An old bottle of 1973 Glen Ord bottled as a 23-year-old at cask strength in 1997 for the now legendary Rare Malts series. This Glen Ord is yet another brilliant example of old style highland malt from this great but unsung distillery. This is not the easiest of drams but if you like your whiskies wild and uncompromising then this will do it for you.
This 23-year-old Glen Ord 1973 clocks in at a startling 59.8% and was the first of only two Ords bottled for the Rare Malts Selection (a 1974 release at an even heftier 60.8% followed in 1998), and is immensely waxy, minerally and herbaceous with big hints of salt, smoke, subtle peat and white stone fruits. A wonderful, very natural old style dram that has quite some austerity about it but with time and a little water can reveal the most beautifully aromatic complexity.
The aroma of Glen Ord’s new make spirit – which smells like a freshly cut lawn – is created by having clear wort, long fermentation, a high cut point and copper rich distillation. By keeping the water in the shell and tube condensers hot the ‘conversation’ between vapour and copper is extended. The actual condensing takes place in after-coolers. A sweet toffee undertone, and gingery spice are added through maturation when the low levels of peat smoke also reveal themselves.
The Black Isle was noted for being the site of Ferintosh, the four-strong distillery site which the Forbes family was allowed to operate on a dry free basis from 1688 to 1784 as a reward for supporting the Hanoverian kings. By the early 19th century, it had become the heartland of distillation, with moonshiners sharing the land with nine licensed sites.
The distillery at Muir of Ord was built later, in 1838, by the local laird Thomas MacKenzie, who then leased it out to a succession of owners who ran it with varying degrees of success. Things stabilised in 1896 when the Dundee-based blenders Jas. Watson took charge and expanded the site. Watson’s then sold it on to Dewar’s in 1923 and two years later was absorbed into the greater DCL (Diageo) estate.
It is one of only three distilleries currently which are self-sufficient in their malt requirements [the others are Roseisle and Springbank]. Its original floor maltings were replaced with Saladin boxes in 1961, which in turn were removed when the large drum maltings was built in 1968. Today it produces malt for all of Diageo’s northern plants, Talisker and, on occasion, makes heavily peated malt for Islay.
A recent rise in demand (from blenders and as single malt) has seen Glen Ord expanding twice. The first phase saw capacity rise to 5m LPA and a second (completed in 2014) saw that double to 10m LPA.
It has been available as single malt since the 1980s, although under a confusion of different names: Glen Ord, Glenordie, Ordie, Ord, and Muir of Ord. Diageo has now plumped for Singleton of Glen Ord and is promoting it heavily in the Asian market.
*some minor chips to the edge of the box edge.
