Glen Garioch Virgin Oak

Like a virgin. Matured for the very first time.

The Glen Garioch distillery (pronounced Glen Geerie) was founded in 1797 by the Manson brothers, although many claim it was in fact Thomas Simpson. Different sources tell different stories. It is located in Oldemldrum, a small town in the Highlands famous for producing the finest barley in all of Scotland. Or so they say.

The Glen Garioch distillery is one of the oldest and estern-most distilleries in Scotland and is operated by Morrison Bowmore Distilleries, which is owned by Suntory, one of Japan's largest distilleries (check out Whisky's Big in Japan for more on Japanese Whisky). Glen Garioch is specialised in "handcrafted" Scotch that is never chill filtered.

Glen Garioch Virgin Oak is the distilleries very release of a Scotch fully matured in virgin North American (white) oak casks. Glen Garioch used the inner heartwood of 100-year-old oak trees and charred them heavily to activate the wood’s vanilla and oak spices. There’s been a trend in the Scotch industry to use virgin oak. One reason is that demand for Scotch is surging fast, and the producers can’t keep up, so they have to buy virgin oak casks. The second reason lies in the flavour. It’s very much different with virgin oak. Big, bold flavours.