The year 1972 saw the British public still getting to grips with decimal currency, introduced the previous February. In Scotland Whisky Galore author Sir Compton Mackenzie died, while Orcadian George Mackay Brown’s influential novel Greenvoe was published. In April, the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards’ rendition of Amazing Grace topped the UK singles chart.
In May of that year, in men’s football, Rangers FC landed the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup courtesy of a 3–2 victory over Dynamo Moscow in Barcelona, while in November, the first official women’s international football match to be played in the UK saw England beat Scotland 3–2 at Ravenscraig Stadium in Greenock.
Further south, on the Ayrshire coast at Girvan grain distillery, the staff of William Grant & Sons were busy filling refill American oak casks with single grain spirit, and stowing them safely away to mature. The early 1970s was a boom time for Scotch whisky, and most of the casks filled in 1972 found their way into William Grant’s Standfast blend within a handful of years, but for some reason long lost in the mists of time, one cask was overlooked, and gathered cobwebs as the years turned into decades.
Finally, it was rediscovered and deemed a perfect fit for the House of Hazelwood portfolio of ultra-rare whiskies offered by William Grant & Sons on an annual basis.
A House of Hazelwood spokesperson explains, “For almost 100 years, generations of the Gordon family have carefully laid down stocks of whisky for special occasions and personal consumption. This rare collection has become known as House of Hazelwood, after the family’s Dufftown home — Hazelwood House.
“Today, the House of Hazelwood collection has grown to become the greatest inventory of aged Scotch whisky held anywhere in the world. Spanning seven decades and every corner of Scotland, the diverse whiskies held in cask tell stories of remarkable places, lost ways of working, first casks, last casks, the ambitions and achievements of several lifetimes — none of which will be repeated.”
The brand has developed two separate ongoing ranges of whisky — the Charles Gordon Collection and the Legacy Collection. The former comprises whiskies at least 50 years old, described as “some of the most remarkable stock held within the inventory”.
Charles ‘Charlie’ Grant Gordon was responsible for laying down much of that inventory, and the great-grandson of the firm’s founder William Grant served on the company board for 60 years, acting as chairman and, ultimately, as honorary life president. He died in 2013 at 86.
It is apt that the 51-year-old 1972 Girvan single grain bottling — named The Old Ways — has been released as part of the Charles Gordon Collection, as he had been largely responsible for the creation of Girvan distillery just under a decade before.
It took just nine months from the start of construction to the production of spirit, thanks in no small part to the almost constant on-site presence of Charles Gordon, who was not a man to let the grass grow under his feet, nor anyone else’s.
Just as the first spirit from Grant’s Glenfiddich distillery had flowed on Christmas Day 1887, so the first Girvan spirit ran into the safe on Christma Day 1963.
The Old Ways was chosen as the name of the 1972 Girvan single grain expression in the latest batch of eight House of Hazelwood releases because of the significant differences in the way Girvan grain whisky is made today, compared with half a century ago.
Whereas the grain of choice is now wheat, then maize was used as the principal cereal. John Ross is William Grant & Sons’ technical leader. He says, “It was called Old Red Maize Number Two Corn, and it was brought in by the boatload from the USA. It was shipped into Glasgow docks, and taken to Girvan by road on a 24/7 basis.”
Ross joined William Grant & Sons in 1978, and, that year, Ian Palmer, later founder of InchDairnie distillery in Fife, became part of the team at Invergordon grain distillery in the Highlands. Palmer declares that the switch from maize to wheat “made the spirit sweeter”. However, he considers the most significant change in grain whisky production relates to the stills.
In the 1970s, Girvan and other grain distilleries were using an updated version of the Coffey still, patented by Aeneas Coffey in 1830. According to Palmer, with those stills “there was much less rectification, so you retained a lot of the heavier flavours”.
At Girvan, the stills were known as No.1 and No.3 Apps (Girvan shorthand for ‘apparatus’), and, according to John Ross, “they were made from 100 per cent copper. No.1 Apps distilled grain Scotch whisky, and No.3 Apps, with additional columns, was used to make grain neutral spirit.”
