Glenglassaugh returns
Highland malt will be flowing again soon from the long-mothballed Glenglassaugh distillery, following its sale in March by the Edrington Group.
The new owners is a Dutch investment group The Scaent Group and this is its first investment in the drinks market. Scaent’s main interests currently are in the bulk energy market in Scandinavia and Eastern Europe but they plan to diversify into consumer markets, hence this apparently radical purchase.
Glenglassaugh itself dates from 1875 but little remains of the original distillery. This was demolished and an entirely new distillery opened in 1960 by then owner Highland Distillers. The spirit was used in a number of blends, most notably Cutty Sark and The Famous Grouse and latterly was produced in a Speyside style.
Highland Distillers closed Glenglassaugh in 1986 not, as has been reported, due to problems with the water supply but because expansion at the Glenrothes distillery meant its capacity was no longer needed and it was more economic to produce at Glenrothes.
Since then, Glenglassaugh has been largely forgotten, except for some limited single malt releases from Highland Distillers and the odd independent bottling.
The new owners have appointed former William Grant & Sons’ distilleries director Stuart Nickerson as managing director, charged with getting the distillery back to production. For industry veteran Nickerson, this marks a return to Glenglassaugh where he was manager shortly after its closure (he also ran Glen.....
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By Rob Allanson
Section : Dispatches
Page number : 8
