Glenfiddich


Glenfiddich is a Speyside single malt Scotch whisky produced by William Grant & Sons in the Scottish burgh of Dufftown in Moray. Glenfiddich means "valley of the deer" in Scottish Gaelic, which is why the Glenfiddich logo is a stag.
Glenfiddich is the world's best-selling single-malt whisky and also the most awarded at the International Spirits Challenge.

History

The Glenfiddich Distillery was founded in 1886 by William Grant in Dufftown, Scotland, in the glen of the River Fiddich. The Glenfiddich single malt whisky first ran from the stills on Christmas Day, 1887.
In the 1920s, with prohibition in force in the USA, Glenfiddich was one of a very small number of distilleries to increase production. This put them in a strong position to meet the sudden rise in demand for fine aged whiskies that came with the repeal of prohibition.
In the 1950s, the Grant family built up an onsite infrastructure that included coppersmiths to maintain the copper stills, and a dedicated cooperage that is now one of the very few remaining in distilleries. In 1956 the Grant's brand launched the now-iconic triangular bottle, designed by Hans Schleger.
Following difficult times in the 1960s and '70s, many small, independent distillers were bought up or went out of business. In order to survive, W. Grant & Sons expanded their production of the drink, and introduced advertising campaigns and a visitors' centre. In this period they also took the decision to begin marketing single malt as a premium brand in its own right, effectively creating the modern single malt whisky category.
Later, W. Grant & Sons was one of the first distilleries to package its bottles in tubes and gift tins, as well as recognising the importance of the duty-free market for spirits. This marketing strategy was successful, and Glenfiddich has now become the world's best-selling single malt. It is sold in 180 countries, and accounts for about 35% of single malt sales.
Glenfiddich is currently managed by the fifth generation of William Grant's descendants.
In September 2014, William Grant & Sons agreed to acquire Drambuie for an undisclosed price rumoured to be in the region of £100 million.
Scotland's Malt Whisky Trail is a tourism initiative featuring seven working Speyside distilleries including Glenfiddich, a historic distillery and the Speyside Cooperage. According to a BBC article, visitors can tour "one of the stone-walled traditional warehouses, the mash tun... and the giant washbacks, which are handmade from local Douglas fir... sample a dram of the light, sweet whisky in the malt barn".

Production

Glenfiddich whisky is produced at the Glenfiddich Distillery in Dufftown, Moray.
Glenfiddich is a single malt Scotch whisky, this means the whisky was distilled at a single distillery using a pot still distillation process and must be made from a mash of malted barley.
Onsite there are 31 distinctively-shaped "swan neck" copper pot stills. These stills are smaller than those now in use at most other major distilleries. All stills are handmade and Glenfiddich employs a dedicated team of craftsmen and coppersmiths to maintain them. These stills have a capacity of around 13,000,000 litres of spirit.
The water source for Glenfiddich Whisky is The Robbie Dhu springs nearby to the distillery.
Glenfiddich is matured in many different casks, such as:
  1. Rum casks from the Caribbean
  2. Bourbon whiskey barrels from America
  3. Sherry butts from Jerez de la Frontera in Spain
Once the spirit has matured, the casks are emptied and the whisky is "cut" with pure Robbie Dhu spring water.
Glenfiddich has a dedicated bottling hall onsite along with a large bottling plant in Bellshill.

Whiskies

Core range

Glenfiddich's whiskies have performed well at international spirits ratings competitions. The 12, 15, 18, and 21-year offerings have all rated well in the San Francisco World Spirits Competition and the Beverage Testing Institutes' reviews. On balance, the 15-year whisky has performed the best, receiving three double-gold medals at the 2007–2010 San Francisco competitions and a score of 91 with the Beverage Testing Institute.

Glenfiddich Awards

Started in 1970, Glenfiddich promoted the Glenfiddich Food and Drink Awards to honour distinguished writing and broadcasting in the fields of food and drink in the UK. In 2008, Glenfiddich decided to discontinue distributing Food and Drink Awards, reviewing their "strategy, scope and potential application in some of Glenfiddich’s key markets outside the UK."
Started in 1998, Glenfiddich promoted the Glenfiddich Spirit of Scotland Awards. The Glenfiddich Spirit of Scotland Awards were annual awards given to notable Scottish people. Glenfiddich sponsored the event, in association with The Scotsman newspaper. Nine awards were distributed for art, business, environment, food, music, screen, sport, writing and "Top Scot". A consulting panel nominated four people in each category, with the winner decided by a public vote. The "Top Scot" is an open award, with the public able to nominate anyone. The awards haven't been hosted since 2014.

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