Glencraig 1974 33 Year Old Duncan Taylor (70cl, 40.9%)

Glencraig 1974 33 Year Old Duncan Taylor is a whisky. Aged 33 years, bottled at 40.9% ABV, 70cl. Glencraig whisky was produced throughout the 1960’s and 70’s at Glenburgie distillery on a pair of Lomond stills. In 1955 Alastair Cunningham and his Hiram Walker colleague, draftsman Arthur Warren, developed the Lomond still to produce a light, fruity spirit for the likes of Ballantine’s. After a successful trial at Inverleven distillery within the firm’s Dumbarton distillery, it was decided to install a Lomond wash and spirit still at Glenburgie in 1958. It was named Glencraig after Hiram Walker’s production director, Willie Craig. Unfortunately the so-called rectifying plates in the neck of Lomond stills were notoriously hard to clean, and in 1981 they were abandoned at Glenburgie. Since then occasional bottles of Glencraig single malt have been released by Duncan Taylor, Cadenhead’s, Gordon & MacPhail, Signatory and the Scotch Malt Whisky Society. While independent bottlings of Glencraig occasionally appear, it was never intended as a single malt in its brief life. It was distilled by Hiram Walker at the Glenburgie distillery to provide a different style of malt for the firm’s blends, such as its top-selling Ballantine’s Finest. Duncan Taylor & Company presides over the ownership of one of the largest privately-held collections of Scotch whisky casks. Though the company’s origins lie in Glasgow as a whisky merchant and broker, its headquarters are in the North East of Scotland - close to Speyside - and it has complete control of the entire production process; from cask selection and management, through “in-house” product and packaging design to its own “under bond” bottling facilities. Glencraig (Glenburgie)