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Edradour

SCOTCH SINGLE MALT WHISKIES > E


THE EDRADOUR
23 years old
53,1 %
VINTAGE 1976
Distilled 10.5.76
Bottled 15.7.99
Cask No. 140
Natural Colour
260 numbered bottles
Signatory Vintage
Scotch Whisky Co, Ltd, Edinburgh

EDRADOUR
10 years old
40 %
Scotland's Smallest Distillery
Handmade in Scotland's Smallest Distillery
Edradour Distillery Company Ltd, Pitlochry
Nestled in a pocket glen, in the hills above Pilochry in the southern Highlands, lies Edradour, The Smallest Distillery in Scotland. The neat cluster of buildings houses equipment only just capable of producing commercial quantities indeed. Edradour Distil¬lery makes as much whisky in a year as most distilleries produce in a week
.
EDRADOUR
10 years old
46 %
THE UN-CHILLFILTERED COLLECTION
LAST BOTTLE AND EMPTY
Scotland's Smallest Distillery
Distilled 14th July 1992
Bottled on 7th November 2002
Cask No. 467145
881 numbered bottles
Signatory Vintage
Scotch Whisky Co, Ltd, Edinburgh

EDRADOUR
25 years old
49 %
DISTILLED 1976
JAMES MACARTHUR'S
OLD MASTER'S
Vintage Cask Strenght Selection
Distilled 1976
Bottled 2001
Cask No. 166
James MacArthur & Co, Ltd,
Edinburgh
Edradour Distillery is the smallest distillery in Scotland and is believed to have been founded in 1837. It is located near the town of Pitlochry, using local water and barley and has the smallest stills in Scotland.

The distillery is owned by Campbell Distillers. The whisky has a spicy perfum nose with a hint of sherry. Fairly light in body, the taste is smooth, rich and perfumed with a long dry finish. A very easy to drink dram at any time.

The whisky has been bottled at cask strenght without the whisky having been chill filtered thus allowing it to retain the full flavour of the cask in which it has been matured.

EDRADOUR
13 years old
57,2 %
1969
THE DECANTER COLLECTION
Natural Cask Strenght
Distilled 03.10.89
Bottled 16.10.02
Cask no. 358
618 Decanters
Genummerde Decanters
Edradour Distillery Company Ltd, Pitlochy

EDRADOUR
11 years old
60,2 %
STRAIGHT FROM THE CASK
Selected by Signatory Vintage
Distilled on: 7 Aug 1991
Bottled on: 28 Nov 2002
Cask No. 265
Matured in a Sherry Butt
Bottled by Hand, in Scotland
902 bottles
Signatory Vintage, Edinburgh

EDRADOUR
10 years old
56,5 %
STRAIGHT FROM THE CASK
PORT FINISH
Finished in a Port Cask
Distilled on: 8th Dec 1993
Bottled 22 nd Jan 2004
Cask No. 03/423/3
415 Bottles
Bottled by Hand, in Scotland
500 ml Bottles
Scotland's Smallest Distillery
Edradour Distillery Co, Ltd, Pitlochry

EDRADOUR
10 years old
57,3 %
STRAIGHT FROM THE CASK
BURGUNDY FINISH
Finished in a Burgundy Cask
Distilled on: 8 th Dec 1993
Bottled 13 th Jan 2004
Cask No. 03/422/2
424 Bottles
Bottled by Hand, in Scotland
500 ml Bottles
Scotland's Smallest Distillery
Edradour Distillery Co, Ltd, Pitlochry

EDRADOUR
30 years old
43 %
SINGLE HIGHLAND MALT
SCOTCH WHISKY
Handmade in
Scotland's Smallest Distillery
Limited Edition
570 Bottles
Edradour Distillery Company Ltd,
Pitlochry
This 30 years old single malt whisky from Edradour Distillery is unique. Never before has there been an official bottling of this age.

After acquiring Edradour on the 23rd July 2002, I had access to the distillery production records from 1970 onwards. It was apparent that Edradour was seldom sold to the industry on a new filling basis. However, an entry from March 1973 caught my eye. - Hiram Walker & Sons from Dumbarton ( now Allied Distillers Ltd) had purchased some casks.

A telephone call to Allied Distillers revealed that there were indeed 3 casks which were destined for a 30 Years Old Blend. I was fortunate enough to be able to rescue these casks with the help of Jim Barr, Head of Commercial Bulk Trading for Allied Distillers Ltd, and to be able to bottle the first ever official 30 Years old Edradour.

