Proper pronunciation

[robert sergesketter]

Can you please tell me the correct pronunciation of the following Single Malts?

Balvenie
Glenmorangie
Dalwhinnie (sp?)
Glenfiddich (sp?)
Oban

Thanks for your help.

[Lawrence]

Robert go to the link and listen to the man pronounce them. The ones you've listed, there shouldn't be any question about them.

I went to a tasting lead by a former manager of Caol Ila and he didn't pronounce it the way the voice on the link does. Oh well, it seems it varies from region to region, person to person.

At least we don't have to pass a test to buy a bottle of something we can't say!

[Tom]

aye, any idea how many people pronounce Bunnahabain differently?? first time a bartender insisted that i tasted it and after he pronounced i went then in the club i asked for one and pronounced it like that bartender and the guy at the club went what did you call me?
Sometimes someone asks me to go order their dram because they cant spell it out properly, like Uigadaele and Laphroaig. It is however quite funny if they try it anyway. Then again, so was i when i first tryed it.

[hpulley]

You spelled Uigeadail wrong

Harry

[Deactivated Member]

Oddly, Balvenie is not on the list--I usually hear it Bal Venny, but apparently Bal Veeny is also acceptable. From the official website:

There is room for debate on how to pronounce Balvenie. The Grant family favour BalVENNY even though their distinguished ancestor William Grant is reputed to have called it BalVEENY.

Caol Ila seems to be pronounced "Cool Eela" on the pronunciation site--I've always heard something between "Cull Eela" and "Call Eela". This is a vowel sound that really doesn't exist in English.

Glenmorangie--rhymes with "Then Orangey". Very commonly mispronounced. "if you fancy a drink that tastes orangey, then you likely don't want a Glenmorangie."

Oban--"Oh b'n", accent on "Oh". Also very commonly mispronounced.

I gather that in Gaelic, accents are generally on the first syllables of words. However, many distillery names are compounds, and the primary accent is on the first syllable of the second part of the compound, with secondary accent on the first syllable of the first part. This is obvious with all the "Glens", but can be tricky to identify in other cases. Think of Lag'a vu"lin or Bruich' lad"dich (or Bru'ich lad"dich). I always have trouble with two-syllable compounds, like Ard' beg" and Ard' more".

[Admiral]

I've heard a few people pronounce Balvenie:

Bal - vain - ee

Anyone else heard this version?

[Tom]

You spelled Uigeadail wrong

Harry

I spell a hell of a lot things wrong. Its what i do.
but thanks for clearing it out, i been spelling it like that for like forever . However i can pronounce it

[SasquatchMan]

I've always enjoyed making up pronunciations on the spot. I try to keep most of them glottal.

[bond]

how about glenfiddich?

i am told its pronounced GLENFIDEE

[Admiral]

The global brand ambassador for William Grant was in Australia two months ago, and he pronounced it Glen - fidd - itch

[Deactivated Member]

The global brand ambassador for William Grant was in Australia two months ago, and he pronounced it Glen - fidd - itch

Yeah, but what the f*** does he know? I've always heard it pronounced (more or less) Glen Fiddick. I'll bet Glen Fiddee is correct, and I'll further bet that no one ever pronounces it that way.

[Admiral]

Whoops!!! That's my mistake....I goofed with my phonetics.

I meant to write that he pronounced it "Glen-fidd-ick"

No idea how 'itch' got into my brain as I was typing

[bond]

This one calls for some more research because I have been told by folks who have spent considerable time in scotland that it is GLEN-FIDEE.

That brook-la-dee (bruichladdich) is similarly pronounced lends credence to the story.

[hpulley]

Glenfidd-ee sounds better than Glenfidd-ich IMO.

Not all the ch suffixes are silent though, are they?

Harry