Glen Albyn

SCOTCH SINGLE MALT WHISKIES > G

GLEN ALBYN

21 years old

40 %
CONNOISSEURS CHOICE
LAST BOTTLE AND EMPTY
Distilled 1968
Bottled 1989
Proprietors: Mackinlay & Birnie Ltd
Gordon & Macphail, Elgin

GLEN ALBYN

23 years old

40 %
CONNOISSEURS CHOICE
Distilled 1968
Bottled 1991
Proprietors: Mackinlay & Birnie Ltd
Gordon & Macpahil, Elgin

GLEN ALBYN

21 years old

40 %
CONNOISSEURS CHOICE
Distilled 1972
Bottled 1993
Proprietors: Mackinlay & Birnie Ltd'
Gordon & Macphail, Elgin

GLEN ALBYN

25 years old

40 %
CONNOISSEURS CHOICE
Distilled 1972
Bottled 1997
Proprietors: Mackinaly & Birnie Ltd
Gordon & Macphail, Elgin

GLEN ALBYN

25 years old

40 %
CONNOISSEURS CHOICE
Distilled 1973
Bottled 1998
Proprietors: Mackinlay & Birnie Ltd
Gordon & Macpahil, Elgin

GLEN ALBYN

26 years old

40 %
CONNOISSEURS CHOICE
Distilled 1974
Bottled 2000
Proprietors: Mackinlay & Birnie Ltd
Gordon & Macpahil, Elgin

GLEN ALBYN

14 years old

43 %
VINTAGE 1980
Distilled 13.11.80
Bottled 2.95
Cask No. 2949
440 bottles
Signatory Vintage
Scotch Whisky Co, Ltd, Edinburgh

GLEN ALBYN

31 years old

51,5 %
SILENT STILLS
Distilled 16.12.65
Bottled 15.5.97
Butt No. 3835
530 bottles
Mackinlays & Birnie Ltd
Signatory Vintage
Scotch Whisky Co, Ltd, Edinburgh

GLEN ALBYN

20 years old

43 %
VINTAGE 1977
Distilled 12.8.77
Bottled 14.1.98
Cask No. 1958
280 bottles
Signatory Vintage
Scotch Whisky Co, Ltd, Edinburgh

GLEN ALBYN

23 years old

43 %
VINTAGE 1978
Distilled 22.2.78
Bottled 6.4.2001
Cask No. 696
364 bottles
Signatory Vintage
Scotch Whisky Co, Ltd, Edinburgh

GLEN ALBYN

26 years old

54,8 %

RARE MALTS SELECTION
Natural Cask Strenght
Distilled 1975
Bottled May 2002
Limited Edition
Genummerde flessen
Scottish Malt Distillers, Elgin
Founded in 1846 by provost James Sutherland of Inverness, now-closed,

Glen Albyn was the sister distillery to Glen Mhor, the two facing each other by the head of the Caledonian Canal.

GLEN ALBYN

25 years old

43 %
SIGNATORY VINTAGE
VINTAGE 1978
Single Highland Malt Scotch Whisky
Distilled on 22nd February 1978
Cask Nr.6898
Bottled on 29th October 2003
366 Bottles
Genummerde flessen
Natural Colour
Signatory Vintage
Scotch Whisky Co, Ltd, Edinburgh

GLEN ALBYN

25 years old

58.7 %

SINGLE CASK
SCOTCH MALT WHISKY
Society Cask code 69.10
Date Distilled Jul 79
Date Bottled Mar 05
Outturn 240 Bottles
The Scotch Malt Whisky Society,
The Vaults, Leith, Edinburgh
'Flamengo dancer with slow legs'
This Inverness distillery was constructed in 1844 near the Caledonian Canal basin. It closed in 1983 and no longer exists.

Olive gold from a refill hoggie, it has a complex and promising nose; with green olives, green peppercorns in sauce and peppermint somehow suggesting tapas. With water it has sweetness, smoke and embers. Leave it long enough and a whiff of sulphur comes through. The taste is sweet (almond biscuits) and fiery hot. Even with water it still has a kick. With the tapas, the fiery nature and the kick we thought of flamenco dancers -except that it has extremely slow legs !

GLEN ALBYN

29 years old

46 %
CONNOISSEURS CHOICE
Distilled 1974
Bottled 2003
Proprietors: Mackinlay & Birnie Ltd
Gordon & Macphail, Elgin

GLEN ALBYN

30 years old

46 %
SINGLE HIGHLAND MALT
Distilled 1975
Bottled 2006
Proprietors: Mackinlay & Birnie Limited
Bonded and Bottled by
Gordon & Macphail, Elgin

GLEN ALBYN
1 9 7 6
36 years

43 %
DISTILLERY LABELS
Single Highland malt Scotch Whisky
Distilled 1976
Bottled 2012
Proprietors: MacKinlay & Birnie Limited
Bonded and bottled by
Gordon & Macphail, Elgin

