Glen Grant 2004 (bottled 2015) - Distillery Labels Gordon and MacPhail (70cl, 43%)
The classic distillery label first seen in the days when Gordon & MacPhail were Glen Grant's official bottler, this was distilled in 2004 and bottled in 2015.
Glen Grant is one of Speyside's most recognised distilleries. It was built in 1839 by James and John Grant, and was a huge facility for its time. Its size increased exponentially over time, in the hands of John's son, John "The Major" Grant (who also built the short-lived Caperdonich next-door), and twice in the 1970s following the merger with The Glenlivet Distillers and its subsequent takeover by Seagram. Glen Grant was bottled as a single malt as early as the late-19th century, and developed a global export market. None perhaps as important as in Italy, where their agent in the 1960s, Armando Giovinetti, turned it into the nation's favourite whisky, after discovering the palate preferences of his countrymen for very young single malts. So loved is Glen Grant in Italy, that the distillery is now owned by Gruppo Campari, who bought it from Pernod Ricard in 2006.
Founded in 1895, Gordon & MacPhail has been bottling single malt whiskies for 120 years and by the 1950's it held the largest range of bottled malt whiskies in the world. This family-run business has bottled the oldest single malt whisky in the world - a Mortlach 1939 75 Year Old - as well as being a distiller itself after buying Benromach in 1993. They bottle whisky across several ranges including Connoisseurs Choice, the Private Collection, and their most exclusive, Generations.
When Gordon & MacPhail were producing official bottlings under license in the 1970s, each distillery was labelled using a specific branding determined by their parent companies, such as DCL, Hiram Walker or Highland Distillers. By the 1980s, single malts were increasing in popularity and Gordon & MacPhail began to create a “house label” for every distillery, each with its own unique style, as is presented here. Although no longer the licensees, Gordon & MacPhail still produce bottles like this for many distilleries today, renamed in 2018 as their Distillery Labels range.