The Glenfiddich Distillery was founded in 1886 by William Grant in Dufftown, Scotland, in the glen of the River Fiddich. The Glenfiddich single malt whisky first ran from the stills on Christmas Day, 1887.
In the 1920s, with prohibition in force in the US, Glenfiddich was one of a very small number of distilleries to increase production. This put them in a strong position to meet the sudden rise in demand for fine aged whiskies that came with the repeal of prohibition.
In the 1950s, the Grant family built up an onsite infrastructure that included coppersmiths to maintain the copper stills, and a dedicated cooperage that is now one of the very few remaining in distilleries. In 1956 the Grant's brand launched the now-iconic triangular bottle, designed by Hans Schleger.
Following difficult times in the 1960s and 1970s, many small, independent distillers were bought up or went out of business. In order to survive, W. Grant & Sons expanded their production of the drink, and introduced advertising campaigns and a visitors' centre. In this period they also took the decision to begin marketing single malt as a premium brand in its own right, effectively creating the modern single malt whisky category with the 1963 introduction of Glenfiddich single malt to the United States and other foreign markets.
The distillery pagoda and former maltings in 2021
Later, W. Grant & Sons was one of the first distilleries to package its bottles in tubes and gift tins, as well as recognising the importance of the duty-free market for spirits. This marketing strategy was successful, and Glenfiddich has since become the world's best-selling single malt. It is sold in 180 countries, and accounts for about 35% of single malt sales.
Glenfiddich is currently managed by the fifth generation of William Grant's descendants.
In September 2014, William Grant & Sons agreed to acquire Drambuie for an undisclosed price rumoured to be in the region of £100 million.
In 2015, Glenfiddich commissioned ad agency Gravity Thinking to create a high tech YouTube campaign titled The Finishing Touch to promote the relaunch of their 21yo single malt, aged in Caribbean Reserva Rum Casks. The video showed a levitron isolating a single drop of whisky in a mid-air suspended animation, and featured Puerto Rican singer Calma Carmona performing the Franz Ferdinand song Love Illumination with the orchestra of the Scottish Opera arranged and conducted by Derek Williams. By the end of the campaign, the video had garnered more than 1.7 million YouTube hits.
Since 2002, Glenfiddich has had an Artists in Residence (AiR) programme with a total budget of £130,000 allowing artists to stay and work in the distillery each year. In 2019 there were eight artists in residence and in 2021, there were six artists in residence.
In 2021, the distillery began converting distillery trucks to run on Biogas made from the distillery waste products.
Production and location
The Glenfiddich distillery produce the Glenfiddich whisky in Dufftown, Moray.
Glenfiddich is a single malt Scotchwhisky, this means the whisky was distilled at a single distillery using a pot still distillation process and must be made from a mash of malted barley.
Onsite there are 43 distinctively-shaped "swan neck" copper pot stills. These stills are smaller than those now in use at most other major distilleries. All stills are handmade and Glenfiddich employs a team of craftsmen and coppersmiths to maintain them. These stills have a capacity of around 21,000,000 litres of spirit.
The water source for Glenfiddich Whisky is The Robbie Dhu springs nearby to the distillery.
Once the spirit has matured, the casks are emptied and the whisky is "cut" with pure Robbie Dhu spring water.
Glenfiddich has a bottling hall onsite along with a large bottling plant in Bellshill.
Glenfiddich is a distillery in Scotland's Malt Whisky Trail, a tourism initiative featuring seven working Speyside distilleries including Glenfiddich, a historic distillery (Dallas Dhu, now a museum) and the Speyside Cooperage.
Whiskies
Glenfiddich Age-Statement Whiskies, by years of production, since 1992
Age
1992–1994
1994–1996
1996–1998
1998–2000
2000–2002
2002–2004
2004–2006
2006–2008
2008–2010
2010–2012
2012–2014
2014–
12 Year Old
Caoran Reserve
Glenfiddich 12 Year Old
14 Year Old
Glenfiddich Rich Oak
15 Year Old
Classic
Solera Reserve
Glenfiddich 15 Year Old
15 Year Old
15 Year Old Cask Strength (renamed Distillery Edition)
18 Year Old
Excellence
Ancient Reserve
Glenfiddich 18 Year Old
21 Year Old
Millennium Reserve
Havana Reserve
Gran Reserva
Glenfiddich 21 Year Old
26 Year Old
Glenfiddich Excellence
30 Year Old
Glenfiddich 30 Year Old
38 Year Old
Glenfiddich Ultimate 38
40 Year Old
Glenfiddich 40 Year Old
50 Year Old
Glenfiddich 50 Year Old
64 Year Old
1937 Rare Collection
Core range
Glenfiddich 12-year-old
Glenfiddich 15-year-old
Glenfiddich 18-year-old
Glenfiddich 21-year-old
Liqueur
Glenfiddich Malt Whisky Liqueur: Until 2011 Glenfiddich produced a liqueur that was 40% alcohol by volume, and sold in 50 cl (500 ml) bottles.
Glenfiddich's whiskies have performed well at international spirits ratings competitions. The 12, 15, 18, and 21-year offerings have all rated well in the San Francisco World Spirits Competition and the Beverage Testing Institutes' reviews. On balance, the 15-year whisky has performed the best, receiving three double-gold medals (in four years) at the 2007–2010 San Francisco competitions and a score of 91 with the Beverage Testing Institute.
Glenfiddich Awards
Started in 1970, Glenfiddich promoted the Glenfiddich Food and Drink Awards to honour distinguished writing and broadcasting in the fields of food and drink in the UK. In 2008, Glenfiddich decided to discontinue distributing Food and Drink Awards, reviewing their "strategy, scope and potential application in some of Glenfiddich’s key markets outside the UK."
Started in 1998, Glenfiddich promoted the Glenfiddich Spirit of Scotland Awards. The Glenfiddich Spirit of Scotland Awards were annual awards given to notable Scottish people. Glenfiddich sponsored the event, in association with The Scotsman newspaper. Nine awards were distributed for art, business, environment, food, music, screen, sport, writing and "Top Scot". A consulting panel nominated four people in each category, with the winner decided by a public vote. The "Top Scot" is an open award, with the public able to nominate anyone. The awards haven't been hosted since 2014.
In popular culture
The Glenfiddich Solera Reserve 15-year single malt scotch whiskyGlenfiddich was the favourite whisky of fictional detective Inspector Morse, as well as his creator Colin Dexter.