Andrew W. Symington Proprietor Iain Henderson Distillery Manager

EDRADOUR
30 years old
53,4 %
VINTAGE 1973
SINGLE HIGHLAND
MALT SCOTCH WHISKY
Handmade in Scotland's Smallest Distillery
Limited Edition
Distilled: 8 th March 1973
Matured in a Sherry Cask
Butt No. 97
Bottled 10 th June 2003
Genummerde flessen
539 bottles
Edradour Distillery Company Ltd, Pitlochry
This Vintage 1973, 30 Years old single malt whisky from Edradour Distillery is unique. Never before there has been an official bottling of this age. After acquiring Edradour on the 23 rd July 2002, I had access to the distillery production records from 1970 onwards. It was appa¬rent that Edradour was seldom sold to the industry on a new filling basis. However, an entry from March 1973 caught my eye - Hiram Walker & Sons from Dumbarton (now Allied Distillers Ltd) had purchased some casks.
A telephone call to Allied Distillers revealed that there were indeed 3 casks which were des¬tined for a 30 Years Old Blend - one of these casks has produced this Fine Sherry Cask Malt.
I was fortunate enough to be able to recue these casks with the help of Mr Jim Barr, Head of Commercial Bulk Trading for Allied Distillers Ltd, and to be able to bottle the first ever official 30 Years Old Edradour.
Andrew W. Symington Proprietor Iain Henderson Distillery Manager

Mei 2003 komt voor de eerste maal een zwaarder turfgestookte whisky uit de ketels van Edradour. (50 ppm).
Idee hierachter is dat vroeger in de Highlands zwaarder turfgerookte whiskies werden geproduceerd.
De nieuwe whisky zal onder de naam Ballechin op de markt worden gebracht.
Ballechin werd gebouwd in 1810, door een groep boeren, en werd gesloten in 1927. De laat¬ste whisky verliet de lagerpakhuizen in 1933.
Delen van het gebouwencomplex maken nu deel uit van een boerderij.

EDRADOUR
10 years old
55,8 %
STRAIGHT FROM THE CASK
CHARDONNAY FINISH
Distilled 15 th Dec 1993
Bottled on: 22nd June 2004
Bottled by Hand, in Scotland
Cask No. 04/12/3
Finished in Chardonnay Cask
441, 500 ml Bottles
Scotland's Smallest Distillery
Edradour Distillery Co, Ltd, Pitlochry

EDRADOUR
10 years old
57,2 %
STRAIGHT FROM THE CASK
SAUTERNES FINISH
Distilled 15 th Dec 1993
Bottled on: 22 nd June 2004
Bottled by Hand, in Scotland
Cask No. 04/11/3
Finished in a Sauternes Cask
444, 500 ml Bottles
Scotland's Smallest Distillery
Edradour Distillery Co, Ltd, Pitlochry

EDRADOUR
10 years old
46 %
SIGNATORY VINTAGE
THE UN-CHILLFILTERED COLLECTION
Scotland Smallest Distillery
Distilled on: 27th July 1994
Bottled on: 8th April 2005
Cask No. 331
779 NumberedTBottles
Natural Colour
Signatory Vintage
Scotch Whisky Co, Ltd, Edinburgh

EDRADOUR
over 3 years old
52,6 %
TOKAJI MATURED
Matured solely in very old Tokaji casks
Handmade in Scotland's Smallest Distillery
BATCH No. 1
Distilled October: 2002
Bottled August 2006
Unchillfiltered
Natural Colour
Edradour Distillery Co, Ltd, Pitlochry
Since acquiring Edradour in July 2002, I have pursued a modest programme of experimentation with the type of casks used to mature some of the Edradour whisky, which is not needed to support our standard 10 year old product.
In October 2002 I personally filled a small batch of Tokaji casks with new make Edradour. These casks were very old; we believe them to have been used for more than 60 years in maturing Tokaji wine in Hungary.
I have monitored the progress of maturation closely and have been surprised at just how quickly the casks have imparted a deep honey colour and a wonderful depth of sweetness to the spirit. Whilst still young, I believed the whisky to have developed sufficient maturity and character to warrant bottling.
Andrew W. Symington, Proprietor

THE EDRADOUR
Aged 10 years
43 %
Single Highland Malt Scotch Whisky
The Smallest Distillery in Scotland
Glenforres - Glenlivet Distillery Co, Ltd
Edradour Distillery, Pitlochry

Oude botteling van vóór de
Overname door Symington in 2002

Geimporteerd door Otto Lenselink, Wijnimport, Hilversum

EDRADOUR
2 0 0 3
8 years old
46 %
THE ULTIMATE SINGLE
MALT SCOTCH WHISKY
Highland Single Malt
Distilled: 19/03/03

