Glasgow 1770 7yo
Distillery Exclusive VO & Oloroso 2025 | 60.9% ABV
Score: 7/10
Very Good Indeed.
TL;DR
Not just worth it, but also worth making the trip
Take it or leave it
Today is likely to be one of those small-brained thought dumps from Wally where it’s really easy to slip into a blame-and-name session, or at least a rant. But I think that might be necessary for this topic, and it’s not solely based on my own personal opinions - this is becoming far too much of a chronic issue in whisky and it needs to be talked about.
I am speaking specifically about the cost of distillery exclusives and hand-fills and the occasionally absurd prices being charged for this ‘privilege’.
Here in Glasgow it’s supposedly summertime outside although, as the wind and rain batters my windows, anyone would be forgiven for feeling November vibes. Anyway, it’s Scotland and it is what it is. So, while whisky in the Northern Hemisphere generally bumbles through a slight downturn in consumption, there remains a brave and reasonably buoyant trade in travel and tourism to keep things interesting. Perhaps not quite as busy as it has been in recent years, but today there’s a lot more choice and competition for the weary but wide-eyed whisky pilgrim.
Often far-travelled, the thing these folks are likely to be after more than anything else is something that they may not be able to easily get at home. But even more appealing than that, is when it’s something they literally can’t get anywhere else. Be it small batch, single cask, distillery exclusive, bottle-your-own, hand-fill or what-have-you, these represent the true pinnacles of a souvenir that shouts “I was there!”.
Believe it or not, this isn’t solely motivation for folks arriving by plane or train; these are also exciting draws for locals too. Just because we live in the land of the source, it doesn’t mean we’re pre-disposed to nip out on a whim and pick up bottles of exclusives and specials from distilleries. Work, family and a myriad of other demands on time tend to get in the way of that; so even for ‘locals’, unless we’re on the doorstep of such places, whisky trips tend to require holidays and as such they become mini-adventures.
To give us a sense of scale; from Glasgow I can do Campbeltown and back in a day, but I never have. I’d allow four hours each way of driving time and by the time I'd doddled about the town, it’s distilleries, and at least one eatery, it would be a long, tiring day - instead of a relaxing one. And I’d want to sip while I’m there. So, accommodation suits me. Same for Islay, Speyside and further afield.
Within reach are most of the Central Belt distilleries as well as the Borders, Lowlands and Southern Highlands. However, I’d still tend to want to take time; tour and linger for a bit. So, even as a local I treat them less like a shop and more like a destination. I think, wherever we’re travelling from, a distillery visit for many is a little like a pilgrimage. It takes genuine effort and it’s genuinely pleasurable just to be there and, for all of these destinations, a treasured souvenir is the icing on any whisky botherer’s cake.
Unless, of course, that cake is laced with bitterness.
Far too many times in my recent experience I have either witnessed or heard first-hand about a crestfallen traveller who faced the arbitrary prices that are often attached to these ‘exclusives’. It’s one thing having the presence of mind to simply process this disappointment and leave it at that; but often a visitor faced with an on-the-spot decision will buy this ‘exclusive’ only to reflect afterwards and realise they were duped.
We get caught up in the excitement of it all. The value proposition, or lack thereof, doesn’t always make itself obvious with giddy eyes scanning through rose-tinted visitor centre tasting glasses. We know we might not be back anytime soon, or ever. Make no mistake, the distilleries know this and, sometimes, it feels like we’re taken advantage of.
I’ll be honest, I speak through experience. I have overspent and felt the weight of regret. It doesn’t help the whisky enjoyment one iota. Being able to settle with a bottle you feel you were exploited for isn’t easy. And before you think I base all of this blurb based on grudge, bluster and anecdote, I called around a few distilleries and simply asked what their exclusive or hand-fill offer was. The range of responses were all over the place. Here are a few examples, based fully on my whim - or who bothered to answer the phone.
Let’s start with a few who I felt were playing fair, and the list here will deliver no surprises for those who are familiar with the ethics of these brands. First up, ‘The Ardna’s’.
