Nestled along the coast of northern Scotland is Glenglassaugh, a distillery that dates all the way back to 1875. Originally established by local entrepreneur James Moir, his nephews Alexander and William Morrison, and coppersmith Thomas Wilson, Glenglassaugh quickly garnered a reputation for producing high-quality whisky. But while the distillery has existed for almost a century and a half, it’s only been fully operational for a combined 70 of those years.
Despite periods of instability on the evolving Scotch market, Glenglassaugh has remarkably clung to life, and was revamped in 2023 with a completely new portfolio. Currently owned by Brown-Forman and marketed as a coastal single malt distillery, Glenglassaugh is synonymous with robust yet fruity whiskies, all carrying a salty undercurrent from time spent maturing next to the sea.
Now that you know the basics, here are eight more things you should know about Glenglassaugh, one of the whisky world’s most resilient phoenixes.
The location of the distillery was chosen for its close proximity to natural resources.
Access to a quality water source was an important factor for Moir when selecting the location for Glenglassaugh. As such, he chose the original site for its close proximity to the Glassaugh spring, which is located on Durne Hill and overlooks the distillery on the coastline. The spring provides an abundance of hard, mineral-rich water that results in the bigger-bodied, slightly sweet, and fruity whiskies Glenglassaugh is known to produce. The site also grants accessibility to nearby barley fields, which originally supplied
