The Glenfarclas distillery is one of the big names in Speyside.
Certainly big enough to deserve a 'proper' distillery profile, even
though I'm wrapping up this old archive as soon as possible now.

When I visited the Speyside area for the first time in 2003 the
Glenfarclas distillery was one of the 'targets' of the tag team of
certified malt maniacs that had joined our pilgrimmage. I don't
know if the fact that Glenfarclas is one of the last remaining
'family' distilleries has something to do with it, but the maniacs
were treated like royalty in the glorious tasting room. Read my
report on the first maniacal trip to Scotland for all the details.

I have to do some more research for the new Malt Madness website but if I'm not mistaken Glenfarclas (licensed in 1836 by farm tenant Robert Hay) has for a time around 1850 also been known under the name 'Glenlivet'. Well, we all know who won the battle for that name... ;-)

In 1960 the number of stills was doubled from two to four. The production capacity was expanded again soon afterwards; in 1976 the number of stills was extended to six.

Glenfarclas was rebuilt in 1896, shortly before Pattison, Elder & Co were bankrupted in 1898 and the Grant family took over full control of the distillery again in the year 1900. The operation continued from that moment on under the name J. & G. Grant - the name still used today.

In 1865 Glenfarclas was obtained from Robert
Hay's executors by John Grant who then let it
to John Smith until 1870. By that time John
(the 'Smith' one) had built Cragganmore for
himself, so after 1870 the distillery was run
by J. & G. Grant until 1895. In that year the
Glenfarclas-Glenlivet distillery Co Ltd formed,
half of which was owned by Pattison, Elder
& Co and the other half by the Grant family.

Erm indeed...
Check out my Track Record for a comprehensive overview of all 'siplings' I've tried until december 2006.