Glenesk

SCOTCH SINGLE MALT WHISKIES > G

GLENESK

10 years old

64.7 %
Date Distilled Jul 81
Date Bottled Jul 91
Society Cask No. code 86.2
The Scotch Malt Whisky Society,
The Vaults, Leith, Edinburgh

Also see Hillside

Other names Highland Esk, North Esk, Montrose

1897

Converted from flax – spinning mill by James Isles

The name is Highland Esk

1898

Septimes Parsonage & Co Ltd, London, buys the distillery

1899

J.F. Caille Heddle buys Highland Esk and changes the name

in North Esk Distillery

1910

A fire breaks out and the distillery has to be rebuilt

1914 – 1918

The distillery is closed

1919

Thomas Bernard & Co buys the distillery but only uses the

maltings. The name is now North Esk Maltings

1938

Bought by Associated Scottish Distillers Ltd, headed b

Joseph Hobbs, and a subsidiary of]Train & McIntyre Ltd,

tself owned by National Distillers of America.

The distillery is converterd into a grain distillery.

The name is Montrose distillery

1954

The distillery is bought by Distillers Company Limited (D.C.L.)

who uses the facilities for storage and malting

1959

D.C.L. resumes grain distilling

1964

D.C.L. transfers operations to Scottish malt Distillers Ltd, (S.M.D.)

who starts malt distilling. The name changes again: Hillside

1968

A large drum maltings is built adjacent to the distillery

1980

Name changes to Glenesk Distillery & Maltings

1985

The distillery closes in December

GLENESK

12 years old

40 %
CONNOISSEURS CHOICE
Distilled 1982
Bottled 1994
Proprietors: Wm Sanderson & Son Ltd
Gordon & Macphail, Elgin

GLENESK

13 years old

40 %
CONNOISSEURS CHOICE
Distilled 1984
Bottled 1997
Proprietors: Wm. Sanderson & Son Ltd
Gordon & Macphail, Elgin

GLENESK

15 years old

40 %
CONNOISSEURS CHOICE
Distilled 1985
Bottled 2000
Proprietors Wm. Sanderson & Son Ltd
Gordon & Macphail, Elgin
Highland Malt

GLENESK

20 years old

43 %
CONNOISSEURS CHOICE
Distilled 1984
Bottled 2004
Proprietors: Wm. Sanderson & Son, Ltd
Gordon & Macphail, Elgin

GLENESK

Aged 20 years

58.4 %

PEERLESS
RARE AULD
CASK STRENGHT SCOTCH WHISKY
A Unique Whisky of Distinction
Fons et Origo
D T C
date distilled 11.1983
date bottled 07.2004
Cask no. 4928
616 Numbered Bottles
Duncan Taylor & Co, Ltd,
Huntly, Aberdeenshire

In Montrose, at the mouth of the South Esk river lies Glenesk distillery.

The distillery began life as a flax mill but was converted in 1897 by a wine merchant to become a malt distillery. It was a good site, with plenty of water available and it was surrounded by barley.

The name of the distillery has caused some confusion. It was christened Highland Esk Dis¬tillery before being changed to North Esk, Montrosa, Hillside before finally adopting the name Glenesk.

Glenesk and six other distilleries, including nearby Fettercairn, were members of The Associated Scottish Distilleries, a company formed with the National Distillers of America to supply whisky to the Americans following prohibition.

The distillery has been used for both grain and malt whisky distillation, but the small scale of the operation was uneconomical so in 1968, D C L built a hugh drum maltings alongside the distillery. The new maltings were capable of germinating over 740 tonnes of barley at any one time.

The original owner painted a giant bottle on the back wall of the distillery and clearly marked it Vat 69. This was a recipe of blended whisky which was unanimously chosen as the 'house blend' and the name, Vat 69, stuck. Glenesk single malt was a component of Vat 69, however all maturing stocks have been removed

The Eastern Highlands
GLENESK also see HILLSIDE

Hillside, Montrose, Angus. Licentiehouder: Wm. Sanderson & Sons Limited. Onderdeel van Scottish Malt Distillers Ltd. (S.M.D.) De maltdivisie van United Distillers Limited. Eigendom van Guinness.

De distilleerderij die het meest van naam veranderde.

In 1896 werd James Isles, een wijn- en drankenhandelaar te Dundee pachter van een stuk grond waarop eerder een vlasfabriek stond.
De plek was goed, dicht bij het spoorwegstation, goed en overvloedig water en temidden van gerstakkers.

