Scotland, Speyside. Distillery operational. Owner: J&G Grant International. Independent & family-owned

Perhaps due to its status as an independent, family-owned distillery, Glenfarclas is a textbook case when it comes to tracing 70 years of Scotch whisky abroad. In addition to the intrinsic quality of its malt, heavily influenced by sherry cask maturation (until the late 1990s), it is also one of the most interesting brands to collect.In a time when most malt distilleries were producing in the shadow of blending companies (1950), the owners of Glenfarclas crossed sea and ocean to the United States, South Africa and Australia in order to sell their single malt. In the following decade, The Glenfarclas literally flooded the Italian market, which had something of a taste for very young malts (The Glenfarclas 5 Year Old 1971).Paying close attention to its customers' needs, the distillery released numerous bottles and labels, creating a varied range of young and aged versions, sometimes vintages, single casks, small batches and cask strengths, all whilst maintaining its authentic character. This led to a large number of limited editions bearing the name of the bar, restaurant or importer and sometimes even the name of the private client for whom the bottling had been produced.

A Speyside single malt aged for at least 8 years, bottled for the Italian market by J&G Grant, distillery owner since 1865, imported by Pinerolo. A version bottled before the mid-1970s, matured in an ex-sherry cask, personalized with the name of the trade client, the Vittorio Veneto bar, Verona. This bottling exists with various client names. Labels therefore include the main variants used to state volumes and degrees of alcohol: “Quart & °American” for the United States, “Oz & Proof” and “Cl & GL” for European countries and other export countries. Bottle equipped with a white screw cap marked Glenfarclas and an Italian tax strip. Note that this may be broken due to the need to regularly tighten the cap, which comes loose with time, allowing the spirit to evaporate.