History

Glenury Royal was founded in 1825 in the eastern Highlands by Robert Barclay. The first decades were marked by misfortune: a fire that destroyed the kettles, malt floor, and substantial stock of building materials, and a distillery worker who fell into a kettle and died. In 1835 Captain Robert Barclay received permission from King William IV to use the name Royal in the distillery's title. In 1857 the site was put up for auction and bought by William Ritchie from Glasgow, whose family ran the distillery until about 1936. In 1936 it was sold to Glenury Distillery Company, and in 1938 it came under Associated Scottish Distillers. In 1965 the facility underwent a major renovation, and the number of stills was doubled from two to four. After a short period of production the distillery was mothballed in 1983 and did not reopen under later ownerships. It was later sold, and large parts of the buildings were demolished. Today the distillery site has been converted into a residential area, and the site itself is inactive.

Production/Manufacturing

Glenury Royal's water source is Cowie Water, which runs down from the Grampian Mountains in Aberdeenshire. Production capacity is unknown. The distillery had two wash stills and two spirit stills; experts assess that they probably had a traditional Speyside-style shape with broad bulbous heads and tall conical necks. The malt house was originally operated as its own floor maltings until 1968, after which the malt was supplied from a local industry. The malt was stored in both warehouses and dunnage stores – a blend of own and sherry-finished maturation, where the sherry casks contributed to the distinctive sherried flavor. The malt was lightly peated, and different bottling variants used varying amounts of peat in the distillation process.

Products/Whisky Series

Official bottlings of Glenury Royal include 29-year, 36-year and 40-year. In 2003 Diageo released a 50-year official bottling, where only 498 bottles were produced. Independent bottlings have also occurred, primarily by Gordon & MacPhail, and have typically focused on older vintages. Glenury Royal is described as East Highland Single Malt, and tasting notes include fruit (pear), vanilla, peat smoke, leather, cherry, sweetness and herbs, with layers of sherry character from the casks as well as a light smoke profile.

Visits/Experiences

There is no visitor center. The distillery area today is a housing complex.

Philosophy

The philosophy is not explicitly described in the content.