The Glen Grant launches oldest ever release set to sell for £110,000

The Glen Grant Single Malt Scotch Whisky has announced its oldest ever release – with the first decanter set to sell for £110,000 at auction.

The Glen Grant Devotion is a 70-year-old single malt whisky, many years in the making, and the oldest release from the distillery in its 180 years. 

Inspired by the reign of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, this release is a tribute to seventy years of resolute service and a lifelong devotion to nature. 

There will only be seven hand-blown decanters created of the rare whisky, with decanter Number One to be auctioned by Sotheby’s.

It is expected to fetch between £70,000 and £110,000 at the online auction on 11-22 September.

All of the proceeds will be donated to the Royal Scottish Forestry Society, of which Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II was the Patron.  

The dram was sourced from a single French oak butt seasoned with oloroso sherry filled in 1953 at The Glen Grant distillery.

It is bottled at 55.5% abv and has notes of dried fruits, raisins, sultana, dry spice with just a hint of oak.

It was created by Master Distiller Dennis Malcolm OBE, award-winning craftsman John Galvin and hot glass master Brodie Nairn of GLASSTORM.  

Dennis said: ‘In the true spirit of The Glen Grant, we bring together the inspiring legacy of our story with the personal devotion of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, to realise this exquisite masterpiece.  

‘To be devoted, is to show unwavering loyalty and love to something you care for deeply, which sits at the heart of our whisky-making philosophy, as well as shining through with our creative collaborators.  

‘This is a lifetime of character and legacy captured in a magnificent creation, like nothing we have ever seen.’

Jonny Fowle, Global Head of Spirits at Sotheby’s said: ‘This whisky embodies so much of what is important in whisky collecting: quality, rarity, age and most of all provenance as the oldest whisky ever to be released directly from The Glen Grant Distillery itself. 

‘This whisky displays a fantastically deep, dark colour after seven decades of oak maturation, which contrasts beautifully with John Galvin’s opulent light wood structure making it the perfect centrepiece for the world’s most impressive whisky collections.’

Following the auction of decanter Number One, the remaining six decanters will be made available for sale in select global markets in the United States and Asia with price available upon request, starting in October of 2023.

Read more news and reviews on Scottish Field’s food and drink pages, in association with Cask & Still magazine.

Don’t miss the July issue of Scottish Field magazine.