Matured in a Bourbon Barrel
Cask no: 135
Bottled: 22/03/11
291 Numbered Bottles
Natural Colour
Non Chillfiltered
Selected by The Ultimate Whisky
Company. NL

EDRADOUR
Aged 12 years
46 %
DOUGIE MACLEAN's
CALEDONIA SELECTION
Scotland's Smallest Distillery
EDRADOUR
Established 1825
Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky
Natural Colour
Unchillfiltered
Edradour Distillery Co, Ltd, Pitlochry

I wrote Caledonia, in 1977 on a beach in Brittany, France, when I was genuinely homesick for
Scotland. My life has always been based in Pertshire. For me, the location of Edradour, with
its neat cluster of whitewashed buildings, traditional equipment and of ancient methods of
making single malt whisky combined with its state of the art bottling facility typify Caledonia.

So it is great to be joining forces with Andrew Symington and Edradour Distillery, to bring you this wonderfully rich and complex 12 year old single malt.

“Let me tell you that I love you and think about you all the time
Caledonia you’r calling me and now I’am going home
But if I should become a stranger you know that it would make me more than sad
Caledonia’s been everything I’ ve ever had”

(The Chorus from Caledonia – Music & Lyrics by Dougie MacLean, and published with per-
mission from the Publishers – Lime Arts and Music)




The Midlands
THE EDRADOUR  also see Ballechin

ROBUST, FRUITY, FLORAL

Pitlochry, Perthshire. Licentiehouder:
Glenforres - Glenlivet Distillery Co, Ltd. Edradour
Distillery.
Eigendom van William Whiteley & Co, Ltd.
Onderdeel van Pernod - Ricard S.A.
In 1825 werd The Edradour gesticht door de
plaatselijke boeren John MacGlashan, Peter Scott,
Alexander Forbes, Alexander Stewart, Duncan
Stewart, William Mclntosh, James Robertson en
James Scott.
De firmanaam was John MacGlashan & Company.

De gebouwen van de huidige distilleerderij
stammen uit 1837.
The Edradour staat op land dat het eigendom is
van de Duke of Atholl.

Het is één van de kleinste distilleerderijen van Schotland,
met de kleinste ketels en men produceert 4500 liter single
malt whisky per week met drie produktie medewerkers.

The Edradour beleefde een bloeiperiode tijdens de
Amerikaanse drooglegging, toen men veel whisky
verscheepte naar dat land.

De whisky werd onder andere verscheept met Duitse
onderzeeboten uit de eerste wereldoorlog met in de
torpedo's de whisky van The Edradour.

Niemand minder dan Frank Costello was één van de
'bootleggers' die in Long Island de met whisky gevulde
torpedo's aan land bracht.

The Edradour was ook wel bekend onder de naam
Glenforres, nu de naam voor een vatted malt waar
The Edradour ook deel van uitmaakt.
Men gebruikt plaatselijke gerst en de whisky
wordt gelagerd in oloroso sherryvaten.

In 1933 werd The Edradour overgenomen door
William Whiteley & Co, Ltd, whiskyblender te Leith.
Hij gebruikte de whisky als 'topdressing' voor zijn blend
King's Ransom.

William Whiteley, bijgenaamd de 'Doyen of Distillers'
stuurde, op zoek naar perfectie, eens vijtig sherryvaten
gevuld met zijn blend King's Ransom mee met een schip
voor een tocht om de wereld, omdat hij dacht dat de
voortdurende deining en de zeelucht voor een perfecte
'marrying' van zijn whisky zou zorg dragen.

Een andere bekende blend van hem was House of Lords
.
William Whiteley & Co, Ltd, werd in 1938 overgenomen
door een Amerikaan Irving Haim, men zei dat Frank Costello
hier achter stond.

In 1978 kocht een andere Amerikaanse financier het bedrijf
en dreef de firma onder de naam J.G. Turney & Co.
In 1947 werd de watermolen, die tot dan voor de energie
van The Edradour zorgd droeg, gesloopt omdat de
distilleerderij toen werd aangesloten op het electricteits net.
Sinds 1965 mout men niet meer zelf.

In 1982 wordt William & Co, Ltd overgenomen door
House of Campbell, sinds 1945 eigenaars van Aberlour.
In 1974 wordt Pernod Ricard de eigenaar van beide
distilleerderijen.
In de distilleerderij wordt nog steeds, als enige in Schotland,
een Morton refrigerator gebruikt om de wort af te koelen.
Er staan twee ketels, met stoom verhit en met een produktie
van ongeveer 100.000 liter spirit per jaar.
Het gebruikte water komt van Moulin Moor.
Er staat één Mash tun van 1 ton, één Wash still van 4218 liter
en een Spirit still van 2182 liter.

