Glenturret 2006 15 Year Old Connoisseurs Choice #543

About The Brand: Glenturret

On the banks of the Turret River, the Glenturret Distillery is located two miles (three kilometers) northwest of Crieff in Perthshire, Scotland. The distillery is tucked away in a glen, and its seclusion may have played a role in its early history as the home of a number of illegal bothy stills. It was believed that the tall hills on each side of the distillery served as lookout spots for the smugglers. The valley is 'a wonderful paradise to painters, who come in huge numbers to translate some of its sublime charms to canvas,' according to Alfred Barnard, who visited the distillery at the time. The Monzievaird and Strowan parish is where the distillery is situated. The distillery had been controlled by illegal distillers from 1717 in an effort to evade taxes until it was formally created in 1763. Because of its early history, Glenturret has been dubbed the oldest distillery in Scotland, a claim that other businesses like Littlemill or Strathisla dispute. The Drummond family had previously owned the distillery under the name 'Hosh.' 'Hosh' derives from the Irish word 'cois,' which means foot. John McCallum took control of it from 1845 to 1875, the year of its centennial, when Thomas Stewart assumed it and changed its name to Glenturret.