Whisky nerds like me often have a soft spot for one brand, one distillery that we hold near and dear to our hearts. Some are pumping out a wide variety of styles, while others have perfected a certain flavor profile.
But what if we could only pick one distillery till the end of time? That is the kind of challenge I love to wrestle with, and after a lot of deliberation and more than a few drams, I have landed on my answer.
Before I reveal my pick, let me walk you through the contenders that made this agonizingly difficult. First, there is Lagavulin, one of my earliest whisky loves. I moan about the inflated prices on the 16-year-old, but it remains fantastic liquid.
The Offerman 11 offers a more punchy, peated delight, and that 2022 special edition 12-year-old is genuinely outstanding. Looking at my big whisky spreadsheet, I have never scored a Lagavulin anything less than a seven out of ten.
Then there is Kilkerran, a Campbeltown gem. The Port Maturation release is possibly still my all-time favorite bottle, and I would happily live with those funky mushroom notes forever. But Kilkerran feels quite contained in terms of style, which is a drawback for a “one distillery for life” challenge.
I also considered casting the net wider with Middleton Distillery in Ireland (home to Redbreast, Green Spot, and the spectacular Powers John’s Lane), Heaven Hill stateside for their Elijah Craig and my beloved sweet corn-in-a-cob that is Mellow Corn, and White Peak Distillery in England, which has blown me away with everything from their Alter Ego to the wildly fascinating Necessary Evil finish.
But one distillery kept pulling me back: The Glasgow Distillery.
I first tried them through a Summerton Whisky Club exclusive back in 2021, a 50-plus ABV fruit and spice bomb that just connected with me, even with its generous wedge of virgin oak, which is normally one of my least favorite styles.
Since then, I have gone down the rabbit hole. They are a brand that simply does things right. They started with 50cl releases, then once production allowed it, they moved to a great-looking 70cl bottle without ramping up the price, which is pretty unheard of in the whisky world.
Their range offers everything from easier, softer bottles like their Triple Distilled expression to their core peated release (possibly my favorite of the core range) to their phenomenal cask strength lineup that just bolsters the flavor.
Their small batch releases are wild, too, from cognac cask finishes with smoky waves of originals and pears to instant sellouts like their Manzanilla sherry cask.
They also genuinely understand the whisky community. I have chatted with their brand reps at festivals and tastings, and they are just super passionate, awesome whisky folk.
In the end, Glasgow Distillery won because it offers the perfect combination of quality, variety, and heart. From daily sippers to cask strength beasts, from peated to triple distilled, they cover enormous ground while maintaining a standard that never disappoints.
It was a super close call, and names like Lochlea, BenRiach, and Cotswolds could easily have made the list. But if I am locked in with one distillery forever, Glasgow gets my bottle slap of approval. So let me turn this over to you: if you could only drink from one distillery for the rest of your life, who gets your pick?
Hear my full reasoning and runners-up in my YouTube video.
Read the full article at One Whisky Distillery For Life: What Would My Pick Be?