In Juli 2002 koopt Andrew W. Symington, van
Signatory Vintage Scotch Whisky Co, Ltd, te Edinburgh Edradour
voor £ 5,4 miljoen, waarvan £ 3 miljoen voor de voorraad whisky.
De produktie in één week acht vaten, dat is 2000 liter,
240.000 flessen per jaar.
In het produktieproces werken drie man.
Daisy was de distilleerderij poes, tot in 2002 toen ze tijdens de
grote overstroming verdronk.
Werd Edradour tot nu gelagerd in sherry vaten, zal Symington
ook ex-Bourbon-, port en andere vaten gaan gebruiken.
In December 2002 werden ook 45 Hogsheads turfgerookte whisky
geproduceerd.
Januari 2003 wordt bekend dat Iain Henderson, gepensioneerd
manager van Laphroaig, Andrew Symington gaat helpen bij
Edradour.
September 2007:
Te Moulin, even buiten Pilochry gelegen wordt een nieuw
gebouwencomplex opgeleverd met lager- en bottelcapaciteit.
De huidige locatie van Signatory te Edinburgh worden
herontwikkeld met een woonbestemming.
De tweede zwaargeturfrookte Ballechin wordt uitgebracht,
gelagerd op Madeiravaten.

Mei 2003 komt voor de eerste maal een zwaarder turfgestookte
whisky uit de ketels van Edradour. (50 ppm).
Idee hierachter is dat vroeger in de Highlands zwaarder
turfgerookte whiskies werden geproduceerd.
De nieuwe whisky zal onder de naam Ballechin op de markt
worden gebracht.
Ballechin werd gebouwd in 1810, door een groep boeren, en
werd gesloten in 1927. De laatste whisky verliet de
lagerpakhuizen in 1933.
Delen van het gebouwencomplex maken nu deel uit van een
boerderij.

The Distillery Edition
Handmade in Scotland's Smallest Distillery
Nestled in a pocket Glen, in the hills above
Pitlochry in the
Southern Highlands, lies Edradour, The Smallest
Distillery in Scotland
The neat cluster of buildings, virtually unchanged in the last
150 years houses equipment only just capable of producing
commercial quantities.
Indeed, only 12 casks a week are produced, making Edradour
Single Malt Whisky a rare Plesure for a fortunate few.
Edradour is Scotland's smallest distillery and its most
picturesque.
Nestling in the hills east of Pitlochry, Edradour stands alone as
Scotland's last distillery to produce a handcrafted malt in limited
quantity, unique quality and by methods, which to other distillers
are just a fond memory.
Our soft spring water, originating from deep on Moulin Moor
bubbles through peat and sandstone before surfacing a few
hundred paces away. Here in the garden of Scotland we still
select and use local barley, which is malted and dried over peat
fires and milled to our specifications.
Each and every sack received is inspected for bold golden grains,
full of protein, and with a lightly peated aroma.
The milled, malted barley and water are soaked together in the
Mash Tun, a mere ton at a time. The resulting 'wort' already
taking on a bronzed straw colour cools gently in our
Morton refrigerator - the only one left in Scotland - before flowing
to the Washback.
Fermentation, in two original Pine Washbacks takes a leisurely
forty-eight hours; Brewer's yeast is measured by hand and we
patiently wait as the wort ferments not unlike beer into Wash,
reaching a strenght of about 8 % by volume.
And so we move to the Stillman's role, responsible for so much
of the final flavour of The Edradour: Our copper stills are the smallest
allowed under Excise regulations - any smaller the theory goes and
they'd be hidden away in a hillside. There is an old distillers yardstick
that says the smaller the still - the finer the taste - most certainly a
trueism in this case.
The Wash is then distilled at about 82o C and the resulting low wines,
now about 20 % by volume are then redistilled. As we collect here
only the middle third - the stillman's skill and keen eye are essential
to capture the heart off the run - a totally clear and sparkling crystal
spirit now 70 % by volume our raw Edradour spirit.
Each of our 5 weekly mashes in our tiny stone built distillery produces  
litres of wort and finally yields about 430 litres of spirit - enough in a
good week to fill 12 casks.
A drop in the ocean perhaps to some distillers but we have always
believed that The Edradour has a quality that cannot be matched.
The Edradour then rests in warehouses in the damp cool Scottish
air until we bottle it some-time after its tenth anniversary. The result
is a magnificent malt produced in the tradition of yesteryear.

