On the last working day of 2019, the team gathered for a group picture to celebrate the end of another successful year, and raise a toast to the last decade at the annual Christmas party.

Over the last decade, Glenfarclas has experienced some of the busiest periods of production since legal distilling began at the distillery some 180 years ago. Record-breaking production levels have been expertly overseen by our fantastic production team, who were also paramount to the successful introduction of upgrades to the still house in summer 2019.  As John Grant said at the Christmas party, “I couldn’t work it!” However the Grant family has complete faith every valued member of their highly experienced team.  It seems fitting for this record breaking production decade to be rounded off with Callum Fraser being named the Icons of Whisky Scottish Distillery Manager of the Year, an award he dedicated to the whole team – without them, none of these incredible achievements would have been possible.

Over the last 10 years the accolades didn’t stop at production. As our popularity grew, record levels of Glenfarclas Single Malt Scotch Whisky were exported to 90 different countries all around the world.  Our thanks go to everyone who makes this possible: from the office team who handle the export and logistics so our whisky gets to you, our loyal whisky aficionados; to the faithful warehouse team who work tirelessly to ensure an ever higher numbers of casks are sleeping peacefully in our traditional dunnage warehouses; not forgetting the visitor centre team (past and present) who every year welcome record numbers of visitors.  To end the 2010s as the Icons of Whisky Scottish Distillery of the Year was a fitting conclusion to what has been a remarkable 10 years of change, growth and teamwork.

The office staff at Glenfarclas posing for their annual Christmas jumper photo, when they collected money and gifts for a local children’s charity (MFR Cash for Kids Mission Christmas).

The Chancellor’s Cask

In our last newsletter we shared how Kenneth Clarke, former Chancellor of the Exchequer, filled a cask of Glenfarclas in 1994 and came back 25 years later to approve it for bottling. In November, John Grant (Chairman of Glenfarclas and 5th generation of the Grant family) met Kenneth Clarke and James Simpson in London to hand over the proceeds from this very special bottling to the Salvation Army, the charity of Mr Clarke’s choice. We were delighted to learn that the Salvation Army chose to allocate these funds to the highlands of Scotland, so they will be doing good close to home. A handful of these bottles are still available from the Visitor Centre.

Glenfarclas 2020 Events

January 31^st An Exclusive Evening with Glenfarclas  (Love Lane Brewery, Liverpool)
February 13^th-15^th Cinderella Whisky Festival
February  7^th – 9th  Alkmaar Whisky Festival, Holland
March 14^th/15^th Roma Whisky Festival
March 21^st Hong Kong Whisky Festival
March 26^{th –} 28^th Whiskyschiff Luzern
April 25^th/26^th Limburg Whisky Festival
April 29th – May 4th Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival

… More to follow!

Archie Jackson chose the 2019 Distillery Exclusive well, as it went onto win gold at the Scottish Field awards in the £50-£100 category and took the trophy in the summer challenge.  This is now sold out, however we will have a new distillery exclusive available soon, watch this space!