If you’re relatively new to the whisky scene, you’ll most likely have seen a few different expressions of Glen Moray at your local retailer and perhaps wondered what the brand is all about. Conversely, you may have been into your whiskies for a while now…and also wondered what the brand is all about! That said, what you’ll undoubtedly have noticed in recent times is that the brand is making a bigger splash these days and is more prevalent about the place. That’s no accident or stroke of luck, but as we’ll explore in just a moment, it’s a distillery that’s well and truly grown into its own skin and forged new frontiers. So what’s the Glen Moray story, and why should you be exploring its whiskies?
The Glen Moray distillery was founded 1897, having been converted from a brewery. However, it had somewhat inauspicious beginnings, being closed just 13 years later in 1910 and eventually put up for sale in 1920. It was purchased that year by Macdonald & Muir – the company more commonly associated with the Glenmorangie distillery and brand. (Indeed Macdonald & Muir became Glenmorangie PLC in 1996, by which time it had a formidable number of brands, subsidiaries, and arms to its operations). Macdonald & Muir restarted production at Glen Moray in 1923, where it then had a reasonably unremarkable run for the next 85 years – including a reconstruction in 1958 and an expansion in 1979.
The distillery is located in Elgin, in the far north of the Speyside region, roughly 12km from where the River Spey flows into the North Sea. Elgin is a major town these days, chiefly the main destination for shops and services for Speyside locals not wanting to make the longer journeys to either Inverness or Aberdeen.
By the start of the 21st century, Glen Moray remained a modest distillery with just four stills and an annual production capacity of around two million litres. It had a small, relatively unheralded presence as a single malt, although was notable for its “Chardonnay-Mellowed” expressions – a term that preceded the wider uptake of the term finish. It is oft forgotten these days that Macdonald Muir / Glenmorangie PLC was a big player in the supermarket blends game, and – in the overall scheme of things – their brands were generally associated with being at the “economy end” of the market. Glenmorangie was the biggest selling single malt in Scotland at the time; a function of being a reliable product at an attractive price point. Glenmorangie PLC had acquired the Ardbeg distillery in 1997, and Glen Moray took a step back from the limelight against its two sexier single malt stablemates. Industry folklore has it that Glen Moray was often used as an experimental playground by its owners to trial different distillation and maturation strategies – particularly the finishing of whiskies in a variety of different ex-wine casks. The experiments that worked and were successful were then often repeated on a larger scale at Glenmorangie.
However, nothing stands still for long in the whisky game. Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy acquired Glenmorangie PLC in 2004, and by 2007 they started flexing their muscles and began re-shaping the whisky brands it had acquired to suit the company’s more luxury-focused persona. The company completely withdrew from the supermarket blends scene; numerous brands were sold off or discontinued; and the packaging of their two key single malt brands got an upgrade and became premiumised. Glen Moray didn’t fit the bill, and it was put up for sale in 2008…where it was quickly snapped up by French company, La Martiniquaise. And, as anyone associated with the distillery today will tell you, it was the best thing that could have happened to the distillery.
La Martiniquaise, owners of the rapidly-growing Label 5 and Glen Turner brands of Scotch whisky, wasted no time in investing further in Glen Moray. Over the next 13 years, the distillery underwent a series of expansion programs, adding new washbacks and stills to increase capacity. (Today it boasts nine stills and an annual production capacity of 5.7M litres). Its range of offerings and different expressions released to market have also increased: In 2005, the distillery had two or three core-range expressions in just 12 markets; today it boasts over 20 different expressions globally across 86 markets. The Visitor Centre experience was also upgraded, and tours of Glen Moray are now amongst the more comprehensive of Speyside’s offerings.
Iain Allan is Glen Moray’s Global Brand Ambassador; he was in Australia recently as part of a global tour to showcase some of the more interesting expressions in Glen Moray’s portfolio, and to promote the distillery in general. An intimate but no less comprehensive masterclass was convened at Alfy’s in Sydney – a new whisky bar destination that opened just a few months ago. A “bar within a bar” (it’s upstairs inside the Assembly bar off Kent Street), some 30 people gathered to hear Iain share some drams and give insights into Glen Moray’s history and philosophy.
Iain is one of those increasingly rare whisky Brand Ambassadors that brings the full package to the table, but does so effortlessly without any pretence or false veneer. It’s no doubt a function of time and work at the coalface – he joined Glen Moray in 2005, having come across from another well-known Speyside distillery. Balancing distillery facts, history, production details about each release, whisky data, and industry stories, it’s all delivered in a relaxed style with honesty and good humour. Importantly, he can read the room and adjust or tailor his presentation to suit the needs of the event and the audience’s knowledge level.
The masterclass showcased six different expressions of Glen Moray, together with three cocktails put together by acclaimed bartender, Millie Tang, which all featured Glen Moray spirit. Based in Brisbane, Millie flew down to Sydney to present at the event. The cocktails nicely punctuated the masterclass, with one served on arrival, one at the “half time break”, and one at the conclusion of formalities. If you’re keen to further explore the use of malt whisky in cocktails, you’d do well to follow Millie’s exploits – all three cocktails were sweet and delicious. If you happen to catch her at The Gresham in Brisbane and there’s Glen Moray behind the bar, ask her to re-create either Early Retirement, Coconut Old Fashioned, or Death & Taxes.