2009:
Capacity: 96.600 litres =
about 12 casks a week
Mash tun: cast iron, with rake and
plough
Grist per mash: 1.1 tonnes
Worts volume: 5000 litres
Washbacks: Two, Oregon pine,
5000 litres each
Fermentation time: Two days
Wash still: One, capacity 4.218 litres
Spirit still; One, short with reflux neck
capacity : 2.179 ltres
Casks used: Sherry, and first fill butt
also some
second fill, first fill bourbon casks

I wrote Caledonia, in 1977 on a beach in Brittany, France, when I was genuinely homesick for
Scotland. My life has always been based in Pertshire. For me, the location of Edradour, with
its neat cluster of whitewashed buildings, traditional equipment and of ancient methods of
making single malt whisky combined with its state of the art bottling facility typify Caledonia.

So it is great to be joining forces with Andrew Symington and Edradour Distillery, to bring you this
wonderfully rich and complex 12 year old single malt.

"Let me tell you that I love you and think about you all the time
Caledonia you'r calling me and now I'am going home
But if I should become a stranger you know that it would make me more than sad
Caledonia's been everything I' ve ever had"

(The Chorus from Caledonia - Music & Lyrics by Dougie MacLean, and published with per-
mission from the Publishers - Lime Arts and Music)

Water: Moulin Moor
Mash tun: 1 x 1 tonnes
Washbacks: 2 x 1000 litres
1 wash still x 4218 litres
1 spirit still x 2182 litres
Output: 100.000 litres

The low-slung farm buildings contain traditional equipment – mashing is in a one tonne, open-topped, rake and plough mash tun, the wort is cooled in a replica of an old ‘Morton’s refrigerator’, the washbacks are wooden, the tiny stills lead into worm tubs.

The make is robust but fruity and since the Signatory takeover, ex-Sherry casks have been the preferred destination for the new make. A wide number of fortified wine and still wine casks have also been used for ‘finishing’. Ballechin, on the other hand, which is also produced at the distillery, is deemed to show itself better in ex-Bourbon casks.

Another of central Perthshire’s multiplicity of farm distilleries, Edradour started production at its current site in 1837, although one of the farmers who formed that original consortium, Duncan Forbes, had been legally distilling close by since 1825. The plentiful supplies of water, tight, hidden glens, and access to back roads into Perth, made this a prime area for moonshining, so it is entirely possible (even probable) that Forbes knew the intricacies of whisky-making before going legit.

It remained associated with the original grouping until 1933, when the Mackintosh family sold it as a (barely) going concern to the famous blending house of William Whiteley. Quite why Whiteley bought such a small distillery – it was Scotland’s tiniest for many years – has never been fully explained. The firm had built up a solid business in the US during Prohibition with its King’s Ransom blend, thanks to Whiteley’s appointment of none other than Mafia boss Frank Costello as his US sales representative. Five years later, Costello’s associate Irving Haim took over as Edradour’s owner, with Costello (and his firm) taking a share of sales of King’s Ransom. This slightly unusual arrangement lasted until Haim’s death in 1976.

In 1982 the distillery, once again in a bad state, was sold to Pernod Ricard subsidiary Campbell Distillers who immediately opened it to visitors. It continued to play a low-key role in blends until 1986, when it first appeared as a single malt.

In 2002, Pernod Ricard deemed it surplus to its requirements and it was sold to independent bottler Signatory Vintage. It was a perfect fit. Since then, Signatory has built extensive warehousing for its own casks, a bottling line, a tasting room and expanded production to include heavily peated variant Ballechin. One of the prettiest distilleries in Scotland, Edradour remains a major tourist attraction.

Signatory Vintage Scotch Whisky Company
2002 - present
Edradour Distillery Company
Pernod Ricard
1982 - 2002
William Whiteley & Co
1933 - 1982
John McIntosh & Co
1886 - 1933
James Reid & Co
1860 - 1885
John MacGlashan & Co
1841 - 1860
John MacGlashan and local farmers
1837 - 1841

GLENFORRES
BLENDED MALT SCOTCH WHISKY
Right up until the 1980s, demand for William Whiteley & Co’s blends was so great that every drop of malt whisky produced by its small Edradour distillery was earmarked for blending. The only clue consumers had to the Pitlochry distillery’s flavour profile was in a bottle of Glenforres, a vatted malt containing Edradour and one other Highland malt.

Glenforres was released in a variety of ages towards the end of the last century, most notably as a 12-year-old bottled at 43% abv, and more recently as an 8-year-old.

