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Glen Elgin
Founded
1900
Region
Speyside
Status
Operational
Company
Production type
Single Malt
Production capacity
2,700,000 litres per year
Glen Elgin is a Speyside malt distillery located just south of Elgin in the town of Fogwatt. The distillery was built by William Simpson and James Carle in 1898, beginning production two years later. The complex and fruity character of the distillery's spirit made it highly popular among blenders, and it was eventually acquired by the Distillers Company in 1930. The company licensed it to its White Horse Distillers subsidiary and today it remains a key component of the White Horse blend. Interestingly, the distillery had no electricity until 1950 and was entirely powered by paraffin until then.
The distillery is today part of the Diageo Scotch whisky holdings and although it is marketed in single malt form, remains primarily tasked with the provision of fillings for its blends.
Single malts were never the priority of the Distillers Company, however the blenders under its umbrella were free to market brands for the distilleries licensed to them if they wished. One of the companies that did so was White Horse Distillers, who introduced a 12-year-old Glen Elgin in the 1980s. Fairly short-lived, it was discontinued following the creation of United Distillers in 1987 and was not bottled officially again until 1991 when a 12-year-old was included as part of the Flora & Fauna range.
In 1994 an unusual limited edition distillery bottling was produced by White Horse Distillers for Japan, co-branded with the the Flora & Fauna Glen Elgin typeface and the logo of its White Horse blend, followed by a special centenary bottling in 2000. It was not until 2002 however that Diageo would opt to market Glen Elgin properly as its own standalone brand, launching it as part of its Hidden Malts series alongside Caol Ila and Clynelish. Out of the three, the Speyside distillery was the only one to incorporate the previous Flora & Fauna imagery in its new design, and it also retained the same 12-year-old core expression. This remains the only permanent offering today, although the distillery is occasionally included in the annual Diageo Special Release limited editions.
Current owner
Glen Elgin Distillery
Glen Elgin Road
Longmorn
IV30 8SL
Scotland
Active brands
Single Malt
