Glenfiddich Malt Whisky

Glenfiddich malt whisky is one of the great success stories of Scottish whisky making. It has become a major international brand and is highly thought of around the world. Great things from simple beginnings.

Glenfiddich malt whisky is produced at Dufftown in the area known as Speyside. This is one of the established regions of Scottish whisky producers, along with Lowland, Highland, Islay and the Islands. The whiskies from this region tend to be more subtle and less peaty than some of the other areas, such as Islay in particular, and are highly regarded by connoisseurs.

The Glenfiddich malt whisky distillery was established in 1886 and the first whisky came out of the stills on Christmas day of the following year. The founder was William Grant who bought the land and used two second hand stills. The operation is considerably larger nowadays because of the demand for the finished product but it is unusual because it is still owned by the same family.

Many smaller distilleries were swallowed up by larger business over the years. The success of the Glenfiddich malt whisky brand owes it self not just to the quality of the single malt whisky itself but also to some very astute marketing over the years, even down to the distinctive green three sided bottle that is immediately recognizable the world over. This policy and the foresightedness of the producers over the years, particularly with the advent of its single malt in 1963, is what has kept the Glenfiddich malt whisky in the same family all this time.

The name Glenfiddich means "valley of the deer" in Gaelic which is why the whisky is marketed using a deer on the label. The distillery is situated in the valley of the river Fiddich not far from Dufftown.

Glenfiddich was one of the earliest distilleries to set up a visitor centre and can get very busy, especially in the holiday season. The guided tour gives a good insight into the production of scotch whisky with the obligatory tasting at the end (if you are driving then you can take a miniature away with you). There are also longer more detailed tours to give a far greater insight into the whole process.

The final bottling is unusual because Glenfiddich malt whisky is diluted to the correct strength using water from the Robbie Dhu spring (from where all the water used in the process comes). Most distilleries bottle using distilled water and often the bottling goes on away from the main plant.

I would thoroughly recommend a visit to the Glenfiddich malt whisky distillery if you are in the area, not just so you can buy Glenfiddich whisky but also for the wonderful surrounding scenery.

More about the region and some of the other distilleries can be found by clicking on Speyside Malt Whisky. It is a beautiful area of Scotland and over to the east of the country is less subject to wet weather than is the west.

Not too far away is the Cardhu Malt Whisky Distillery which produces a lot of the blends that goes into another very well known whisky, Johnnie Walker. It is also where William Grant bought his second hand stills from in 1885 before he built the Glenfiddich distillery in 1886.