Glendronach Kingsman 1991 25 Year Old 1st Release

This was bottled as a collaboration between Glendronach and Matthew Vaughn, the director of the Kingsman franchise. This release is a Glendronach fans dream as it has received numerous accolades from critics for both its presentation and the quality of the whisky. Utilising sherry matured whisky distilled in 1991, the birth year of the main character in the Kingsman franchise, only 2137 bottles were released.

Originally formed as a partnership amongst farmers by James Allardice, the namesake for the 18 year old Allardice, Glendronach built a reputation for quality malt products throughout the UK in the 1800’s. Passing through hands such as William Grant, Teachers, Pernod Ricard and Billy Walker before being purchased most recently in 2016 by Brown-Forman (Jack Daniels, Old Forester). Known for their heavy use of high quality sherry casks, Glendronach has developed a cult following throughout the last few decades. It was closed in 1996 before being reopened in 2002, leading to a six year drought in production. This closure is the source of rumours that their core offerings contained whisky much older than their age statements. Up until 1996 the distillery malted their own barley, using coal and peat to dry the barley and so older expressions of Glendronach are often more peat influenced than post 1996 distillations. Additionally, until 2005 their stills were coal fired before being switched to a steam heated method, making them the very last Scottish distillery to make the switch.

With only 2 wash stills and 2 spirit stills Glendronach only produces about 1.3 million litres of whisky each year. By comparison, Glenfiddich produces 13 million litres each year. This low yearly output combined with their ever increasing demand has made Glendronach bottlings ever more scarce. The distillery puts out a yearly single cask range, highlighting the very best sherry puncheons and casks they have at their disposal. These range anywhere from 10 years all the way up to 47 years and are reported to be reducing year on year as the distillery’s stocks are depleted due to the high demand.