BenRiach and
GlenDronach look back over a unique
award-winning year.
As 2011 draws to a close, the BenRiach
Distillery Company Ltd - owners of
BenRiach and GlenDronach - has been
looking back on its most successful year
ever.
Managing Director Billy Walker said: "We
have been very fortunate to win a number
of top awards this year which reflect
the passion our people bring to the art
of whisky creation.
“They are also testament to the huge
amount of time and energy we dedicate to
our wood management programme.”
Billy highlighted three awards of which
he was especially proud this year.
First, at the 2011 Malt Maniacs Awards,
the company won two gold, four silver
and three bronze medals.
The GlenDronach 1972 bottling of cask
712 was the best overall whisky in the
competition. 1972 cask # 712 was bottled
earlier this year as part of the fourth
batch of GlenDronach single cask
bottlings. That meant that, for the
second year running, a 1972 GlenDronach
won best overall whisky; the previous
year was a 1972 bottling from cask 700,
a Taiwan exclusive.
Also at Malt Maniacs, of only eight gold
medals up for grabs, GlenDronach won two
while the recently-launched GlenDronach
21 year-old “Parliament” and the
BenRiach 1976 cask # 6942 (from Batch 8)
both won silver.
Second, Billy was also gratified by
numerous excellent reviews in Jim
Murray's 2012 Whisky Bible.
"Jim made a number of very kind comments
in his new book, but the highpoint was
his singling out GlenDronach as the
distillery with the most consistently
impressive output throughout 2011.
“He very generously concluded by saying:
“If there was a Whisky Bible Scotch Malt
Whisky Distillery of the year,
GlenDronach would be it."
"That was very special."
In the “Bible”, there were fantastic
scores for two relatively new
expressions - the BenRiach 12 year-old
Sherry Matured and BenRiach 15 year-old
Solstice.
The GlenDronach 1992 bottling of cask
161 (from Batch 4) gained 96 points and
was voted 'single malt - single cask of
the year in the 16 - 21 year-old
section'.
The GlenDronach 18 year-old went one
better and achieved 96.5 points as did
the BenRiach 1971 cask # 1947 (Batch 8)
while the GlenDronach 1972 cask # 712
(Batch 4) achieved 95.5 points. BenRiach
1976 # 6942 (Batch 8) gained 95 points
and there were stunning performances
from three of the five GlenDronach
single cask bottlings from Batch Five,
released only last week, which also
scored 95 plus.
And finally, Sales Director Alistair
Walker looked back on a phenomenal IWSC
this year at which BenRiach and
GlenDronach won an unprecedented nine
awards including two trophies.
"IWSC is the one every whisky producer
wants to win. It's the most prestigious
competition of its kind in the world and
carries huge weight and credibility
through its reputation and history. As
you might expect, we were ecstatic to do
so well.”
Star of the IWSC show was the BenRiach
12 year-old sherry matured which won two
trophies while the BenRiach 20 year-old
also picked up a gold medal.
Said Alistair: "For a small independent
distillery like BenRiach, to win two
trophies for the same single malt was
astounding - especially when you
consider all the big multi-nationals
which also participated.”
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