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Photo: The Glen Grant
Dennis Malcolm, master distiller of Scotch whisky label The Glen Grant knows a thing or two about devotion. After all, the 77-year-old is one of Scotland’s longest serving distiller, having worked at the Speyside distillery for more than 50 years. While most of his peers have retired, the spritely Scotsman, who started his career as an apprentice cooper at The Glen Grant when he was 15, knows every nook and cranny of the operations of the 180-year-old distillery.
So it is only apt that Malcolm is helming The Glen Grant’s oldest limited edition release yet, the Glen Grant Devotion, a 70-year-old single malt Scotch whisky. It also commemorates the remarkable reign of the late Queen Elizabeth II, whose reign spanned seven decades. The late Queen passed away in Balmoral, Scotland last September.
A total of seven decanters of The Glen Grant Devotion 70 Year Old will be made available worldwide, including one exclusively allocated for the Singapore market. The first of the seven decanters will be launched via an online auction by Sotheby’s from 11 to 22 September.
Photo: The Glen Grant
Each of the seven decanters is engraved with some of the late Queen’s favourite flowers. Decanter No. 1 is adorned with a gold engravement of The Queen Elizabeth Rose, which is named after Her Majesty. Proceeds from the auction will be donated to the Royal Scottish Forestry Society, of which the late Queen was its Patron.
The Singapore-allocated decanter will be adorned with engravings of orchid, which appeared in the bridal bouquet from her marriage to the Duke of Edinburgh in 1947. Singapore will be one of four markets in APAC that will be allocated a decanter each. The others are Hong Kong, China and Japan.
Malcom, who was bestowed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 2016, says: “To be devoted, is to show unwavering loyalty and love to something you care for deeply, which sits at the heart of our whisky-making philosophy, as well as shining through with our creative collaborators. This is a lifetime of character and legacy captured in a magnificent creation, like nothing we have ever seen.”
The Glen Grant Master Distiller Dennis Malcom. (Photo: The Glen Grant)
The time-honoured French oak butt, which had been seasoned with oloroso sherry, was first filled in 1953, and has since been stored at Warehouse No. 4, the oldest stone dunnage warehouse on the distillery grounds in Rothes.
During an exclusive media tour, The Peak got to witness the much-anticipated extraction of the whisky from the cask via a valinch in the dimly-lit Warehouse No. 4, which stores hundreds of other Oloroso Sherry butts, hogsheads and ex-bourbon barrels. Malcolm extracted the deep chestnut-hued spirit that also bears bright golden hues from the cask.
Like ‘a liquid Christmas cake’
Photo: The Glen Grant
Speaking to The Peak, Malcolm was struck by how the Devotion 70 Year Old reminded him of a Christmas fruitcake, while staying true to The Glen Grant’s DNA flavour profile. He says: “It is refreshing, floral and has honeyed sweetness. There are notes of raisins, sultanas, orange peel, nuttiness, and a sweet long finish.” The Devotion 70 Year Old has a lingering finish of soft fruits, spice, with a hint of smoke, and has an ABV of 55.5%.
Photo: The Glen Grant
Matching the beauty of the liquid is the packaging of the Devotion 70-Year-Old. The gem-shaped decanter, which is hand-blown by hot glass master Brodie Nairn of GLASSTORM, boasts seven facets that represents the late Queen’s 70-year-old reign. The decanter can be nestled in a visually-arresting wooden sculpture that is handcrafted from a fallen elm tree discovered within the distillery’s gardens.
The stunning sculpture, which is crafted by award-winning craftsman John Galvin who has is a familiar name in bespoke spirits packaging, resembles a flaming forest centrepiece. The Glen Grant, which was founded in 1840 and one of the oldest distilleries in Scotland, stands out for having a 27-are Garden of Splendor within its compounds. It started out as a mini botanical gardens for Major James Grant, who would bring back seeds and plants from his travels around the world.
Previously, the oldest limited edition release from the Scotch distillery was The Glen Grant Dennis Malcolm 60th Anniversary Edition, which paid homage to the whisky stalwart’s illustrious career. This year marks a busy year for The Glen Grant, which is owned by the Campari Group. In March, it added a 21 Year Old to join its core collection 10, 12, 15 and 18 Year Old single malt whiskies.
