Whisky Focus - Glen Grant 50 Year Old

Glen Grant have announced the release of an exceptionally rare limited edition of its Speyside single malt, the Glen Grant 50 Year Old.

The whisky was distilled on 28th October 1963 then hand filled into a rather special cask by a young man named Dennis Malcolm. The whisky then slowly mature for 50 years until 25th November 2013, when it was bottled.

That young man who filled the cask was Dennis Malcolm who today is the Glen Grant Master Distiller. The cask which Dennis watched over for half a century is now ready to be presented to the world.

Dennis Malcolm commented, "Only time measures our pursuit of perfection. Maturation cannot be rushed. Like people, casks mature at their own pace. I have protected and cared for this barrel for 50 years, letting it breathe and patiently waiting for the magic and interaction of whisky and wood."

Only 150 bottles of this rare and exclusive whisky will be released globally and has been bottled at an incredible 54.4% ABV even after 50 years in the cask. Each bottle of this rare Glen Grant 50 year old whisky is unique and handcrafted in every sense – presented in a hand-blown crystal glass decanter, masterfully created and individually refined by the skilled craftsmen at Glencairn Crystal, the last family-owned crystal glass company in Scotland. Each decanter is hand engraved, hand numbered and finished with the number 50 in 18-carat gold lettering. The design of the decanter is an exact replica of Glen Grant’s tall, slender pot stills – a creation of Glen Grant’s legendary innovator, James ‘The Major’ Grant.

It is housed in a copper-lined Scottish oak box – made from new oak, worked by a skilful cabinetmaker with a practiced carpenter’s hand and an astute eye for detail.

Each Glen Grant 50 Year Old comes with a certificate of authenticity, signed by Dennis Malcolm and every craftsman involved.

Glen Grant whisky does seem to have the ability to sit in the cask for a lot of years as there has been a few releases from both the distillery and from independent bottlers over the the years of SUPER OLDIE expressions such as this. I have had the pleasure to taste a few of them such as the superb Glen Grant 1954 50 year old bottled by Ian Macleod, hopefully the quality of this new bottling will match up to what has come before it.

The Glen Grant 50 Year Old priced around £8350 (EUR10,000/US$14,000) will be launched in Asia’s Travel Retail Market. It will be available in Hong Kong from Friday 21st March and shortly following in Singapore, Seoul, Shanghai, Beijing and Taipei. As of June 2014, it will be launched internationally in other duty free and domestic markets.
 

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