Glenmorangie

Glenmorangie started life as a brewery and its stills were originally designed to produce gin. It was founded in 1843 and production started in 1849. The distillery is quite far north in the Highland and sits north of the Black Isle not far from the sea. The distillery was one of the pioneers of wood finishes at a time when wine casks were commonly used to cover up faults rather than improve the whisky. Glenmorangie still has a very stringent wood policy and there seems to be no end to the innovation and diversity of its whiskies. In 2004 the distillery was sold to LVMH (Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy) who have increased capacity and seem to want to 'premiumise' the brand. Glenmorangie has 12 stills and is now capable of making 6,000,000L of alcohol per year.