Output: 1,5.00.000 litres a year

1844 Founded by James Sutherland

1846 Production starts

1849 A Fire in November damages Glen Albyn

1850 Production starts in February

1855 James Sutherland goes bankrupt due to

the costly repair work and the distillery

is put up for sale without success

1866 The building is transformed into a flour

mill

1884 New owners Gregory & Co convert the flour

mill to a distillery

1891 Glen Albyn Distillery Company is formed

1892 A sister distillery is build, Glen Mhor by the

manager of Glen Albyn John Birnie and

James Mackinlay

1920 Mackinlay & Birnie Ltd, owners of Glen Mhor

buy Glen Albyn distillery and run both distil-

leries in parallel operations

1954 Floor malting are abolished and replaced by

a Saladin box

1972 Distillers Company Ltd (D.C.L.) buys Glen Albyn

which is administered by Scotch Malt Distillers

Ltd. (S.M.D.).

1983 Glen Albyn is taken out of production

1986 Glen Albyn is demolished

GLEN ALBYN

31 years old

56.3 %

SINGLE MALT SCOTCH WHISKY

FROM A SINGLE CASK

Distilled: July 1979

Cask Type : Refill Butt / ex Sherry

Outturn 230 Bottles

Society Single Cask No: 69.14

The Scotch Malt Whisky Society,

The Vaults, Leith.

Crispy duck with Cointreau

We, the Tasting Panel, verify that the Scotch Malt Whisky inside this bottle has been

passed under some of the most scrupulous noses in the world and approved for re-

lease as a Society bottling.

Only single cask whiskies that promise to intrigue, entertain and delight our members

are selected, true to our motto “To leave no nose upturned “.

The nose has crispy duck with orange or plum, rye bread, dates, wood shavings and

and polished silver; water brings Cointreau, marmalade and cola cubes.

The rich, dry palate carries toffee, syrup, chilli chocolate, sultanas, fruit peel and peppery smoked ham.

On the nose, early sauerkraut gradually turned to citrus – we found crispy duck with

orange or plum sauce.

We found crispy duck with orange or plum sauce. We also indenified rye bread, dates

tempura, wood shavings and various things polished in an antique shop. The unreduced

palate was dry and rich with some spikiness but lots of sweet fruity things – toffee, syrup

chocolate and a desert samosa with sultanas and fruit peel.

Water brought cola cubes, Cointreau, crunchy peanut butter, marmalade and Parma ham

to the nose. The palate had tingly spice, peppery smoked ham, chilli chocolate, orange

peel and flowers.

This Inverness distillery was replaced by a supermarket.

The Northern Highlands
GLEN ALBYN

Inverness. Licentiehouder: Mackinlay & Birnie Ltd. Onderdeel van Scottish Malt Distillers Ltd, De malt divisie van Distillers Company Ltd. (D.C.L.).
Glen Albyn werd gesticht door James Sutherland in 1840, burgemeester van Inverness.
De distilleerderij werd gebouwd op de overblijfsel van de Muirtown bierbrouwerij en werd geopend op 9 Januari 1840.
Glen Albyn lag naast het Caledonian Canal.
In 1849 werd Glen Albyn grotendeels door brand verwoest.
Glen Albyn werd door James Sutherland herbouwd in 1850 en ging in 1852 weer in produktie.
James Sutherland hield het in 1855 voor gezien.
In 1866 werd de licentie van Glen Albyn ingetrokken omdat er een pijpleiding was ontdekt die liep van de distilleerderij naar een plaatselijke pub.
Glen Albyn was omstreeks deze tijd ook nog in gebruik als graanmaalderij.
In 1884 werd Glen Albyn herbouwd door William Grigor & Son te Inverness, hij verkocht één van de oude ketels toen aan William Grant die de ketel ging gebruiken in zijn toen nieuwe Balvenie distilleerderij.
De bedrijfsleider van Glen Albyn was John Birnie maar ging wat later een compagnonschap aan met Charles Mackinlay & Co, whisky- en wijnhandelaars te Leith.
Zij bouwden toen de Glen Mhor distilleerderij tegenover Glen Albyn.
In 1920 werd Glen Albyn overgenomen door Mackinlay & Birnie Ltd, de eigenaars van Glen Mhor.
Glen Albyn was gesloten van 1917 tot 1919 en in gebruik als mijnenwerkplaats van de Amerikaanse Marine.
Glen Albyn was weer gesloten van 1941 tot 1945.
In 1961 werd de vloermouterij vervangen door een mouterij volgens het Saladin systeem.
Sinds 1906 bezat John Walker & Sons Ltd een belang van 43^ % in Mackinlay & Birnie en doordat John Walker & Son Ltd sinds 1925 behoorden tot de Distillers Company Ltd, kon D.C.L. de rest van de aandelen kopen van Scottish & NewCastle Breweries Ltd, sinds 1961 voor 10,9 % aandeelhouder in Mackinlay & Birnie en van de families Mackinlay en Birnie.

In 1983 sloot de D.C.L. Glen Albyn.
Kort daarna werd Glen Albyn ontmanteld.
Glen Albyn had één Wash still en één Spirit still.

