Billy Walker- GlenDronach No More; Glenallachie to the Fore

Billy is back; Glenallachie Distillery. Billy Walker, the main man behind the revival of GlenDronach, BenRiach and Glenglassaugh Distilleries. In 2004, Billy and two other investors purchased BenRiach Distillery under their BenRiach Distillery Company.  2008 came along and they purchased The GlenDronach Distillery. Finally in 2013, Glenglassaugh Distillery added. Now as you know, these distilleries, GlenDronach in particular, have established themselves among the scotch whiskey elite. GlenDronach Distillery’s reputation as a sherry cask matured scotch producer with the highly acclaimed and sought after Single Cask releases has soared in the past 5 year or so. Also, with American company Brown-Forman stepping in with a tasty £285m offer in 2016,  the figures show the level Billy and his team reached with their whisky production. But what next?

Billy Walker and Glenallachie Distillery

For these 3 distilleries, life will go on. But what route they go down remains to be seen. And with a smaller release of single casks vintages in the latest batch (#15) in May this year, are they heading down a different, more brand led path with GlenDronach? Who knows. However, last week brought exciting news. Billy and a small consortium purchased Glenallachie Distillery from Chivas Brothers; the Scotch Whiskey arm of the gigantic French Pernod Ricard drinks company. There had been a rumour in the air that Billy was keen for a new project but few would have guessed on Glenallachie Distillery. Built in 1967 this is a relatively new Scottish whiskey distillery and has a less than glamorous history. Mothballed for half the 1980s, in 1989 it restarted and the number of stills doubled to 4, to meet the demand for blended whiskey. This is not a renowned single malt whiskey distillery. It’s history is largely as a factory of production. With Billy Walker now at Glenallachie, its future looks bright and certainly interesting.

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