Founded in 1898 by David McAndie of Nairn, Glenlochy distillery, was sited in Fort William, in the shadow of Ben Nevis, across the road from the Ben Nevis distillery.
The distillery was built just as the Pattinson Crash ended years of speculation and overproduction in Scottish whisky distilling, to begin production in 1901.
With its own sidings on the West Highland Railway to ease shipping to blenders in Glasgow, it ran until 1917 when the cereal became required as food for the country during the Great War. In a turbulent time for the Scottish whisky industry, between 1899 and 1912 the number of operational distilleries in Scotland dropped from over 160 to 120.
Following World War I, the Eighteeenth Amendment and the Volstead Act established Prohibition in the United States, lasting until it was repealed by the 21st Amendment in 1933. As the 18th Amendment prohibited the transport and sale of intoxicating liquors within the US as well as their manufacture, the Scotch whisky industry was hard hit.
Production restarted temporarily in 1922 then ceased from 1926 to 1937. In 1937 the distillery was acquired by National Distillers of America and the larger-than-life Joseph Hobbes. It In 1953 it was acquired by the Distillers Company who invested in its modernisation.
In 1983 the distillery fell silent for the final time.
Today
As the spirit produced was almost entirely used in now discontinued National Distillers blends for the American market, then for Distillers Company blends, there are no official bottlings. As such, Glenlochy is one of the rarest malts on the market, with a price tag to match.
It can be found in a number of wonderful releases from independent bottlers such as Gordon & MacPhail, Douglas Laing, and Signatory Vintage.
Roadtesting a Glenlochy 1979 Gordon and MacPhail Rare Old, at the Clachaig Inn, Glencoe
Slàinte Mhath.