Islay’s Ardnahoe does have hand-fills, but not of their own spirit, yet. They offered a peaty Islay expression and a tasty and well-priced Benrinnes, but an exclusive Ardnahoe Fèis Ìle 2025 bottling was still available alongside the remnants of their spectacular inaugural 5yo bottles for £85 and £70 respectively, which is well within my personal fair price bracket.
Ardnamurchan on the West Coast take a different approach, offering a continual rotation of hand-fill 50cl bottles for £50 (scaled up to a ‘regular bottle’ would therefore be £70 so - samesy). It’s currently a 5 year old oloroso octave, but don’t expect that to be the case next time you’re there. It could just as easily be an ex- bourbon, a Golden Promise or on rare occasions one of their Paul Launois casks. This alone makes the trip down that challenging single-track road worth the effort, even before you’ve taken a tour or tasting or filled the car boot with tasteful merch. They are also terrifically generous with tasters, samples and try-before-you-buy. Just as it should be.
How about a little closer to the higher-traffic Central Belt?
Well, Glenkinchie sets the tone here with a hand-fill red wine finished 12 year old at cask strength for £140. Ouch. There is also a distillery exclusive bottling which uses a vatting of ex-American brandy and refill casks for a more reasonable £90, but it comes without an age statement. A decent effort on choice, but shades of greed on pricing - you may or may not agree.
The fairly easy-to-reach Deanston always has a good selection of special bottles and limited editions (often from their Bunnahabhain and Tobermory stablemates too) but they also have a hand-fill offering, which is nice. It’s currently a 6yo bourbon for £75 at 58.2%. Once more on the limit, but still a touch more expensive than the much smaller-in-scale and independently owned Ardnas who also have plenty stocks of that vintage these days. Still, a stop at the cafe, a warehouse experience or simply hanging around Deanston has rarely let me down.
Heading up the A9 to the Southern Highlands we might take in Dewar’s Aberfeldy. With their swish and relatively recently revamped visitor centre it’s a great place to visit and dwell, and their exclusive bottlings are indeed very interesting. While they may seem pricey, consider the generous specs; they have two exclusive bottlings: a 21 year old madeira and a 20 year old wine cask, both for £180, both at natural strength. If you’re willing to stretch to £220 you can partake in the hand-fill which will get you a vatting of a first-fill hoggie and a sherry butt at the venerable age of 24 years old. This is expensive, but we’re not after cheap, we’re after good quality at fair prices. A 24yo cask strength at £220 these days is arguably a good value rarity. They need something a little more affordable for the less wealthy - outside of the well-stocked core range which we can get elsewhere - but Aberfeldy almost gets there.
While Glengoyne moves further away.
A visit to the Ian Macleod site in the Southern Highlands is always a sensory treat, but the days of a smile upon departure with a bag of goodies, for most of us, are long gone I’m afraid. They currently have an interesting cask strength hand-fill 17yo from bourbon on offer, but at £195 it’s a hard pass. This week I tasted an absolute beauty of a Glengoyne 17 year old from Hunter Laing at cask strength and priced at £112. Closer to where it should be in today’s landscape. Charging £195 at the distillery is a loud and elitist message to casual and invested fans of Glengoyne malt. We hear it.
Travelling further afield it gets a little better, but not much. A hike to the Isle of Skye and a short ferry ride over to the Isle of Raasay is one of the modern whisky pilgrimages that everyone should experience; it’s jaw-dropping, remote and filled with wonder. How a site such as this can exist today is purely the product of earnest endeavour and we’re all grateful for it. But the bottle-your-own is a let-down; the current offering seems to be a vatting of Palo Cortado and peated ex-rye cask for £120. It is cask strength at 58.1% but when I asked the age I was told ‘it’s over three years old’. I’m left wondering if they’ve gone the ‘infinity cask’ route here or perhaps the vintage just wasn’t known or disclosed? No matter. Even if it was their oldest stock, it’s too expensive by a chunk. I love Raasay, but that’s sore.