October 2005
Diageo has announced that its 2005 Annual Rare Malts Selection will be the last.
The collection will consist of four cask strenght single malts from closed distilleries; Glen Mhor 28 years old, Millburn 35 years old, Glendullan 26 years old and Linkwood 30 years old.
Dr. Nicholas Morgan, global malts marketing director commented: 'As the Special Releases are now well established, it makes less sence to continue selecting and promoting a parallel series of Rare Malts with his own separate indentity'.
In future, all premium and rare whiskies will be made available in the annual Special Releases series.

1844

Founded by James Sutherland and

inaugurated in October
1845

Production starts
1849

A fire in November damages

Glen Albyn
1850

Production recommences in February
1855

James Sutherland goes bankrupt due to the

costly repair work

and the distillery is put up for sale without

success
1866

The building is transformed into a flour mill
1884

Gregory & Co new owners and converts the

mill into a distillery
1891

Glen Albyn Distillery Company is formed
1892

A sister distillery, Glen Mhor is built by the

manager of Glen Albyn
John Birnie and James Mackinlay
1920

Mackinlay & Birnie Ltd, owner of Glen Mhor,

buys Glen Albyn and
runs both distilleries in parallel operations
1954

Floor maltings is abolished and replaced by a

Saladin box
1972

Distillers Company Limited (D.C.L.)

buys Glen Albyn which is admini-
strated by Scottish Malt Distillers Ltd, (S.M.D.)
1983

Glen Albyn is taken out of production and

also the maltings

1986

Glen Albyn is demolished

Glen Albyn was a small distillery with an output

of 1,5 million litres

The name comes from Glen is valley and Alba,

the old name for Scotland

It was built on the ruins of Muirtown brewery

2002

Glen Albyn is lauched as a Rare Malt,

26 years old and distilled in

1975
Output: 1,5.00.000 litres a year
In 1884

output was 340.000 litres
In 1954

Glen Albyn pioneered mechanical malting

as opposed tot traditional floor malting
The old stills, 1 Wash still had a capacity

of 8128 litres and the Spirit still had a

capacity of
6819 litres, were replaced with 1 Wash still

with a capacity of 13.600 litres and a Spirit still
0f 11.360 litres.

The old stills had odd lyne arms which were said to cool the fluid more quickly and did im-
prove its flavor.

The lyne arms did have a circular cross section but were flattered, giving a capital D - shaped
cross section, with the flat side lying down, and each still fad a 100 m - long coil or submerged
worm to coll the vapours and was indirectly heated by steam coils.

The output was 1.125000 litres spirit, however the last years the production was only 330.00
litres a year.

The warehouses, shared with Glen Mhor had a capacity of 60.000 casks

The old stills were build by Fleming, Benner & McLaren in Glasgow

This Inverness malt distillery was a forerunner of innovation though sadly demolished in 1983.

Of the new distilleries founded during the late 19th century, Glen Albyn was notable for its uniquely shaped worm tubs, which were shaped into the letter D with the flat side down to cool the spirit quickly. It was also one of the first distilleries to introduce Saladin box maltings, along with its neighbour, Glen Mhor.

Unlike Glen Mhor, which was bottled as a single malt throughout the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Glen Albyn’s whisky was mostly sold for blending. Some official bottlings were released in the 1970s, while a 26-year-old edition became part of Diageo’s Rare Malts collection in 2001. A handful of independent bottlings also exist though have become exceedingly rare.

Inverness was once the chief malting town in Scotland and teemed with malt kilns and breweries, though following the agricultural revolution many of these closed down. Glen Albyn distillery was founded on the site of one of these ruined malt kilns on the banks of the Caledonian Canal Basin and the Highland Railway, which brought in peat and coal.

It was founded in 1846 by James Sutherland, provost of Inverness, who ran the distillery for six years. Following a period of disuse the site was converted into a flour mill in 1866.

Glen Albyn was given a second chance at producing spirit in 1884 when it was converted back into a distillery capable of producing 75,000 gallons of spirit a year by Grigor & Co., which passed it onto the Glenalbyn Distillery Co. in 1891.

The following year distillery manager John Birnie – who was also provost of Inverness for six years in 1910 – left to form a partnership with Leith blender Charles Mackinlay, which resulted in the construction of Glen Mhor distillery next door. This new partnership went on to acquire Glen Albyn in 1920.

Both distilleries were among the first to introduce Saladin boxes in place of floor maltings in 1954, and were picked up together in DCL’s takeover of Mackinlays & Birnie in 1972. However neither survived the market downturn of the 1980s, and both plants were closed in 1983 along with other DCL distilleries such as Brora, Banff and Dallas Dhu.

Both Glen Albyn and Glen Mhor were later demolished to make way for superstores.

Diageo

1997 - present

United Distillers

1986 - 1997

Distillers Company Limited

1972 - 1986

Mackinlays & Birnie Limited

1920 - 1972

Glenalbyn Distillery Co

1891 - 1920

Grigor/Gregory & Co

1884 - 1891

James Sutherland

1847 - 1852