Glen Spey Distillery — Speyside Single Malt Whisky

Glen Spey Distillery is a Scotch whisky distillery located in Rothes, Speyside, Scotland. It was founded in 1878 and is currently owned by Diageo. Much of its output goes into blended whiskies, especially J&B, though a small official single malt range is also released under the Flora & Fauna label.

History

Glen Spey was built in 1878 by James Stuart & Co. on the site of an existing oatmeal mill known as the Mill of Rothes; Stuart, a corn merchant, added distilling equipment to the mill rather than building from scratch. In 1887 Stuart sold the site to the London gin producer W&A Gilbey, in what is often cited as the first purchase of a Scottish distillery by an English company — it was renamed Glen Spey at this point. W&A Gilbey merged with United Wine Traders in 1962 to form International Distillers and Vintners (IDV), which itself merged with United Distillers in 1998 to create United Distillers & Vintners, the spirits arm of the newly formed Diageo. The distillery expanded from two stills to four in 1970 and remains in active production today, with the great majority of its make used in blends, most notably J&B Rare.

Quick Facts

• Region: Speyside, Scotland
• Founded: 1878
• Owner: Diageo
• Status: Active
• Stills: 4 (2 wash stills, 2 spirit stills), fitted with purifiers

Core Range

Official single malt releases from Glen Spey are limited, since most production is destined for blends. The best-known bottling is the Glen Spey 12 Year Old (Flora & Fauna series, 43% ABV), a light, fruity Speyside malt with notes of ripe peach, pineapple and a faint wisp of smoke. Independent bottlers occasionally release single cask expressions of Glen Spey as well.