_Private View 2019: the recipe behind Glenmorangie’s legacy

In this year’s edition of Private View, we have taken a look at the historic distillery Glenmorangie and the men behind the world-famous whiskey brand. The article can be originally found in Private View 2019, Knight Frank’s definitive guide to luxury property and lifestyle in the UK and beyond.

To most Scottish whisky-makers, heritage is everything, and Glenmorangie is one distillery that has a history few others can match. When it was established in 1843, it employed 16 skilled craftsmen – eight in operations and eight in the warehouse – who worked in shifts 24 hours a day every day of the year – bar Christmas Day – to create the world-renowned single malt.

This group of 16 workers often passed their highly prized expertise on to their sons, and then their sons’ sons. This has helped to preserve original techniques, so much so the methods of distilling remain largely unchanged.

“The secrets of distilling, craftsmanship, skills and traditions are passed down from one generation to the next,” says distillery manager Andy MacDonald. “If a new man is taken on, in he goes with one of the more experienced workers and shadows them to pick up all the whisky-making skills.”

The distillery is on the outskirts of the small town of Tain, and to those who live there, it is their world. “History is very important to the brand,” says MacDonald.

“It’s a part of its DNA. Everyone is proud of the distillery’s location and traditions. It’s an important part of the community. It certainly put Tain on the world map.”

One of the current Men of Tain, production operator Alan Duff Sr (below right), has worked at the distillery for over 24 years. “I’ve known Glenmorangie all my life,” he says. “I was born a mile and half away, and I now live a five-minute cycle away. As a child, I used to fish in the pond at the distillery, even though we weren’t supposed to.

“I was trained by the last of the previous generation of the Men, before he retired,” says Duff. “He taught me to do the mashing, how things react, what happens when it goes wrong. The basic method hasn’t changed much at all.”

Duff ’s son, Alan Jr (above left), also works for the company, and wants to become a production operator, making him one of the Men of Tain. By following in his dad’s footsteps, Alan Jr and his like, are becoming the generational custodians to this Great British whisky brand’s legacy.