The Glen Garioch distillery in Aberdeenshire (at times known as the
'Old Meldrum' distillery and sometimes spelled as Glengarioch) was
built in 1797 by Thomas Simpson. This makes Glen Garioch one of
the few remaining distilleries that was founded in the 18th century.

The first change in ownership occurred in 1837 when the owners
of the nearby Strathmeldrum distillery (John Mason & Co.) bought
the Glen Garioch distillery. Strathmeldrum distillery continued to
operate until 1884 when it was closed and Glen Garioch was sold
to J. G. Thomson & Co of Leith. Details on the decades after that
are slightly vague, but early in the 20th century William Sanderson
gradually took over control and ownership of Glan Garioch.

The official portfolio of Glen Garioch
consisted of five different bottlings
around the year 2005; a 10 years old,
a 15 years old and a 21 years old, as
well as two expressions without an
age statement; the 'Highland Tradition'
and the 'Archive'. After repositioning
and restructuring the entire ranges of
Bowmore (in 2007) and Auchentoshan
(in 2008), it was Glen Garioch's turn...

1) Glen Garioch distillery was established on the site of an old tannery and there was probably a brewery in the area as well.

2) In November 1972 Glen Garioch was released as a single malt for the first time. Previously the malt whisky had only been used in blends such as VAT 69, Bell's, Grant's Standfast - as well as the liqueur Drambuie.

3) More trivia will be added later.
 

Glen Garioch 17yo 1990/2007 (55,8%, Adelphi, C#2689, 285 Bts.)
Nose: Nose: Smooth & refined, but not a lot of 'definition' initially.
Some fruity complexities slowly emerge. Then organics pop up. This one needs time!
Taste: Sweet and smooth. Touch of oil and some fruits.
Not very expressive, but a great mouth feel. Fairly gritty finish. Salmiak?
Score: 83 points - this is a dram that requires a little work...

Glen Garioch 1988/2006 (56,1%, Celtic Whisky Co, Spirit Safe & Cask ed, Hogshead #1538, 234 Bts.)
Nose: Smooth, nutty and relatively oily. Mocca after a few seconds. A little sharp in the back of the nose.
Much better with citrus and other fruits during a second try. Minty? Alltogether it's pretty great stuff.
Taste: Oily start with an herbal twang. Hesitant start. Needs water.
Score: 87 points - which makes it highly recommendable in my book.

Glen Garioch 10yo (46%, OB, Bottled +/- 2005)
Nose: Fruity - seems like a typical 'new style' GG that reminded me of the 15yo OB I tried a while ago.
Metallic. Faint hint of Granny Smith. Bakery aroma's. Pleasant enough, especially if given enough time.
Taste: Slightly gritty in the start. A tad thin in the centre. This obviously lacks some 'body'. Too bad.
It remains flat and gritty throughout and becomes a tad bitter in the finish. It loses a few points here.
Score: 68 points - but that's just because it loses some point on the palate. The nose is quite OK.

Glen Garioch 15yo Bordeaux Finish (50%, OB, 7yrs Finish, Bottled 2005, 1800 bottles for Taiwan)
Nose: Ah... Much more subtle than I expected. Sweet at first, then the wine effect comes forward.
After I found sake on the palate I thought I detected it in the nose as well. Power of suggestion?
Taste: Velvety smooth. Fruity and creamy. Clearly a 'new style' Glen Garioch. Hint of gooseberry.
Towards the finish I detected the faintest touch of oiliness, reminding me a bit of sake. Funny...
Score: 81 points - Given the 'new' Glen Garioch style the 15yo age statement must include the finish.

Glengarioch 15yo 1988/2003 (46%, Whisky Galore)
Nose: Smooth, fruity and quite mellow. Veggy. Big, but not really expressive.
There's something vaguely dusty between the fruits. Hint of oil, perhaps?
After some five minutes I got something like molten candle wax. That's odd...
Taste: Sweet and fruity. Hint of smoke; big and sweet in the centre too.
Pleasant, although it grows bitter in the finish. It's hard to get a handle on this one.
Score: 83 points - this is another malt that slowly but surely grew on me over time.

Glen Garioch 1984 (55%, OB, Bottled +/- 2000)
Nose: Spicy with a hint of apple at first, grainier after a few seconds. Very nice.
With a splash of water some more and more organics drifted to the surface. Smoke?
Taste: Very sweet, growing fruitier and maltier in the centre. What a lovely mouth feel.
After a few minutes I got some 'pine' - too bad. It seems to grow grittier as well
Score: 84 points - not especially complex at first, but very pleasant on the tongue.

Glen Garioch 29yo 1968/1997 (57.7%, OB, Cask #7) - this one proved to be a BIG WHOPPER!
Nose: Wow!!! Another sherry monster - woody, fruity and wonderfully complex. Tea. Baklava?
Spices and organics too. Smoke. All sorts of subtle and seductive action in the background.
Salami with garlic? Rubber? An exceptional profile, although it doesn't seem all that 'old'.
The organics grow ever more complex - what a ride! Should I add water? I could spoil it...
When I finally dared to add a few drops of water, it seemed to release more smoky notes.
Simply flabbergasting - this could very well be the best heavily sherried malt I ever tried.
Taste: Hey, that's funny. I get some 'antiquity' on the palate. Smoke. Winey, fruity and chewy.
Almost perfect on the palate as well. With a stronger start it might have reached the upper 90's.
Score: 94 points - definitely the very best sherry monster I ever tried. The stuff of legends.
And once again this knockout malt was selected and shipped by 'supernose' Serge.

