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First single malt whisky to be distilled in Glasgow in over a century, is laid down

Published:  26 March, 2015

The Glasgow Distillery Company has produced and laid the first casks of single malt whisky to be distilled in Glasgow in over a century.

The Glasgow Distillery Company has produced and laid down the first casks of single malt whisky to be distilled in Glasgow in over a century.

"We got the stills in just before Christmas and we have been distilling since the end of January," Liam Hughes, chief executive of The Glasgow Distillery Company, confirmed.

The distillery opened in 2013 and released its first premium gin, Makar Glasgow Gin, into the market last year. However according to Hughes, making a single malt craft whisky had always been the plan. "We have been thinking about it for at least five years. But it is long-term game. You have to lay down the casks for a minimum of three years and we expect ours may be much longer than that" he said.

It is currently producing ten casks per week and using bourbon, sherry, port and wine casks to age the whisky. "We prefer to drink single malts, but also due to the small batches we are distilling a single malt whisky is the right fit," said Hughes.

Producing gin helped to meet the distillery's short term needs, but Hughes said it was likely to be a smaller part of the overall business in the longer term. "We are the first gin to be distilled and bottled in Glasgow. We have a 450 litre gin still that produces about 300 bottles per run but it is a small part of our company's production compared to whisky," he said.

The company announced it would be releasing a limited edition whisky at the end of 2014 after a chance meeting between Hughes and the owners of a few rare 30-year-old single malt Speyside casks, which was subsequently bottled by Glasgow Distillery Company and called Prometheus.

"It was great opportunity to purchase a really excellent whisky and take it to market. We bottled it, but it is not our own product. It has helped up to established high quality relationships with distributors from around the world," said Hughes.

Liam Hughes and Ian McDougall named the company after The Glasgow Distillery Company which was in operation between 1770 and ran into the trouble in the mid-19th century. The company had a series of owners and operated under various business names, but finally closed in 1902 and the building was demolished in 1903.

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