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Day 22 - KWM 2025 This Is Still Not An Advent Calendar

Posted on December 22, 2025

by Evan

Glenturret was mentioned on Day 12 of our 2025 This Is Not An Advent Calendar, with the North Star Empress 17 Year old. You may recall that the Glenturret distillery was once owned by the Luxury Whisky Company called Edrington. The distillery was also once home to The Famous Grouse Experience. Edrington has divested itself of both of Glenturret Distillery and The Famous Grouse Blended Scotch brand over the past six years. The Famous Grouse Blended Scotch Brand is now owned by William Grant & Sons and Glenturret now has little to do with Edrington or The Famous Grouse: it was purchased by the Lalique Group back in 2019. It is actually owned half by the Lalique Group and half by a Swiss Gentleman named Hansjörg Wyss, though the Lalique Group is ultimately responsible for the day to day running of the distillery and brand.

Some history for you: Glenturret Distillery credits itself as the oldest working distillery in Scotland. The distillery’s own research and marketing date the first licensed operation to 1763, when it was called Thurot. It first ran under that name, then was later changed to Hosh Distillery, then the Glenturret name was finally adopted in 1875. Apparently, there was another Glenturret Distillery in the region that operated between 1826 and 1852. I guess the name was up for grabs 23 years later?

Suffice to say, calling Glenturret Distillery the oldest in Scotland does have some claim to it, but is also a touch dubious. That is much of distillery history in a nutshell, though. Littlemill also has some claim to being the oldest, even though it only exists as a brand now. Bowmore has been in operating on Islay since 1779, in the same place and with the same name, if I am correct. Perhaps Glenturret is oldest, but with an asterisk.

The Glenturret Distillery is located on the west bank of the Barvick Burn, which as tributary to the River Turret. Nearby is the Aberturret Estate House (which now has a Gin named after it), and to the south is the town of Crieff. Glenturret’s closest Highland distillery neighbours around Perthshire include Blair Athol, Aberfeldy, and Tullibardine.

Glenturret is not a large production facility. It only pumps out around 500,000 litres of alcohol per year. It’s new prominence as a Single Malt Whisky brand shows that much of this production is likely now earmarked for Single Malt releases. Before the 2019 sale, much of it would have been destined to be blended into The Famous Grouse. The distillery has been producing both unpeated and unpeated spirit runs for a while now, and both styles are featured in Glenturret’s official whisky range. For indie bottlers, peated versions of Glenturret often use the name Ruadh Maor. Or Ruadh Mhor.

Sadly, the distillery announced in November 2024 that it plans to stop making peated whisky entirely, and will eventually phase out its peated release bottlings starting in 2026.

This is sad news in my opinion, as the Spicy, earthy style of Ruadh Maor is a lot of fun. Hopefully this, along with being owned by a luxury brand, isn’t the start of Glenturret distilling itself out of a market of consumers that seem to have a keen interest in the brand.

Two and three days ago in our 2025 Still Not An Advent Calendar Tastings, I was taking a (in my opinion well deserved) jab at large companies and their official bottlings of their own distillery’s Single Malt Scotch. If you are used to single cask and small batch offerings from independent bottlers, then many – even most – official single malt releases can come off as a bit dull and boring. At worst, they sometimes seem to be catering to a lowest common denominator that possibly doesn’t even exist.

That is not fair – in fact, is downright snobbish and elitist of me to say. There are great companies putting out great whisky both indie and official. I see and get to taste many more indie bottlings than I do official bottlings, so my view is very much skewed because of that. Plus, I have a history of backing the Davids in fights with Goliaths, regardless of right and wrong. I often just like seeing the little guy battle and possibly win, even when that might not be the best thing to happen, oddly.

Where was I going with this? Oh, right. So – earlier in 2025, KWM ran a virtual tasting focusing entirely on Glenturret Distillery’s official Single Malt Scotch range. Guess what? Everybody in the tasting felt they were fantastic. And this tasting wasn’t with a Brand Ambassador we were trying to play nice with or anything else. It was KWM staff tasing the product, with no direct feedback or notes from the company behind the whisky.

The Glenturret Distillery Virtual Vertical Tasting - Kensington Wine Market's YouTube Page

So that brings us to this bottle. We have had customers tell us that the Glenturret lineup is very good. We have told customers that we felt the Glenturret lineup is superb. But was that one tasting just a case of being in a happy and forgiving mood?

That’s it. Time to give it a second taste, just for fairness. Give me a moment: I am going to get myself angry and depressed and then try this bottle again with a more realistic and cynical, fresh outlook. Perhaps I can find some news relating to local or international politics to set me off in a truly irrational manner. That always works. Then I can taste this bottle and decide if it is good once and for all!

Glenturret 12 Year Old 2024 Release – 46.4%

The Glenturret 12 Years Old whisky sits at the heart of our 2024 Core Range. American and European Oak, with influences from both Oloroso & Pedro Ximenez seasoned casks, create a rich expression at 46.4% ABV. Crafted with care and expertise, this expression embodies the essence of The Glenturret’s history and tradition.

Evan’s Tasting Note

Nose: Rich and welcoming with notes of candied orange peel, figs, plums, soft leathery notes, hints of clove, and unwrapping a Milk Chocolate Toblerone Bar.

Palate: Slight spice notes up front and then the whisky settles on the tongue silkily with touches of salted toffee, milk chocolate covered raisins, dates, oatmeal with a healthy dose of brown sugar, roasted hazelnuts, and a dash of nutmeg.

Finish: Warm and welcoming, with sweet and decadent pan forte notes on the long fade.

Comment: A great dram for sherry’d whisky lovers looking for a right but balanced bottled. Excellent stuff.

Cheers,

Evan

evan@kensingtonwinemarket.com

This entry was posted in Whisky, Tastings, Whisky Calendars, Tastings - Online Tasting, KWM 2025 Still Not An Advent Calendar Tastings

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