The  soft water comes from springs of Ben Rinnes. Since 1865 the independent distillery is under the same family ownership, The Grants of Glenfarclas. Its speciality is maturing in Sherry Oloroso first fill and second fill butts. There are many expressions on the market. Glenfarclas produces also the first commercial cask strength bottling Glenfarclas 105 which was introduced in 1968. Thirty dunnage warehouses are on site. What makes Glenfarclas special is their six directly heated stills.

In 2008...“Glenfarclas Distillery replaced a shell-and-tube evaporation system that was suffering from a serious loss of efficiency due to fouling and scaling, with an evaporation system from Alfa Laval utilizing plate heat exchangers. The energy required for evaporation is recovered from the distillation process.“ (see Alfa Laval)

The Distillery Manager Shane Fraser explains: “It’s a hundred times better than the old system! Apart from a scheduled summer close-down, it has run without interruption, producing the quality and consistency of pot ale we want.“ Glenfarclas Distillery produces about 4 tonnes of pot ale syrup a day for sale, which is a distillation by-product of the wash distillation.

„We produced 3,120 000 l/a in 2013 a record for Glenfarclas and are increasing this year to 3,500 000 this year,“ Callum Fraser reports.

Glenfarclas An Independent Distillery - A Biography of Glenfarclas by Ian Buxton (2011) gives the full Glenfarclas story.

Character: full bodied, malty, vanilla, heavy Sherry notes, dried fruit, some sweetness, oily

Distillery and Production Manager: Callum Fraser (2012)

There is a visitor centre with a very nice and elegant tasting room. Excellent selection of vintage malts.

Please double-click and thumbnail the photo to open the tour.

Thank you.