By Scott Wright

THE managing director of The Glenturret Distillery in Perthshire has declared he is relishing the opportunity of building the profile of its single malt after years being better known for its supporting role to a major blended Scotch.

The Glenturret single malt was revitalised with the launch of a brand new range earlier this month, nearly two years after Scotland’s oldest working distillery was acquired by Lalique Group, a French luxury goods company, from Edrington.

For much of its recent history The Glenturret, based in the town of Crieff, had been better known as the home of The Famous Grouse. Now it has emerged from the shadows of Grouse and is bidding to build a reputation of its own in international markets.

Managing director John Laurie said: “We don’t want this to be seen as just another repackaging or rebrand – it is ground up change. We have got new liquid created by a brand new whisky maker. We have taken the time to research and uncover our history, so that we can better represent our brand in the market.”

He added: “This is a reawakening, this is a rebirth, this is everything changing. We feel that the brand we have now got better represents the long history of The Glenturret.”

Asked if Lalique would consider further whisky acquisitions, he said: “Certainly not immediately. There is a great deal of passion [going] into The Glenturret just now. They want to do this and do it well.”

Mr Laurie, who worked for The Glenturret at Edrington before being appointed to lead the distillery following the takeover, put together a new team to prepare the relaunch.

That included the appointment of veteran whisky maker Bob Dalgarno, formerly of The Macallan, who took time to assess the stocks before overseeing the launch of four core expressions: Triple Wood, 10 years old Peat Smoked, 12 years old and 15 years old. The firm has also released 25 and 30 year old expressions, branded Extremely Scarce and limited to 1,000 bottles in total.

In addition to UK distribution, the first exports of the new range were due to arrive in France, the Netherlands, and Switzerland in late September, before reaching Japan and China before the end of the year. The first shipments for the US have been scheduled for January.

Mr Laurie said the distillery, which employs 32 staff, will be shipping the malt in small volumes, “targeting key accounts” at the luxury end of the market. He said: “One of the terms we use in the industry is a ‘lighthouse effect’. You are not really looking at a key country, we are looking all the way down to key bars, restaurants and hotels, making sure The Glenturret is available in these key locations to drive that brand awareness for us.”

Asked for his view on the US tariffs on imports of single malt Scotch whisky, Mr Laurie said it was “incredibly disappointing” the tax remained in place following the most recent appeals by the UK Government. He said the tariffs were “really unhelpful to the ecosystem of businesses around single malt Scotch.”

Referring to the US presidential election, he noted: “We have picked January because there is obviously a key event happening in America in November, and we are very hopeful for some change there.”

Meantime, Mr Laurie said the distillery is working with distributors on the European continent to ensure stock is in place before December 31, when the UK exits the EU. He said The Glenturret should benefit by using bonded warehouses in Europe owned by vineyards that are part of the Lalique Group.

Mr Laurie said: “I think we are in a better situation than most to field that issue, but it will impact us.”

He did not disclose details on the financial performance of the distillery, but said there is an “ambitious growth plan that aims to double its turnover in the next three years”, despite the economic uncertainty.

The Glenturret has had an eventful history. Mr Laurie said the distillery, whose roots go back to 1763, had its last “heyday” in the 1970s, having flourished under the Fairlie family who had owned it since1957. In 1980, it was sold to Cointreau, before that company’s acquisition by Remy led to The Glenturret being bought by Highland Distillers in 1990. In 2002 it became the home of The Famous Grouse. Mr Laurie said: “It never stopped making single malt… but there has not been a lot of awareness of the brand of late.”