Gordon & MacPhail Glen Albyn 1979
Private Collection| 52.2% ABV
Score: 8/10
Something Special.
TL;DR
Good to visit and experience, but not to own
Waking The Dead
What do you know about Glen Albyn? How about that for an opening question? I’ve written about the distillery once - incoming - here at Dramface, but that was more about how the trio of much maligned Inverness distilleries have been overlooked and remain fairly underrepresented. So, what do you know?
The answer is more than likely, very little or nothing at all. That’s ok and honesty is always the best policy, as it turns out that such a response will be the majority. Glen Albyn has been consigned to the history books since the crash of the 1980s and now is a retail park. So, there’s nothing existing to see and there are few details available, including photographs. The most prominent feature is the whisky itself that continues to be enjoyed by those able to open a bottle.
Much like my work with the distillery across the road from Glen Albyn (that’s Glen Mhor), I view this as a blank canvas. A chance to dig and uncover some details lost to time. Reassemble these for future generations and some new found appreciation. All done without the need for profit and more for enjoyment and satisfying my own curiosity.
While both distilleries were owned by DCL in the early 1970s and prior to that Mackinlay & Birnie from 1920. But they were never sister distilleries despite some claims and the involvement of John Birnie who used to manage Glen Albyn. No, the sister dynamic is more applicable to things created at the same time; like battleships and other vessels. Not distilleries that were decades apart in their foundation. The location helps shape this illusion and also, DCL listing both distilleries together in their Distillery History Series published in the mid-1980s. It does, however, offer an opportunity. In my continuing deep dive for all things Glen Mhor, the archives would throw up details of Glen Albyn that I’d never seen previously. Things that needed to be considered and reported.
Chasing down all things Saladin Box related. Believe me, it was becoming a little tiresome trying to confirm the date of their installation at Glen Mhor. Two dates were noted in literature and the earliest would have made the distillery the first single malt producer to utilise this technology. Glen Albyn also installed these malting boxes in 1961, or thereabouts – I like to confirm things myself. But what became apparent in the research was that Albyn was propping up the malting requirements of Glen Mhor for many years as revealed in a promotional leaflet by the owners:
“At Glen Mhor Distillery, the distillery plan could always use more malt than the malting floors could provide. Accordingly, malt had to be brought in from Glen Albyn Distillery or from outside. But in a busy season, Glen Albyn malting floors could hardly carry the extra burden thus laid upon them, so some years ago the directors of the company decided to increase the malting capacity of Glen Mhor and thus turn the whole plan there into a unit that would no longer be dependent on any outside source whatsoever.”
Glen Albyn was a much bigger site and distillery. Complete with various buildings that proved very useful for the US Navy during the first World War, as they established the first American base on UK soil… on two Inverness distilleries. That’s another story, but I’d recommend picking up The Northern Barrage published by the Inverness Local History Forum if you’re interested in a tale that also included Dalmore and at least 80 Highland women who found husbands from another continent.
On the eve of another deep dive and the opportunity to review a Glen Albyn release from Gordon & MacPhail, I felt it was a good opportunity to list what we generally know about the distillery. A foundation stone. Lay it out and then once I’ve done some groundwork and brought to life new information, return with a further Glen Albyn review.
There’s a trend very evident in whisky writing, where 99.9% of the information can all be traced back to a single or clutch of sources. Very few whisky writers or consultants have the opportunity to hunt down the details. I touched upon this in an article I wrote about researching Glen Mhor and it’s true that misinformation by accident is repeated and soon becomes accepted as gospel.
If you listen to our podcasts, then you might recall the Glen Albyn appearing in one of the quizzes. It may have been difficult for the audience as well as the presenters. The nine clues consisted of a major part of what we know about this distillery, which underlined in reality how little we do know.
Like many of the lost distilleries, the lack of investment was a factor in its decline. Many were small scale with only two or so stills – these may have been the originals from its foundation. I may have a photograph of the stills themselves but want to do a little more research on it first. Perhaps the most fascinating nugget concerns the worm tubs, which are increasingly scarce in the whisky industry, although it’s wonderful to see some new arrivals adopting this old method. Glen Albyn utilised this technology but with a twist; their worm tubs were d-shaped.
“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.”
In my mind, all distilleries are unique. Yes, the fundamentals are essentially the same, even so there are facets and quirks that help create their own distinctive styles. It’s unearthing these in liquid and historical form that excites. These details are not easy to come by, which is why many resort to previous mainstream texts. What can be beneficial are local publications, press reports and privately published works. They may contain nuggets of information such as stories and events that have been lost to time.
Today, it’s straightforward to visit a distillery and interact with the facility. You may be allowed to take photographs of your trip although this sadly does vary from site to site. Prior to the distillery cull of 1983, there was no notable demand to visit distilleries. The gates in most cases were firmly locked to the public and as such, the memories and photographs are mostly contained to those able to work in these distilleries. And even then, many workers wouldn’t have bothered with photographs, as they were costly – who can remember sending off film to be developed then, waiting patiently to be disappointed by 95% of the images you took? The moment was gone and only the memories remained.
This particular bottling comes from Gordon & MacPhail who arguably have the most prestigious inventory of maturing casks in Scotland. I know as I’ve seen some of them and that was just a snippet. Bottled in 2019, at an impressive 40 years of age, I have to thank Gordon & MacPhail for the sample and opportunity. So, what else can we consider here? As the two distilleries were owned by DCL, things would have changed in tandem across both sites. I know the Saladin Boxes were decommissioned at Glen Mhor in 1980, malt was then delivered off-site from maltsters i.e., the modern method we still see today. So, Albyn would also follow suit. Enough talk and let’s check out the whisky.
Thanks to the Diageo Archives for this image
Review
Private Collection, 40yo, Distilled 1979, Bottled 23/9/19, cask #3856, 1st fill sherry puncheon, 52.2% ABV
£1200 originally
Nose
A light leathery note is present, nothing too forceful. Moments of cherry and maple syrup. Pomegranate brings sweetness, some nuttiness and raisins. Strawberries follow, prunes, a touch of smoke and red apples. Toffee as well and gentle woodiness. Water does help the experience.
Palate
Now, it’s more wood forward. Tannins are present and this is something you do pick up with Glen Albyn releases. Dark chocolate, raisins and toffee. Cask char, fudge and green peppercorns. Vanilla, leathery and some surprising waxiness and fruits with water.
The Dregs
Hard to talk about pricing when it comes to releases such as these but we must. Personally, I’d prefer it as a minus the wooden box price and maybe even a plain old 70cl bottle price. But I understand the era we’re living in now and the market that buys these sorts of releases. So, the original price of £1200 isn’t too bad. I think of those buying into the Springbank investment vehicle nowadays and spending a similar amount on a recent 21yo release. Madness when you can have liquid history such as this for around the same price. I expect if this was to hit retail in 2022, it would cost more. A very small outturn Glen Mhor was retailing much more when it was released shortly afterwards.
In terms of the actual whisky, this isn’t the wonderful experience I was hoping for. The balance on the palate, personally, has leaned towards the wood. So, a little too much maturation in my opinion. I can see why if some bottlers are aiming for age statements such as 40, 50, 60 etc. The fact that Gordon & MacPhail bottled this at 52.2% suggests this wasn’t a motivation, as it could have endured longer, but they may have also felt it really couldn’t sit well with the cask for any additional period. For a first-fill sherry puncheon, this isn’t as active as I had anticipated prior to pouring and I’m thankful for that.
Score: 8/10
Tried this? Share your thoughts in the comments below. DM
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