Independent bottler releases four autumn drams

September 11, 2019 | Uncategorized

Four distinctive whiskies are being released this autumn by an independent Scottish bottler.

Growing up, Lady of the Glen founder Gregor Hannah was aware of his father’s ever-growing whisky collection, but had no real interest in it until he graduated from university. That same year, the world’s largest distiller closed its bottling facility in the town where he grew up. This planted a seed in Gregor’s mind.

Having studied business at Stirling, and with the ambition to become an entrepreneur within the luxury craft market, Gregor embarked on a voyage of whisky discovery when he purchased two casks of mature malt of Invergordon and Benrinnes in 2012 and founded Hannah Whisky Merchants.

He continues to acquire rare casks from Scotland’s best distilleries to mature at his discretion and release under the brand, Lady of the Glen. Gregor seeks out these casks based on their quality, rarity, flavour and flavour potential.

Cask and oak management is a key part of the business and where necessary Gregor re-casks the whisky to create more unique flavours. This process requires excellent wood management of the highest quality casks that Gregor sources from bodegas in Portugal, vineyards in Italy and Germany, as well as bourbon hogshead barrels from the US.

Lady of the Glen founder Gregor Hannah

Every Lady of the Glen release is bottled at cask strength, with no colourings or chill filtering, keeping the process as natural as possible, paying respect to the distiller’s spirit craftmanship.

Lady of the Glen has revealed their quarter three releases, yielding around 1700 bottles from eight casks. This release is particularly special as it features malt finished in wine casks sourced from Italy and port and sherry casks from Portugal.

These are:

Caol Ila 2011 – Islay single malt, matured for eight years in a bourbon cask and finished in an Amarone wine cask from Veneta Botti, Veneto. Tasting notes: hints of moss, pineapple and brown sugar. £86.91

Strathmill 2007 – Speyside single malt, matured in a bourbon cask for 11 years and finished in an ex-tawny port cask from Tanoaria Josafer, Portugal. Tasting notes: crème caramel, ginger and walnut. £91.00

GlenAllachie 2005 – Speyside single malt, matured in a bourbon cask for 13 years and finished in a Marsala wine cask from Marsal Botti in Sicily. Tasting notes: stewed apricot, vanilla and butter. £97.00

Blair Athol 2005 – Highland single malt, matured in a bourbon cask for 13 years and finished in a Pedro Ximenez sherry octave from Tanoaria Josafer, Portugal. Tasting notes: apricot, star anise and raisin. £85.00

The Lady of the Glen miniatures

Gregor said: ‘My goal is for Lady of the Glen to consistently release the finest quality whisky with diverse flavour profiles from traceable cask sources. Every cask is unique and has a story to tell and as a result we are producing whiskies for drinking that are not standard. By building relationships with bodegas and vineyards, I’m able to release high-quality whiskies with great provenance.’

Lady of the Glen is now offering miniatures for the first time. Each set of five 5cl bottles is identified by distillery, age and strength, and hail from casks and octaves in the Lady of the Glen collection, priced £30.

Lady of the Glen has been shortlisted in the ‘Best Scottish Spirit’ category at this year’s Scotsman Food and Drink Awards. The winner will be announced on Wednesday 25th September in Edinburgh.

For more details, visit HERE.