If we return to the mainland and head far north to another of my all-time favourite distilleries for a visitor experience; the ultra-personable and scenic Balblair. There was a time where stopping by here could snag you beautiful examples of their spirit priced fairly; and their hand-fills were truly a treat. These days picking one of those up would cost you £130. The specs are great as it’s a 57% cask strength ex-bourbon 14 year old, which I’d be confident of being something really nice, but again more than a smidge greedy for the folks who've travelled so far north they’re dealing with nose-bleeds.
Look, we get it. Whisky is an expensive thing. Making it is an expensive business. Getting it out into the market - even more so. But when that market comes to you, you really do have the opportunity to send everyone home as a lifelong fan and potential unofficial ambassador for the brand. Owning, or better still sipping from, a souvenir bottle that can only be snagged at the source, should be one of whisky’s - and life’s - true pleasures. There’s even an argument that it should be subsidised. And for those that argue that these centres are often very costly and are currently suffering lighter footfall I’d respond - no wonder.
I sat in the Bon Accord recently with an American friend who’d stopped by Glengoyne and picked up their 18 year old official bottling and an impulsive I’m-only-here-once hand-fill. At that time, it was a 12 year old and from memory an ex-bourbon. He showed pragmatism over paying slightly more than he might otherwise have for the official 18 year old, but he was genuinely regretful of the even more expensive hand-fill purchase. It took the shine off his visit, not because of what he could have purchased elsewhere for the same amount of money, but that he felt taken advantage of from a brand that, until that point, he’d trusted and loved.
I think this is happening in many places. Is it one of these short-term, greed-fuelled strategies where no one attempts to consider the long-term effect? Surely it’s better to sell lots of bottles to happy visitors with a lower margin than to make fat margins only to alienate a large percentage of your enthusiastic visitors? And that’s only if they actually decide to buy - many just see the price and engage reverse. They won’t even ask to try it. Everything is tainted by that single gesture which can suddenly make a visitor feel cynically trapped, as opposed to comfortably ensconced. It’s an obvious statement of ‘You’ve come how far? Nice, but we don’t really care. Take it or leave it.’
In 2025, to not be offering an earnest, good-value and high quality take away to your willing and eager pilgrims is a clumsy mistake. I’m not ‘on the inside’ of course and I probably don’t fully understand the reasons for these seemingly arbitrary, cynical or naively opportunistic prices. But I know how I feel and, more importantly, I know how the vocal and invested community feels. It’s a good measure of the average visitor’s feelings too. And it ripples out. Please - share your own take and experiences in the comments, this article will be read by thousands of whisky folk and some of them are on the inside.
So, let’s ask the question; can it be done differently?
Review
Glasgow 1770 7yo Oloroso, Distillery Exclusive, Peated, Virgin oak and oloroso, double distilled, low cut points, 60.9% ABV
£65 and available at the distillery only
When your business encourages active, invested visitors to your premises it’s a golden opportunity to look after them. Done well, you can enjoy their positive word-of-mouth, green TripAdvisor stars and continued evangelism with each shared pour. More than anything, surely the end goal must be to keep their return trade and future purchases - wherever they may have travelled from.
It would seem, as proven in one or two of the examples above, that it can be done differently. Even when it’s challenging. After all, not everyone has a plush front-of-house and well-appointed visitor centre. Some have to make do with what they have, but as long as that’s offered with sincere integrity, I feel that’s more than enough.
Enter Glasgow Distillery. A favourite around these parts with often positive words about the whiskies and the direction of the company culture and intent, despite the fact that they’re only just marking their 10th year in 2025. Always a whisky festival favourite and always a few interesting releases around to bolster their already robust core range, they’re now finding favour amongst the community of whisky botherers who like to buy and taste. Yet their location and buildings are far from what you might call plush.
Based on a busy industrial estate a few miles west of Glasgow, you’re more likely to be there to pick up some bathroom tiles or a new couch. It’s an odd place to be distilling. And yet, it’s 2025; buying a farm to start a distillery is not necessary. Of the distilleries located in such modern, industrial places today, I think the only one that you could easily visit might be Wolfburn. Until now.
