::格蘭花格 Glenfarclas::

Glenfarclas – 5^th Generation of the Grant family

John L.S. Grant- [Whisky is my life!]

To this day, Glenfarclas Distillery in Scotland continues to maintain its reputation and receives high-rating amongst whisky enthusiasts. Glenfarclas Single Highland Malt Scotch Whisky is distilled and matured at their family owned and run distillery, which is very rare nowadays. Since 1836, Glenfarclas persistently use the skills and traditions of fine malt whisky making thus creating this mouthwatering whisky.

Being consistent along the way

According to John L.S. Gran, the distinctive character of Glenfarclas Single Highland Malt Scotch Whisky for which only 3 key ingredients are required therefore, no caramel coloring added, no use of condensate filter, only the most traditional way of producing whisky is used. [During winter time, the esters in the wine will form into floating solids due to low temperature. The liquor will maintain its most natural color without the coloring process.]

Has anyone doubted the quality and the taste of the whisky due to the floating object in the bottle? John laughed and said: [Therefore, most of the bottle we used has camouflage effect. This way, we don’t need to change our traditional way of producing whisky and can also prevent consumers from doubting the quality of our products.] Smart move!

From grain to glass, everything is the same as 175 years ago. Using the same distillation methods to main and secure the most natural taste of the Glenfarclas Single Malt Whisky. In the early 1980s, Glenfarclas tried to adopt a new modern method which many stills are heated internally by steam filled unit heaters. The method heats the ‘wash’ more gently, thus increasing the life span of the still which would seem more economical. However, the final flavor is different from the traditional Glenfarclas whisky. Therefore the method only lasted a week before they continue to use traditional ‘direct fired’ stills.

Pursuit of Quality

In John’s memories, there were 2 times where the quality of the yeast was poor, and the whisky tasted sour after the fermentation. What happens then? John says: “When you encounter this type of situation, there are 3 solutions: 1) You take it back to the distillery and process the distillation once again to see if miracle happens; 2) You ignore the situation and allow the new spirit to be matured in oak casks to see if there are any change; 3) You dump it in the river.” John laughed and said: “We poured it in the river!”

Glenfarclas is matured in Spanish sherry casks and a good quality sherry cask can cost up to 750 Euro. “Even though it is expensive, but we still must use because we want the quality,” says John.

Whisky is everything in my life
 
John L.S. Grant, descendant of John Grant claims that ‘Whisky is everything in my life!’. He spent most of his childhood in the distillery. Besides whisky, John enjoys hunting in the winter time and loves to play golf during Summer. After running the business for many years, according to John, he was most pleased when the company was named Distiller of the Year by Whisky Magazine in 2006.