With Edradour at its core, Glenforres was light, fragrant, smooth and mellow with a typically refreshing southern Highland profile.

The firm of William Whiteley & Co. was founded in 1922 as a Leith-based blending business, which went on to (illegally) establish a large presence in the US with its King’s Ransom blend during Prohibition. Following Repeal, the company purchased Edradour distillery in Pitlochry in 1933, a small farm concern that started life in 1825 under the name Glenforres. It was Edradour’s original name that inspired Whiteley & Co to produce a vatted malt, registered to its Glenforres-Glenlivet Distillery Co. subsidiary.

In 1982 the distillery and its associated blends were sold to S Campbell & Son, a subsidiary of French drinks group Pernod Ricard, which soon ceased production of all Whiteley’s brands, bar King’s Ransom.

Stripped of its obligations to fill Whiteley’s blends, Edradour was finally released as a single malt in 1986. Two decades later the distillery was sold on to independent bottler Signatory Vintage Scotch Whisky in 2002, although the dormant Glenforres brand remains with Pernod Ricard’s Chivas Brothers subsidiary.

WILLIAM WHITELEY & CO
William Whiteley was born in Yorkshire in 1861, the son of a stonemason turned wine and spirits merchant. In the early years of the 20th century, Whiteley was employed as an agent by James Munro & Sons Ltd, concentrating on export sales. Munro sacked him for entering into unauthorised relationships with traders of dubious character in Africa during 1908, after which he set up his own business of William Whiteley & Company. This business traded from an address in London’s Victoria and then from three rapidly changing Scottish addresses, explained by the fact that he filed for bankruptcy in 1912.

Undeterred, he purchased the wine and spirits merchants JG Turney & Son Ltd in 1914 and proceeded to use this as a holding company for all his future business ventures, though in 1922 he again began to use his own name with W Whiteley & Company Ltd.

The period of US Prohibition (1920-33) gave Whiteley a new opportunity, and he developed a lucrative relationship with mafia boss Frank Costello, smuggling his own blends of Scotch whisky into the States via the island of St Pierre, off the coast of Newfoundland.

In 1928 Whiteley formulated what was to become his best-known blend, King’s Ransom, presented in a distinctive square bottle, and soon renowned as the most expensive Scotch in the world. Five years later Whiteley purchased Edradour distillery in Perthshire for £1,050. This gave him a source of malt whisky for blending purposes and reciprocal trading, and Edradour became a staple ingredient of King’s Ransom.

Most of Whiteley’s business was with North America, and along with King’s Ransom, his other highest profile blended Scotch was House of Lords, which was only available in export markets until 1996 due to protests at its naming by the upper house of the British parliament.

In 1938 William Whiteley made the decision to retire and closed down the business of JG Turney & Son Ltd, though the name Turney’s Distillery Ltd was adopted by the American Irving Haim, who also acquired the shares of W Whiteley & Co Ltd and other associated companies. William Whiteley died in 1941, leaving a sum in excess of £1 million in today’s terms.

Irving Haim was an associate of Frank Costello, now the most influential Mafia boss in the US, and rumours abounded that it was Mafia money that had bought Haim’s Scotch whisky interests. W Whiteley & Co Ltd remained in the Haim family until 1978.

In 1982 the Pernod Ricard subsidiary S Campbell & Son Ltd acquired all the subsidiary companies of JG Turney & Son Ltd, principally William Whiteley & Co Ltd and Whiteley’s Glenforres-Glenlivet Distillery Co, which he had established back in 1922 to give the illusion that he owned a distillery, and one worthy of attaching the Glenlivet name to it. Needless to say, there never has been a Glenforres distillery.

Today only the now ultra-respectable Edradour distillery and the lavishly-packaged bottles of King’s Ransom 12-year-old and House of Lords 8- and 12-year-old from the 1970s and ’80s that appear at auction from time to time serve as a reminder of William Whiteley and his dubious days in the Scotch whisky business.

SIGNATORY VINTAGE SCOTCH WHISKY COMPANY
Signatory is an independent bottler with a vigorous release policy, and usually some 50 different single malt expressions are available at any one time. Whiskies are bottled across a number of ranges, including the Un-chill Filtered Collection, the Cask Strength Collection and the Single Grain Collection.

Signatory bottling, bonding and office facilities are located in a building adjacent to Edradour distillery, near Pitlochry in Perthshire, which the company also owns.

Signatory Vintage Scotch Whisky was established in 1988 by Andrew Symington, who had previously managed the prestigious Prestonfield House Hotel in Edinburgh. The first cask bottled by Symington was a 1968 Sherry-cask-matured Glenlivet.

