Glenlossie 1978

You’ll often hear about a ‘cult’ distillery, and Glenlossie fits the bill. Founded in 1878 by a former manager of GlenDronach and since 1919 it has resided with a forerunner of Diageo, who still own the distillery today. A modest producer of any 2 million or so litres annually, much of Glenlossie’s output goes into blends including Haig Club Gold Label and other Diageo stalwarts, so only 1% reaches the single malt market. Most of this is in the form of the 10 year old Flora & Fauna expression, which was originally launched in 1990. Unfortunately for single malt enthusiasts, Glenlossie is highly regarded by blenders, who in 1974, included it in their top-class malts, of which there were only 12 distillers to receive such an honour. The distillery site plays host to another distillery in the form of Mannochmore and is used by Diageo to store a vast number of casks from across its portfolio thanks to the sizeable warehousing capacity.