Highland Esk
In 1897 werd de wijn- en drankenhandelaar Septimes Parsonage & Co te Londen de eigenaar en bouwde een distilleerderij, Highland Esk

.
North Esk
In 1905 werd J.F. Caille Heddle, een distillateur en veranderde de naam van de distil-leerderij in North Esk.
Gedurende de eerste wereldoorlog was North Esk gesloten en de gebouwen werden gebruikt door het leger.
In 1910 werd North Esk door brand verwoest.
Thomas Bernard & Co kocht North Esk in 1919, maar alleen de mouterij wordt gebruikt.

Montrose
In 1938 wordt Associated Scottish Distillers, gevormd door Joseph W. Hobbs (1893-1963) de eigenaar.
De gebouwen werden hersteld en maakten North Esk ook geschikt om graan whisky te maken. De naam werd veranderd in Montrose.
In de tweede wereldoorlog was het gebouwencomplex weer in gebruik door het leger.

Hillside
In 1954 kocht de Distillers Company Limited (D.C.L.) Montrose van de eigenaars van Associated Scottish Distillers, National Distillers uit de V.S.
Korte tijd daarna waren alleen de mouterij en lagerpakhuizen nog in gebruik.
D.C.L. deed Montrose over aan hun malt divisie de Scottish Malt Distillers Ltd, die de distilleerderij weer geschikt maakten om alleen malt whisky te produceren.
De produktie begon in November 1965 en weer veranderde de distilleerderij van naam, Hillside.
In 1968 werd een grote mechanische mouterij in gebruik genomen, waar ook wordt gemout voor andere distilleerderijen van de S.M.D.
Er wordt alleen Schotse gerst gebruikt
In 1980 wordt de malt distilleerderij gesloten, de naam veranderd in Glenesk Distillery & Maltings en alleen de mouterij blijft in gebruik.

De whisky was de bepalende malt in de blend Vat 69.
De tegenwoordige eigenaar van de mouterij is Paui's Malt, de grootste mout producent van Schotland.
November 1996 werden de ketels verwijderd en naar Venezuela verkocht. Er stonden tot dan vier ketels, twee Wash stills en twee Spirit stills.

The distillery was established in 1898, on a site formerly occupied by a flax spinning mill. It had the immediate advantages of an abundant supply of water from the North Esk, and of proximity to Hillside Station on what was then the North British Railway. Its hinterland was a particularly good source of the raw material of malt whisky. Some of Scotland's best barleys are grown in Angus and that part of Kincardineshire known as the Howe of the Mearns. Fields of barley surround the distillery today.
James Isles, wine and spirit merchant of Dundee, acquired the feu charter in 1896. It was transferred in the following year toSeptimus Parsonage & Co., wine and spirit merchants, of 79 Mark Lane, London E.C. They were last recorded in 1905 as the licensees of Highland Esk Distillery (its original name). The next owner, J.F.Caille Heddle, changed the name to North Esk Distillery. He operated until the war of 1914-18 when the premises were occupied by the army. A fire destroyed part of the buildings in this period.
The distillery was bought in 1919 by Thomas Bernard & Co. They worked part of it as North Esk Makings until 1938, when new owners, Associated Scottish Distilleries Ltd., repaired and re-equipped the buildings for grain whisky production under the name of Montrose Distillery.
Associated Scottish Distilleries had been formed by Joseph Hobbs (1890-1963), the son of a Hampshire farmer, who had emigrated to Canada in childhood, and had made a fortune in shipbuilding and property. After sustaining heavy losses in the slump of 1931, he returned to Britain with less than a thousand pounds, and with the help of financial backers, began to buy run-down assets in the Scotch whisky industry. A year after the outbreak of war in 1939 had interrupted Scotch whisky production, he sold Associated Scottish Distilleries for £30 and an option to buy whisky valued at £20. Eight years later, when he was living at Inverlochy Castle, Fort William, he developed a site of 21 square miles (54 square km) as the Great Glen Cattle Ranch where beef cattle largely fended for themselves as on the prairies.
In common with almost all malt whisky distilleries, Montrose was closed from 1941 to 1945 because of restriction on the supply of barley to distillers. It was used, once again, as a barracks.
After the end of the war, Associated Scottish Distilleries began to expand the premises and to build warehouses. With shortages of materials and lack of assured markets, the company ran into difficulties, and eventually went out of business. The Distillers Company Limited bought its premises and stocks from its ultimate parent, National Distillers of the USA, in 1954.