Glen Garioch 29yo 1968 (53.7%, OB, Cask #627, Hogshead, Bottled +/- 1997)
Nose: Ooooh... Lovely deep, sweet sherry notes. Polished oak. Pipe tobacco. Organics. Magnificent!
It grows 'dirtier' over time - which is a good thing here. Sweaty socks. Altogether it's right up my alley.
Taste: Fabulous sherry on the palate as well, with the distinct smoke that betrays an 'old' Garioch.
This one almost takes a medicinal direction but also has a minty freshness to balance the smoke.
Score: 91 points - a very suitable 1500th dram, if I may say so. Thanks a lot, Ho-cheng!
 

These were not all the (official and independent) expressions of Glen Garioch whisky I've tried over the years.
My Track Record used to contain a complete overview of all the single malts I've tried, but when I passed the 2000 malts mark (and the complete whisky list wouldn't fit on two separate HTML pages anymore) I gave up. My Liquid Log still contains my tasting notes on most single malts I've sampled and scored, though. You can find a specific expression through the search box at the top of each distillery profile. The mAlmanac now contains (purely personal) selections of some of the best single malts and the worst whiskies I've tried so far - as well as the ones with the highest 'Bang-For-Your-Buck' value. But those tasting notes and scores only reflect my own, purely personal opinions. On Serge's distillery profile on Whiskyfun you can find another perspective on the whisky made at this distillery. Check out the Malt Maniacs Monitor on Malt Maniacs for my scores on all expressions I've tried so far - and those of almost all the other certified malt maniacs as well. The Malt Maniacs Matrix contains a few thousand single malts that were sampled and scored by at least four different malt maniacs, so you can compare our individual opinions.
 
 

Glen Garioch resumed production again in 1973 when some peated malt whisky is produced.
The new owners extended the number of stills from two to three in 1978 and made quite a few
other upgrades to the production process, including floor maltings and greenhouses heated by
waste heat. A visitor centre was added to the distillery as well.

The main reason for Sanderson's interest in Glen Garioch was the fact that the malt whisky was an important ingredient of the popular VAT69 blend that was introduced by Sanderson in the late 19th century. In 1933 Sanderson & Son (what a lovely name) merged with Booth's Distilleries Ltd., a company involved in the production of gin. This new company was taken over by the DCL (Distillers Company Limited, a predecessor of Diageo) and then transferred to SMD (Scotch Malt Distillers) in 1943. A little over two  dacedes later, in 1968, Glen Garioch distillery was decomissioned & closed.
This could have been the end for Glen Garioch, but fortunately Stanley P. Morrison Ltd. stepped in.

For one thing, the 'old style' Glen Gariochs (or at least those distilled between 1973 and
1985) are notably peatier than the more recent 'Suntory' expressions that show more fruit.
I've even been told that Suntory made a intentional effort to change the profile of the Glen
Garioch whisky to suit their needs. Judging from the changes that occurred at the Bowmore
distillery on Islay after the take-over, this seems like a plausible scenario. 
 
As far as equipment goes, Glen Garioch uses a stainless steel (full lauter) mash tun, eight
stainless steel washbacks, one wash still and two smaller spirit stills. The malt whisky is
matured in both American oak bourbon and European sherry casks.

In 1982 Glen Garioch was the first distillery in Scotland to convert its
stills to gas-firing - a move that was followed a few years later by many
other whisky distilleries. Two years later (in July 1994) the company
Morrison Bowmore Distillers Ltd. was purchased by Suntory from Japan.
 
The new owners closed the distillery in October 1995 and re-opened it
again in 1997. Rumour has it that Glen Gariochs produced after the
closure and reconstruction in 1985 are notably different in character
than those that were distilled earlier - and I think I have to agree.

Glengarioch / Glen Garioch whisky 

In 2009, the 1797 Founder's Reserve
(depicted at the left, no age statement)
and a 12 years old 'standard' expression
are released, along with two vintages;
a 1978 and a 1990. One curious feature
of both the 'Founder's Reserve' and 12yo
expressions is the unusual ABV of 48%.
As far as I know, no other whisky brand
uses that ABV for any official bottling...

2004 - The oldest official bottling ever of Glen Garioch is released; the Glen Garioch 46yo 1958/2004 (43%, OB).
The malt whisky in the cask was distilled in May 1958; in September 2004 no more than 336 bottles were filled.
 
2005 - The Glen Garioch visitor centre is opened in October.
 
2009 - The entire Glen Garioch whisky portfolio is reinvented. The cornerstones of the new range are the 1797 Founder's Reserve without an age statement and the 12 years old, both bottled at 48% ABV.