Signatory was initially based in the Newhaven area of Edinburgh, where a bottling plant was developed, but in 2002 the firm acquired Edradour distillery from Pernod Ricard, and subsequently moved all of its operations north to the picturesque Perthshire location.

A new bottling plant and a warehousing complex were constructed, strictly in keeping with the vernacular architectural style which prevails at the much-visited and diminutive former farm distillery.

KING'S RANSOM
BLENDED SCOTCH WHISKY
In his colourful career, the small-time whisky baron William Whiteley launched nearly 50 Scotch brands, owned Edradour and had the infamous Mafia boss, Frank Costello, as his US ‘sales consultant’ during Prohibition.

King’s Ransom was Whiteley’s pride and joy, aimed at the luxury American market with its squat, square-shaped bottle and colourful label that included the words ‘Round the World’. Adverts from the 1960s explained how the whisky was carried as ballast in Ocean-going liners and that the rocking motion at sea helped marry its component parts.

Yorkshire-born William Whiteley was 67 when he created his flagship blend, King’s Ransom, in 1928. With Frank Costello as his US agent it was doubtless being sipped in the speakeasy bars of Prohibition America.

The core of the blend was said to be Edradour, the tiny Perthshire distillery that Whiteley acquired for £1,050 in 1933.When he died in 1941, Costello’s associate Irving Haim took over the distillery while Costello and his firm took a share of sales of King’s Ransom. This unusual arrangement continued until Haim’s death in 1976.

Six years later Pernod Ricard’s then Scotch whisky arm, Campbell Distillers, bought Edradour and the three remaining William Whiteley brands. Among them was the King’s Ransom, which was discontinued in the 1980s.    

Chivas Brothers Holdings
William Whiteley & Co
1928 - 1982

CAMPBELL DISTILLERS
A Glasgow-based whisky blending and bottling company that purchased the Aberlour distillery after the Second World War. Following its acquisition by Pernod Ricard it added the Glenallachie distillery to its stable and found a major market for its Clan Campbell brand of blended whisky in France and Spain.

Campbell Distillers has one of the most complicated legacies of identity crisis of any Scottish whisky company, boasting several name changes in just 50 years.

In 1933 wine shipper Samuel Rosenbloom formed a whisky merchant, Forbes McGregor & Co. The company was based in Campbell House, Glasgow and when the Rosenbloom family changed their name to Ross, Samuel decided to use the name Campbell instead.

Around 1934 he acquired Glasgow blender Muir Mackenzie & Co. Ltd. and in 1937 changed the company name to S. Campbell & Son Ltd. In 1945 S. Campbell & Son purchased its first distillery, Aberlour, as well as the Glasgow Bonding Co., to give it access to a bottling operation.

In 1950 Samuel’s son Arnold Campbell and brother, Jack Ross, incorporated the Aberlour-Glenlivet Distillery Co. with most of the shares being held by the Commercial Bank of Scotland.

Through a subsidiary company, Campbells (Distillery) Ltd., S. Campbell blended and bottled Clan Campbell blended Scotch whisky. This whisky is still very popular on the continent of Europe. Another popular blend was White Heather, named after Campbells (Distillery) Ltd.’s original company name.

In 1974 S. Campbell & Son was purchased by the French giant Pernod Ricard, which in turn set up a holding company, House of Campbell. When Pernod Ricard merged House of Campbell with wine shipper J. R. Parkington in 1988, the new company was finally named Campbell Distillers.

In 1989 Pernod Ricard added the Glenallachie distillery to the company’s holdings after purchasing it from Invergordon Distillers.

Campbell Distillers’ portfolio merged with Chivas Brothers’ when it was acquired by Pernod Ricard in 2001.

ASSOCIATED COMPANIES
Allied Breweries
Allied Distillers
Allied Domecq
Allied Lyons
Chivas Brothers Holdings

WHITE HEATHER
BLENDED SCOTCH WHISKY
In the 1960s the White Heather blend was sometimes offered in a tartan gift box featuring a map of Scotland on which was drawn a big heart over Speyside. If the heather honey flavours of Speyside malts permeated the blend it was thanks to Aberlour, which White Heather’s owner, S. Campbell & Son, acquired in 1945.

Besides the standard non-age-statement bottle, White Heather was sold as a 5-year-old, 8-year-old and ‘deluxe’ 15-year-old until the brand was abandoned in the 1980s.

