The Glen Garioch distillery in Aberdeenshire - also known at
times as the 'Old Meldrum' distillery - was founded more than
two centuries ago in 1798 by a man named Thomas Simpson.
Well, the reports are mixed; some say he actually may have
started illegal operations as early as 1785, ten years earlier.

I won't bore you with the details of the various owners that
owned the distillery over the years. The list of owners includes
Ingram, Lamb & Co, John Manson & Co and J. G.Thomson & Co
of Leith. The company John Manson & Co is also known for the
Strathmeldrum distillery which continued to operate until 1884.

Ownership of Glen Garioch changed a few more times but I won't go into that now.
In 1937 the owners Booth's Distilleries Ltd. were aquired by the DCL (Distillers Company Limited, a predecessor of Diageo) and in 1943 Glen Garioch was transferred to SMD (Scotch Malt Distillers). A few dacedes later, in 1968, Glen Garioch distillery was decomissioned & closed.

That looked like the end of Glen Garioch, but fortunately the closed distillery was sold to Stanley P. Morrison (Agencies) Ltd. They resumed production again in 1973 when some peaty 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, a waste-heat boiler and greenhouses heated by waste heat. A visitor centre was added as well.

In 1982 Glen Garioch was the first distillery in Scotland to convert its stills to gas-firing.
The owners and the distillery were purchased in July 1994 by Suntory from Japan.
They closed the distillery in October 1995 and re-opened it again in 1997.

With the reconstruction of this website on the horizon, I have to wrap up this profile.
Check out my Track Record for a complete overview of all 'siplings' I've tried until the end of 2006.
 
 

Rumour has it that Glen Gariochs produced after the closure and reconstruction in 1985 are notably different than those that were distilled earlier - and I think I have to agree. 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. I've even been told that Suntory made a intentional effort to change the profile of the whisky - and they succeeded.