Montrose Distillery was worked for a brief spell and then closed down, although the makings and warehouses continued to be operated.
For a time between 1959 and 1964 The Distillers Company again produced grain whisky at Montrose Distillery; but production was on a small scale and uneconomic by comparison with that of its much larger units elsewhere.
The distillery was then transferred to DCL's subsidiary company, Scottish Malt Distillers Ltd. SMD adapted the stillhouse and ancillary buildings and re-equipped them for re-conversion to malt whisky production. Hillside Distillery (as it was now renamed) began production in November 1965 with four stills steam-heated from a coal-fired boiler. This was converted to oil-firing in 1972.
A large mechanical drum makings was built in 1968 with a capacity (increased in 1973) to enable it to supply a number of SMD distilleries. Almost all the barley used here is Scottish, delivered by bulk road carriers to a group of 48 barley silos. The complex was designed expressly for the handling and processing of barley and malt in bulk. A system of remote controls, operated from the console room, governs every movement in and out of storage and from storage to process. The entire layout of the storage and conveying systems is illustrated in miniature on theconsole, and sequence interlocks virtually preclude operational mistakes.
Barley is germinated in 24 drums, each with a capacity of about 31 tonnes. When it has reached the appropriate stage of growth, it is moved to one of 5 kilns where it is dried. Each kiln is fired by oil and by peat. One of the objects of kilning is to flavour the malt by the application of peat smoke. There are 24 silos for malt storage.
The drum makings, lofty, massive and streamlined, contrast with the relatively low and rambling buildings of the distillery and the now redundant floor makings, which have white-washed walls, broken by red-framed windows, and grey slated roofs. Above these the pagoda-shaped towers of the malt-kilns are dramatic eye-catchers. In front, at the main entrance, Joseph Hobbs built a one-storey office block in a matching style and laid out the intervening space with a wide lawn, flowering shrubs and trees.
The complex was re-named Glenesk Distillery and Makings in 1980. It covers a site of about 25 acres (10 hectares) on the escarpment which forms the southern edge of the valley of the North Esk, from which it draws its water supply.
The distiller's licence is held by Wm. Sanderson & Sons Ltd., of South Queensferry, West Lothian, proprietors of Vat 69 and Vat 69 Reserve Scotch whiskies. A very small proportion of the output is bottled for export as a single malt whisky under the name of Glenesk.

1897

Converted from flax - spinning mill

by James Isles
The name is Highland Esk
1898

Septimes Parsonage & Co Ltd,

London, buys the distillery
1899

J.F. Caille Heddle buys Highland Esk

and changes the name
in North Esk Distillery
1910

A fire breaks out and the distillery

has to be rebuilt
1914 - 1918

The distillery is closed
1919

Thomas Bernard & Co buys the

distillery but only uses the
maltings. The name is now

North Esk Maltings
1938

Bought by Associated Scottish Distillers

Ltd, headed by

Joseph Hobbs, and a subsidiary of

Train & McIntyre Ltd,
itself owned by National Distillers of

America.
The distillery is converterd into a

grain distillery.
The name is Montrose distillery
1954

The distillery is bought by

Distillers Company Limited (D.C.L.)
who uses the facilities for storage and

malting
1959

D.C.L. resumes grain distilling
1964

D.C.L. transfers operations to

Scottish malt Distillers Ltd, (S.M.D.)
who starts malt distilling.

The name changes again: Hillside
1968

A large drum maltings is built adjacent

to the distillery
1980

Name changes to Glenesk Distillery &

Maltings
1985

The distillery closes in December
1995

Hillside 1969 is launched as a Rare Malt
1996

The last pieces of equipment are taken

down Hillside 1970, 25 years old is launched

as a Rare Malt
1997

Hillside 1971 is launched, 25 years old as a

Rare Malt

The Maltings is sold to Paul's Malt

Glenesk Maltings, Hillside, Montrose

9 Augustus 2009
Op zondag 9 Augustus 2009 onstond in de Kiln op de 2e verdieping brand die zich via
ventilatiesysteem verspreid over vier verdiepingen tot aan het dak

Zo groot was de vuurzee dat verschillende brandweerkorpsen uit de omliggende dorpen
te hulp kwamen

11 August 2009
A major blaza was finally extinguished at Glenesk Maltings
Firefighters left Greencore's Glenesk Maltings at Hillside near Montrose after more
than 24 hours at the site

The fire started in a kiln on the second floor of the four - storey building

At the height of the fire, flames burst through the roof

Crews of Montrose, Brechin, Forfar, Blackness - Road in Dundee, Arbroath are helping.