White Heather has its roots in the 1930s, when Samuel Rosenbloom established the whisky merchant firm of Forbes McGregor & Co. In 1934 Rosenbloom (who had changed his own surname to Campbell), acquired Glasgow blender Muir Mackenzie & Co and changed the company’s name to reflect his own – S. Campbell & Son Ltd.

In 1945 S. Campbell & Son acquired Aberlour distillery from W.H. Holt & Sons, providing the company with a steady source of malt whisky for its burgeoning blends.

By the early 1950s a subsidiary called White Heather Distillers Ltd had been established to blend and bottle the White Heather blend. The subsidiary later became Campbell (Distillery) Ltd., which also blended and bottled the Clan Campbell blend.

In 1974 the whole enterprise was taken over by Pernod Ricard, and a decade later the French firm ceased bottling White Heather to focus on Clan Campbell, which went on to become a hugely popular whisky in France.

S. Campbell & Son was eventually renamed Campbell Distillers under Pernod Ricard

1825
Edradour founded by local
farmers as Glenforres Distillery
1837
The first year the name of
Edradour is mentioned
1841
The local farmers form a pro-
prietary company: John MacGlashan
& Co
1886
John McIntosh buys Edradour
1933
Willam Whiteley & Co buys Edradour
1982
Campbell Distilleries from Pernod -
Ricard buys Edradour
A Visitor Centre is opened
1986
First Edradour as a single malt
is released
2002
Edradour is bought by Andrew
Symington owner of Signatory for
5.4000.000 pound
A 10 year- and a 13 year CS year
old is released
2003
10 year old is released
2004
Wood Finishes our launches as CS
2006
First bottling of Beallechin Peated
is launched
2007
A Ballechin Madeira Wood is released
2008
Ballechin matured in Port Pipes, a 10
year old Edradour Sauternes Finish
are released
2009
Fouth Edition of Ballechin Oloroso
Sherry released
2010
Ballechin 5th Edition, Marsala is
released
2011
Ballechin 6th Edition Bourbon and
a 26 year old PX Sherry are
released
2012
Two 1993 Finishes are released
a Sauternes Finish and aSauternes
and the 7th Edition of Ballechin
a Bordeaux Finish
2013
Ballechin Sauternes Finish is released
2014
First release Ballechin 10 years old
2015
Fairy Flag is released
2017
Vatting of Edradour and Ballechin
released
2018
New distillery is comminsioned
2020
Capacit: 260.000 Ltrs
Output: 260.000 Ltrs
The ouput of peated is diminished

The low-slung farm buildings contain traditional equipment – mashing is in a one tonne, open-topped, rake and plough mash tun, the wort is cooled in a replica of an old ‘Morton’s refrigerator’, the washbacks are wooden, the tiny stills lead into worm tubs.

The make is robust but fruity and since the Signatory takeover, ex-Sherry casks have been the preferred destination for the new make. A wide number of fortified wine and still wine casks have also been used for ‘finishing’. Ballechin, on the other hand, which is also produced at the distillery, is deemed to show itself better in ex-Bourbon casks.

Another of central Perthshire’s multiplicity of farm distilleries, Edradour started production at its current site in 1837, although one of the farmers who formed that original consortium, Duncan Forbes, had been legally distilling close by since 1825. The plentiful supplies of water, tight, hidden glens, and access to back roads into Perth, made this a prime area for moonshining, so it is entirely possible (even probable) that Forbes knew the intricacies of whisky-making before going legit.

It remained associated with the original grouping until 1933, when the Mackintosh family sold it as a (barely) going concern to the famous blending house of William Whiteley. Quite why Whiteley bought such a small distillery – it was Scotland’s tiniest for many years – has never been fully explained. The firm had built up a solid business in the US during Prohibition with its King’s Ransom blend, thanks to Whiteley’s appointment of none other than Mafia boss Frank Costello as his US sales representative. Five years later, Costello’s associate Irving Haim took over as Edradour’s owner, with Costello (and his firm) taking a share of sales of King’s Ransom. This slightly unusual arrangement lasted until Haim’s death in 1976.

In 1982 the distillery, once again in a bad state, was sold to Pernod Ricard subsidiary Campbell Distillers who immediately opened it to visitors. It continued to play a low-key role in blends until 1986, when it first appeared as a single malt.

In 2002, Pernod Ricard deemed it surplus to its requirements and it was sold to independent bottler Signatory Vintage. It was a perfect fit. Since then, Signatory has built extensive warehousing for its own casks, a bottling line, a tasting room and expanded production to include heavily peated variant Ballechin. One of the prettiest distilleries in Scotland, Edradour remains a major tourist attraction.


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