The Glenlivet Founder’s Reserve

The Glenlivet Founder’s Reserve is a new, permanent benchmark expression in the brand’s core range.

It has been created as the ultimate tribute to founder George Smith’s original vision to craft the definitive, smooth single malt whisky.

According to Laurent Lacassagne, Chairman & CEO, Chivas Brothers, “Founder’s Reserve brings to life the heart and soul of The Glenlivet – at its core is the perfectly balanced smooth and fruity flavour that The Glenlivet is renowned for. We are very proud to introduce this new expression during what has been an incredible 12 months for the brand, and which will enable us to meet increased demand for super-premium spirits with something unique to offer.”

With Founder’s Reserve, The Glenlivet house style is skilfully complemented with a creaminess and sweetness from the addition of First Fill American oak casks, resulting in a malt of exceptional smoothness; the very quality for which George Smith’s The Glenlivet was widely admired and appreciated in his day. This exceptional new spirit will be rolling out in markets globally from March 2015, priced alongside The Glenlivet’s 12 Year Old expression.

The Glenlivet has also revealed that in September this year, it had achieved sales of one million cases per annum.

Laurent Lacassagne added: “The Glenlivet has been the biggest contributor to the growth of the single malt Scotch whisky category in the last five years and, in September 2014, reached the impressive milestone of one million case sales per annum. This fantastic achievement is driven by a robust performance in volume but an even stronger performance in value, which is a testament first and foremost to the high quality of our product.”

The introduction of Founder’s Reserve follows on from the recent historic release of The Glenlivet Winchester Collection, the world’s first collection of 50 Year Old single malt Scotch whiskies.
Launched earlier this month, the collection is anticipated to become one of the most sought after and priceless whisky collections in the world and epitomises the brand’s commitment to innovation in crafted Scotch whisky.

The Glenlivet Visitor Centre Staff

The Glenlivet distillery visitor centre has been named Best Visitor Attraction by the prestigious Highlands and Islands Tourism Awards (HITA).

The visitor centre saw off competition from the other shortlisted attractions to scoop the prize and will now go onto compete in the national Scottish Thistle Awards.

The centre which has been in operation for 35 years and attracts over 40,000 tourists annually from around the world, was transformed in 2013 to include three different daily tours that enhance the visitor experience and provide the opportunity to hand-fill and purchase your very own personalised bottle of The Glenlivet 18 Year Old single cask selection.

Following its upgrade, the centre put a strong emphasis on obtaining and analysing visitors’ feedback. Facebook and social media channels have become a vital part of this process, allowing the public to keep up with the distillery’s activities and tour availability.

This search for excellence in customer services really impressed the judges with Laurence Young, Chair of the judging panel for the HITA, commenting: “The Glenlivet Distillery’s application demonstrated that the organisation is really committed to listening to customers and responding to their feedback. Introducing great ideas during a recent major upgrade to the centre demonstrated that the company genuinely values the opinions and suggestions of the people visiting the centre each year.”

Introduced in 2005, The Highlands and Islands Tourism Awards promote and encourage excellence within Highlands and Islands tourism industry, rewarding the best businesses in the region.