Ross ultimately became the distillery’s production manager, and in that role he oversaw the installation of the world’s first multi-pressure system for grain whisky. This comprises three column stills, and the process allows the plant to evaporate and distil at different pressures, especially under vacuum, at low temperatures.
Ross says, “The level of control today is astronomical compared with what it was in 1972, when you had to rely very much on the stillman. It was largely about the senses — listening to the pitch of steam entering the analyser column, for example. Lots of nosing samples and checking of strength took place.
“Charles Gordon’s passion was spirit quality. Charles drove the quality ethos, and that became the culture of the site. The expertise and experience of the operators were critical.”
The spirit produced was significantly fuller-bodied and more robust than today’s sweeter, fruitier Girvan grain, mainly because of the stills in situ, and to a lesser extent, the use of maize rather than wheat. Additionally, a higher percentage of malted barley would have been included in the mashbill than today, and, for fermentation, a mixture of brewer’s yeast and distiller’s yeast was employed, whereas now a very pure strain of distiller’s yeast is used.
The current stills are constructed from stainless steel, with ‘sacrificial copper’ components. Ross says, “They are far bigger than No.1 and No.3 Apps, and we can make in excess of 100 million litres of spirit per annum now. That’s about six times the capacity of the 1970s.”
Inevitably, given the more than five decades the liquid has spent in the cask, the wood will have played a major part in the profile of The Old Ways. As already noted, nobody envisaged this cask spending so long nurturing its contents. Ross says, “You’ve got thousands upon thousands of casks in racked warehouses that are huge. I think it would be fairly easy to have missed one.”
The Grant family’s overall ethos may have played a part too. “As a family business they can project for the long-term, and lay down casks accordingly, whether it be for 30, 40, or even 50 years,” says Ross.
Over time, casks may lose a significant degree of strength, so warehouse operatives have to check older casks to ensure they do not fall below the legal minimum of 40% ABV.
Ross adds, “The Old Ways has obviously been in a place in the warehouse that was particularly cold and dark to retain its strength [50.1% ABV]. That much is luck and being paired to such a fine cask in the first place, but the rest comes down to patience.”
Over the years, as new warehouses have been built, Girvan has gradually moved towards the use of palletised rather than racked structures, due to the greater convenience offered by pallets for the movement of casks.
There have been many other changes on the Girvan site since the 1970s, with John Ross pointing out that when he began working there, 24 Customs & Excise officers were employed; today there are none.
The number of warehouses has risen dramatically, blending operations now take place on site, while the Hendrick’s gin distillery and Ailsa Bay malt distillery have been added alongside the existing grain spirit facility.
The opportunity to savour Girvan single grain made in that facility during 1972 is a true privilege, as it really does involve drinking a piece of whisky history. As the House of Hazelwood spokesperson puts it, “This is a true champion of a bygone time, the encapsulation of the 1970s whisky-making methodology long
since lost.” The Old Ways will never come again.
The House of Hazelwood’s third collection comprises eight blended malts and grain whiskies, and is available exclusively to order from www.houseofhazelwood.com and select luxury retailers. The 2024 Collection will be rolled out to international markets throughout 2024 including Germany, Italy, France, and Taiwan, with the US and other parts of Asia to follow in 2025.
Tasting The Old Ways
House of Hazelwood — The Old Ways
ABV: 50.1%
Style: Single grain
Country/region: Scotland, Lowland
RRP: £3,500
Nose: White pepper and an initially savoury note. Candle wax, toffee bonbons, and orange Wine Gums in time.
Palate: Oily, with tangy citrus notes, cooked rhubarb, molasses, subtle vanilla, and hazelnuts.
Finish: Lengthy, with mouth-drying oak, a hint of star anise, Seville oranges, and chilli powder.
For more House of Hazelwood tasting notes, visit our tastings pages.