Process- and cooling water came from

the River North Eskar
Barley Golden Promise
Lightly peated
Floor maltings 1965 - 1968
Drum malting from 1968
Malt was crushed by a Porteus mill
Mash tun cast iron with a copper top,

capacity 10 metric tones
8 wooden wash backs of Oregon pine,

each 64000 litres
New wash- and spirit stills in 1965,

based on Craigellachie's onion -

shaped stills
and indirected by steam coils and

build by Abercrombie of Alloa
the 4 stills have a capacity of

39000 litres each
Cooling bij condensers inside the

still house
6 warehouses and 28000 casks
Most whisky went into William

Sanderson's Vat 69
Capacity 2.500.000 litres spirit a year

Diageo

1997 - present (brand)

Greencore

1998 - present (maltings)

Paul's Malt

1997 - 1998 (maltings)

United Distillers

1992 - 1997

William Sanderson & Son

1980 - 1992

Distillers Company Limited

1953 - 1980

Joseph Hobbs

1938 - 1953

Thomas Bernard & Co

1919 - 1938

JE Caille Heddle

1899 - 1919

Septimus Parsonage & Co

1898 - 1899

James Isle

In its time, this distillery in Montrose on the easy coast has been a malt and grain distillery. It’s not commonly seen but was bottled as part of Diageo’s Rare Malts series which showed it to be clean and fresh with underlying cereal notes and a little apple.

BRAND PRODUCED HERE

Hillside

One of the more remarkable aspects of Glenesk’s history is how many names the distillery managed to acquire in its 104-year history. Established on the site of a former flax mill, it commenced life in 1897 as Highland Esk under the ownership of Dundee wine and spirit merchant James Isles. Maybe sensing the downturn in the market, he handed it over to his business partner the wonderfully monikered Septimus Parsonage. He in turn only kept it for two years before selling it to J.F. Caille Heddle, who renamed it North Esk.

Like many stills, it was silent during the First World War and was then damaged by fire. When it reopened in 1919 it was solely as a maltings.

Whisky only began to be made again in 1938 when it was brought into the Associated Scottish Distilleries stable by the buccaneering Joseph Hobbs [see Glenury Royal, Lochside, Ben Nevis]. They immediately transformed it into a grain distillery and, naturally, changed its name again, this time to Montrose.

Production stopped during the Second World War and, in 1953, with ASD’s withdrawal from Scotch it became part of DCL, who ran it intermittently as a grain distillery for a decade. With expansion of other grain distilleries and a need for malt whisky in the 1960s, the distillery was changed back into a malt plant in 1964. This obviously necessitated another name change, this time to Hillside. Four years later, a large drums maltings was built alongside which was then further expanded in 1973.

For some as yet inexplicable reason in 1980, its name was changed yet again – this time to Glenesk and it operated for a final five years before being closed, and then demolished for housing.

The maltings have however continued – and been expanded. They are now part of the Greencore group.

1897

The distillery, christened as

Highland Esk, is established on

the site of an old flax mill

1898

Founder James Isles sells his share

to his business partner,

Septimus Parsonage

1899

Parsonage sells up to J.F. Caille Heddle,

and the distillery is renamed North Esk

1914-18

The distillery closes during WWI

1919

The distillery catches fire, and is

subsequently used solely as maltings.

1939

The distillery is converted to grain whisky

production and renamed Montrose

1953

Montrose is bought by DCL

1964

The site is converted back into a malt distillery

and renamed yet again, this time as Hillside

1970

A drum maltings is built alongside the distillery

1980

The site's name changes again, and is now

called Glenesk

1985

The distillery ceases operation, but continues

as a maltings

1997

Glenesk is acquired by

Greencore Maltings Group

Diageo

1997 - present (brand)

Greencore

1998 - present (maltings)

Paul's Malt

1997 - 1998 (maltings)

United Distillers

1992 - 1997

William Sanderson & Son

1980 - 1992

Distillers Company Limited

1953 - 1980

Joseph Hobbs

1938 - 1953

Thomas Bernard & Co

1919 - 1938

JE Caille Heddle

1899 - 1919

Septimus Parsonage & Co

1898 - 1899

James Isles

1897 - 1898

Perhaps the distillery with the most name changes in its lifetime, Glenesk now operates as a maltings only.

Like many stills, it was silent during the First World War and was then damaged by fire. When it reopened in 1919 it was solely as a maltings.

For some as yet inexplicable reason in 1980, its name was changed yet again – this time to Glenesk and it operated for a final five years before being closed, and then demolished for housing.

The maltings have however continued – and been expanded. They are now part of the Greencore group.