Glenfiddich Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival 2014

When William Grant built his distillery in 1886, little did he know just what he was creating. Today, Glenfiddich is the most popular single malt in the world, quite a feat for a distillery built by the bare hands of its founder and family. Producing nearly 14 million litres annually, it’s also one of the biggest and engaged in a struggle with the Glenlivet. Forward-thinking, Glenfiddich was one of the first single malts to look beyond the domestic market, the first to adopt a triangle-shaped bottle in 1957 and to welcome visitors with a centre in 1969. The site on the edge of Dufftown is sizeable, and also features the other William Grant distilleries of Balvenie and Kininvie. The scale, organisation and efficiency of the whole operation is smooth, much like the whisky and why as a brand, few can compete with Glenfiddich.