Glenlochy 1982 SMWS 14 Year Old 62.6

A rising demand for imported Scotch in 1930s America saw Glenlochy acquired and re-opened after many years of closure, by National Distillers in 1937. National Distillers were one of the "big 4" American distilling companies to emerge after the repeal of Prohibition, but they were hit hard by the second world war, eventually selling off their assets in the Scottish whisky industry. Glenlochy was purchased by DCL (now Diageo) in 1954, who ran it for two briefs stints to provide malt for their blends, but closed it for good, like many others, in 1983. Glenlochy is extremely rarely seen as a single malt, and no official bottlings were produced in its lifetime. The Rare Malt Selections are the only distillery bottlings produced by Diageo, and examples from the independent labels are increasingly sought after.

This Glenlochy was distilled in March 1982 and was bottled by the Scotch Malt Whisky Society in September 1996.

The Scotch Malt Whisky Society (SMWS) was founded in 1983 by a group of friends lead by tax accountant Phillip ‘Pip’ Hills as a private members club. The concept behind the society was to source casks from all over Scotland which would then be bottled and made available exclusively to its members. Perhaps the most famous feature of these bottles are the unique codes. Each distillery is represented by a different number and the following digits indicate that particular release. That same year, the SMWS set up its first location in Leith’s Vault buildings in Edinburgh where it still stands today.