Side by side : A Glenturret flight

Glenturret has always been part of the Famous Grouse blend, and since 2002 it's spiritual home, but this changed with the distillery's sale in 2019. 

Now owned by Glenturret Holding, a joint venture between luxury goods company Lalique Group and Swiss entrepreneur Hansjörg Wyss, the distillery is going it alone with The Macallan’s Bob Dalgarno as their new whisky maker.

Glenturret is a small, farmhouse-style distillery in the Highlands just west of Perth.

It uses traditional whisky production methods including uniquely hand-mashing with a wooden paddle in an open stainless steel mash tun; long fermentation times and a boil ball wash still and shell and tube condensers.

The distillery lays claim to being the oldest in Scotland with records going back to 1763, and while the new single malt releases were introduced in celebration of the distillery’s 240th anniversary, its assertion is contested by many other long-established distilleries!

Photo: @WhiskynStuff

The troubled times of the 1920s hit it hard, and in 1928 the distillery was dismantled. In the late 1950s, however, James Fairlie had the idea of building a new plant inside the old buildings. He bought the stills and mash tun from Tullibardine (which was being refitted) and got Glenturret up and running once more in 1960, in time to take advantage of the upturn in whisky’s fortunes.

It was, for a decade, part of Rémy Cointreau (1981-1993) before joining Highland Distillers (now Edrington) who, in 2002, radically transformed the visitor centre into The Famous Grouse Experience.

A new branding and new range was released at the end of 2015 consisting of Sherry, Triple Wood and Peated Editions but these didn't seem to be premium enough for then owners Edrington so they put the distillery up for sale, taking the Famous Grouse Experience with them. My thoughts on their whisky here.

Glenturret Holding bought the distillery and thousands of casks of maturing whisky - some over 30 years old.

In 2020 the new owners revealed a stunning new line-up of decanter style bottles bringing age statements back to the brand. The NAS Triple Wood being the only link to the old range.

Glenturret traditionally ran a limited distillation of peated spirit during the year, forming the backbone of The Famous Grouse Smoky Black (Black Grouse) and also available from a few independent bottlers as Ruadh Mhor (Big Red). I'm tried a few of them here. This was used in the Peated Edition and now in the 10yo Peat Smoke.

Let's see what the whisky is like:

Dram	Triple Wood	12yo	Peated Edition (Old Range)	10yo Peat Smoke
Characteristics	43% ABV Natural colour, chillfiltered	46% ABV Natural colour, NCF	43% ABV Natural colour, chillfiltered	50% ABV Natural colour, NCF
Distillery notes	Aged in AMERICAN and EUROPEAN SHERRY casks and BOURBON barrels, sweet FRUIT and CARAMEL flirt with sticky GINGER cake and VANILLA, maturing OAK and light SPICES look on with interest from the sidelines.	Rich FRUIT CAKE dressed with WALNUTS. Sweet APPLE and GINGER in balance enjoyed with LEMON TEA. The EUROPEAN OAK politely drives the chosen strength.	Aroma: Peat smoke entwined with citrus fruits. Toffee apple and clean oak with some vanilla and light spices. Taste: Sweet and spice, vanilla with maturing fruits, ginger flits in and out, almost in a bed of peat. Finish: Mouth coating, soft and smokey.	SMOKE from the PEAT FIRE envelops. Fresh CITRUS FRUIT, VANILLA, and light SPICE drift from the embers with hints of SEA SALT and smouldering HEATHER.
My thoughts:
Appearance
	Mid gold in the glass, swirls bead up and fall as slow thick legs	Amber gold in the glass, swirls bead up and fall as slow thin legs	Pale gold in the glass, swirls leave a thin line on the glass which eventually beads up and fall as slow thin legs	Pale gold in the glass, swirls leave a thin line on the glass which eventually beads up and fall as slow thin legs
Nose	Dried fruit, toffee, honey, a hint of smoke or cask char, A little time and air offers tropical fruit, Christmas spices and sweet citrus.	A richer version of the Triple Wood - dried fruit, tropical fruit, toffee, spice and citrus but with a nutty woody note. A little time in the glass offers vanilla, cola cubes and some red fruit notes.	Charred pineapple and banana to start, the smoke is there but not overpowering, heathery and dry. Some vanilla and icing sugar.	Ashy BBQ smoke, charred pineapple and damp grass. It has an almost Ledaig style dirtiness to it - fresh tarmac and sticky plasters. Salty porridge and stewed apples.
Palate	Smooth sweet arrival, a little thin,  tropical fruit and honey then the spice kicks in - ginger and black pepper before the liquid disappears leaving a slightly bitter dark chocolate note, nuts and an odd floral note.	Thick sweet arrival, sherry notes to the fore - dried fruit, strawberry jam and berry hints. Oaky wood notes mingle with vanilla and nutty caramel. Again as the liquid disappears there's a slightly bitter dark chocolate note.	Smooth sweet arrival, a little thin, tropical fruit, digestive biscuit and some vanilla custard. A little ginger spice tickles the tongue and dry smoke provides a gentle blanket.	Again smooth sweet arrival but this one is thicker in the mouth - tropical fruit, coffee and nutty earthy notes, the ABV makes itself known - very warming. Some citrus and honey that's finished off with a lovely ginger spice note
Finish	Drying spicy oak.	Drying spicy oak with tropical fruit notes.	Sweet tropical fruit notes with a lovely dry smoke.	Long dry smoky finish with tropical fruit and citrus.
Overall	All of the four drams came across as surprisingly dry especially on the finish, tropical fruit notes, nuts and a little spice showing through as distillery character. The 12yo came across as a more complex Triple Wood, again the slightly higher ABV and lack of chill-filtering giving a better thicker mouthfeel and added complexity. There was a definite difference between the old and new peated editions, the 10yo was both older and stronger but the peat had a more thick ashy note on the nose, on the palate the chill filtering didn't help it's younger (but older) sibling - the mouthfeel was hugely improved. The drams I tried from the new range are reasonably priced and worth hunting out.

Thanks to @jwbassman_ and @Mark_BCWS for the samples