Singleton of Glen Ord- The Asian market Singleton.

Glen Ord, the Singleton distillery that actually lets you in! This Diageo/Singleton location not only allows visitors, but also still has their own malting facility on site called “Glen Ord Maltings”. You can see the kilns firing as you drive up to the visitor’s center. You will notice that the brand name Singleton is made in three different locations and you can only the ones that are designated to your geographic location. Diageo had specific geographical regions where each of these brands would be successful and developed flavor profiles specific to each. Here are the following Diageo Single

Single Malt brands that are under the name “Singleton”:

Singleton Dufftown- Distributed in Europe

Singleton Glendullan- Distributed in North America

Singleton Glen Ord- Distributed in Asia/South East Asia

The reasoning I was given thatthe Glen Ord facility allows tours, when the others currently do not, is because when Diageo purchased Glen Ord it already had a visitor’s center. With Glen Ord’s malting, it definitely is a unique and busy location on Black Isle, north of inverness. They even make batches of peated malt for the likes of Talisker. Just in 2008 they were at 5 million liters of New make spirit per year and in 2012 they hit the 11.5 million liter mark. They have two mash tuns and run a six hour mash. There are 22 washbacks and 14 stills in total. Their washbacks hold 59,000 liters and currently run a 75 hour fermentation process to ensure they get the fruit and orange flavors they want. Twenty two mashes are being run per week and the shifts are on 24/7. Although they do a significant amount of the whisky making process on site, the bottling and all cooperage needs are done off-site.

I was able to try quite a few of the Singleton's of Glen Ord during my visit. I want to note that most of them have coloring added because that is what the Asian market demands. They still have expectations in color and chill filtration (looking cloudy when you add water). I will list a few of my favorites below.

Singleton of Glen Ord 18 Year Old Single Malt

Holly’s Tasting Note..

Nose: Espresso beans, sherry and pine.

Palate: Apricot jam, spicy fruit, wood and pine.

Singleton of Glen Ord 21 Year Old Single Malt

Holly’s Tasting Note..

Nose: Fig, raisin, nutty cream, peanut butter.

Palate: Smooth, yet dry fruits, apricots, peach and vanilla.

This one was my favorite by far!

Next up is Talisker..