine distillery, this new company used the old buildings of Glenturret. This new distillery enjoyed the high demand for whisky in the 1960's.

With the increased popularity of whisky tourism around the country, the founders of Glenturret decided to open a visitor centre. The distillery changed hands just a couple of times between the 1980's and 1990's and today the current owners are The Edrington group who in 2002 created The Famous Grouse Experience.

The style of Glenturret is light, delicate and has acidic notes. This is achieved by a long fermentation period, and an unusual shape of pot stills. Single malt bottlings are not very common.

Want to learn more? Then why not try one of our whisky tastings