Because today Glasgow Distillery has gone ahead and opened their doors to pre-booked visitor experiences. This won’t be your typical tour; they have structured things differently to what you may have experienced at other distilleries. The most curious thing for me is that you will be met and hosted by someone who actually works there.
The number of places and number of ‘tour days’ are so small that there are no tour guides. You’ll be hosted by part of the business development team, the production team, perhaps even their resident cooper. Almost all guaranteed to be knowledgeable whisky geeks. And you’ll be asked to allocate two hours for a deep-dive that concludes with a warehouse tasting. I think, just by digesting this offer, you’ll be in no doubt the kind of clientele they’re after: those who care.
This concept then, is clearly the motivation for the bottle I have today. Believe it or not, I actually visited their Hillington site in July to buy some interesting gin for a neighbour we wanted to treat. While waiting, I witnessed one of the staff wringing their hands during the tedious task of carefully writing out dozens and dozens of hand-written labels. This is how I discovered they were selling a Distillery Exclusive, clearly to coincide with their - now fully booked up until November - distillery tours.
Upon discovering the price and bottle specs, it was greedily added to the gin care package and here we are.
Score: 7/10
Very Good Indeed.
TL;DR
Not just worth it, but also worth making the trip
Nose
It’s potent on the nose. Confectionary first: cola cubes and cinnamon gobstoppers, before a shift into more savoury elements: barbecue smoke, honey roast meats and chip poke vinegar. The fruits are red and ripe: cherries and blackberries. There’s sage in there too; lots to distract you from a soft smokiness.
Palate
Ooft. It’s an eye-popper - good luck trying to watch telly with this. You don’t really search for tasting notes, instead they just come rushing at you, screaming and shouting. If this wasn’t peated, it could be all about the casks, but let’s go: cinnamon heat first, those gobstoppers are those Daredevil things we had in the eighties; hot and sweet. Then the spices get woody with sandalwood and cinnamon sticks, some copper coins too. More sweetness joins the fruit with some orange juice alongside those red berries and cherries. A sweet and savoury honey, balsamic and soy story rounds out a slightly herby and dry finish.
A couple of drops of water just excites the spice; this needs more - a good teaspoon or two. When it’s well diluted it settles to become something much more together and well-behaved, you can start to concentrate on the telly once more.
Jokes aside, it works best with generous water.
The Dregs
If you’ve been around whisky long enough you could take in the bottle specs here and have a good idea of what to expect. The strength, casks, age and peated spirit means you know how the thing is likely to behave before you’ve even tried your first sip and, in that respect, this doesn’t surprise.
Yet, I am a few drams in now and, while I first wrote it off as something of a big, face-slapping cask bomb to keep for winter, I’m now finding it somewhat more friendly and moreish. It’s very clean overall, and a teaspoon hangs around on the palate for hours, but it’s the drying and delicious flavour stack that makes you look forward to the next time your house is empty enough to deal with a pour. I have pals that would devour this. Probably neat. The maniacs.
But for those, like me, a little more drawn to subtle pours, this needs taming. It needs a generous splash of water to get the best out of it. It could so easily be a story of the virgin oak and the dry oloroso, but a teaspoon or two of fresh water and its background smoke helps it gel and it becomes something altogether more layered and revealing. Like stages on a tour.
When it comes to the score for this kind of thing, it would be a 6/10 for me and I’d consider a 7/10 if I could see others appreciating a deeper quality to things, me reaching for some objectivity, if you like. But that’s not needed here, because it’s not only a memorable flavour bomb, it’s also at an insanely fair price. At £65 it could be one of the best buys around right now for any ‘distillery exclusive’ regardless of provenance, means of delivery, presentation or bottle specs, anywhere.
Glasgow Distillery is small, but it’s making a big splash with whisky fans. I think it all shows perfectly how so many distilleries with so much more in the way of history, assets and experience seem to be getting so much wrong. It feels like it’s often born of an out-of-touch attitude and a whiff of greed. Yet, at Glasgow Distillery, this bottle is just another gesture that makes it feel like they’re laying on something to say “thank you for visiting”.
Just as it should be, everywhere.
Score: 7/10
Tried this? Share your thoughts in the comments below. WMc
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