Without wanting to get too deep into the nitty-gritty of each whisky, but perhaps just sharing the “headline” details of each dram, below is the summary of the six whiskies showcased at the tasting, together with some insights about the distillery and the brand that we’ll share and intersperse along the way…
- Glen Moray 12yo, 40% ABV
Badged as part of the distillery’s “Heritage Range”, the 12yo is the flagship of the brand and is matured in ex-bourbon casks. The mix is typically 60% 1st fill, 30% 2nd fill, and 10% 3rd fill. It’s sweet, malty, and particularly fruity – arguably higher in the malt and fruit stakes than, say, the grassier or more floral Speysiders typified by the likes of Glenfiddich or Glenlivet. It’s well balanced and delivers nicely at 40% ABV.
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Glen Moray features shorter, squatter stills than many other distilleries. This, together with a flatter lyne arm, means the heavier and oilier alcohols are more readily collected and make their way into the spirit.
- Glen Moray 10yo “Elgin”, 46% ABV
A limited-edition release, the whisky was put together as part of Elgin’s application in 2022 for “city status” as part of the open competition for the Queen’s Jubilee celebrations. 1,600 bottles were produced at 46%. The whisky spent five years in ex-bourbon casks, before being transferred to ex-chardonnay casks for a further 5 years. Non chill-filtered, it’s spicier on the palate (pleasant hints of cinnamon), and the fruitier, drier notes of Chardonnay are also evident.
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When Glen Moray first started to expand and promote its finished whiskies (and there’s a lot of them these days!), the finishing period was typically in the range of 6-12 months. With development, casks, and maturation now “in the bank”, the distillery is now generally looking to extend their finishing periods out to two to three years.
- Glen Moray Port Cask 14yo Distillery Edition, 61% ABV
Available exclusively from the distillery, this is a unique release that spent its full maturation of 14 years in an ex-tawny port cask. With the deliberate intention and strategy of filling the cask for a long maturation, the cask was filled at spirit strength of 69% ABV, rather than the more conventional 63.5% ABV. The reason for this is that higher strength spirit can have a “numbing effect” on the cask, which was seen as desirable in this instance, since they didn’t want the port wood to overpower or dominate the whisky with such a long maturation. Whilst the theory is known to hold up and has been demonstrated well in the past, the whisky was a little on the dry side to this writer’s taste, bordering on tannic. Perhaps its sweet spot was a year or two earlier, but it remains an interesting and tasty dram, with plenty of punch!
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La Martiniquaise owns the No. 1-selling port brand in the world, Porto Cruz, giving it unparalleled and ready access to quality port casks, without the delays or expenses associated with port casks passing through third parties or brokers. It means the distillery’s port-finished whiskies are generally on song. (As demonstrated by the superb 21yo and previously-available 25yo Port Wood Finish releases).
- Glen Moray 18yo, 47.2% ABV
Again part of the Heritage Range, the 18yo is notable for being matured 100% in 1st-fill ex-bourbon casks. That’s a long maturation in 1st-fills, and the resulting whisky is rich and luxurious in texture with “just-right” oak influence. The whisky is non chill-filtered, and is surprisingly herbal and grassy, offering complexity and contrast to balance the vanillas and sweetness from the American oak.
- Glen Moray Warehouse 1 Oloroso Cask 8yo, 60% ABV
Exclusive to the UK, this limited-edition release was distilled in 2014 and produced from four ex-Oloroso sherry casks that yielded 1,950 bottles. The whisky was well-behaved at 60% ABV, and brought the classic sweetness, spice, and fruit of oloroso-cask maturation, yet without falling into the guise of a bombastic “sherry bomb”.
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Warehouse 1 is billed by Glen Moray as the warehouse (and hence the label range) where experiments are carried out. It’s perhaps grounded more in marketing than genuine reality these days, but it gives the distillery an avenue to release unique and limited-edition whiskies that can’t necessarily be sustained or part of wider releases and campaigns.
- Glen Moray Peated Port Finish 11yo Distillery Edition, 56.3% ABV
Whisky & Wisdom first tried Glen Moray’s peated spirit as unaged new-make back in 2014, and it was ridiculously impressive and drinkable. Not surprisingly, their subsequent peated releases are finding many fans amongst peat-lovers looking to step beyond Islay. This particular expression spent eight years in ex-bourbon, then had a three year finish in ex-port casks. The port adds sweetness and a “Smoky BBQ” note to proceedings; it’s a spicy and enjoyable dram.
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With the parent company needing peated whisky for its Label 5 and Glen Turner blends, it’s no surprise they started producing peated runs “in house”. The first peated spirit was produced at Glen Moray in 2010, these days devotes 10 days each year for its peated campaign – currently accounting for around 3% of production. The peat is sourced from Aberdeenshire and peated to 50ppm.
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One of the hallmarks of Glen Moray’s whiskies for the last two decades is that they’ve generally always been very attractively priced, bordering on “cheap” – certainly when compared with some of the competition. Some whisky enthusiasts mistakenly assume this to be a reflection of quality and choose to overlook the brand. Such an attitude is both wide of the mark, and also denies them enjoying some very impressive malts. Whilst some of the younger or NAS releases in the Classic range can seem lighter in character, they are no less well crafted from quality stock. When asked about the public’s perception of Glen Moray’s pricing, Allan replied with a glint in his eye, “Don’t ask why Glen Moray’s whiskies are so affordable; ask why the other guys are so expensive!”
So that’s the Glen Moray story and some insights into six of its whiskies. If you’re on a whisky pilgrimage across Scotland and you’re in the neighbourhood, it’s a distillery well-worth popping into – particularly noting the distillery-exclusive whiskies available to visitors.
Cheers,
AD
PS…you might also like these other Whisky & Wisdom articles:
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