Speyside distiller gets the charitable spirit

GLENFARCLAS

Distillery has become the latest from Scotland’s whisky heartland to raise cash for charity after the cancellation of the Spirit of Speyside festival earlier this year.

Family-owned Glenfarclas and Londonbased merchant BI Wine and Spirits have today made available 658 bottles of the limited release “Stillmen’s Dram” that was due to be sold at the festival between April 29 and May 4. The event, which attracts thousands of visitors from around the world, was called off in March of this year in response to the emergence of Covid-19.

The bottles are now available through the BI Wine and Spirits online platform at a price of £100 each, with 10 per cent of sales going to Moray Food Plus foodbank that serves the Speyside community.

“The impact of the pandemic has been widespread and has affected all in some form or another, so teaming up with BI to ensure the 2020 release was made available to those unable to make it up to the distillery was an easy decision to make,” sales manager George Grant said.

Every year, different members from the Glenfarclas operation choose a whisky to be sold at limited release at Spirit of Speyside. The 2020 exclusive was selected by the distillery stillmen John, Jimmy and Graham.

The dram they selected is a single cask bottling of a 2009 liquid. Aged for 10 years in First-fill Oloroso Sherry Butt #1446, it was bottled at a cask strength of 60.1% and is described as having a complex balance of rich candied fruit and sherry oak spice.

Gary Boom, managing director of BI, said the merchant is “delighted” to bring the release to collectors and drinkers.

“BI has always been proud to work with the Glenfarclas distillery,” he said. “It is a rare familyowned business that has retained its integrity throughout the years.”

In June, William Grant & Sons raised £240,000 for various charities including Moray Food Plus through the auction of 450 bottles of Glenfiddich originally created for the Spirit of Speyside Festival.