As you know, there’s a new line of GlenDronach whiskies coming out. There’s also a new line of single cask GlenDronach whiskies which I have already blogged about here.
I’ve been getting emails asking if, and when, these whiskies will be heading to the U.S., so I asked Alistair Walker if he could fill me in on the details. Here’s the scoop, in his own words:
Unfortunately these won’t be available in the US, as when we selected these casks we hadn’t finalised details re representation of GlenDronach in the US market. So the 1st 5 GlenDronach Single Casks will be sold in 70cl bottles in the UK, Europe, South Africa and Asia Pacific.
For info, I can advise the typical retail prices in the UK will be as follows:
1971 # 483 – £359.99
1972 # 719 – £339.99
1992 # 1140 – £62.99
1993 # 523 – £62.99
1996 # 193 – £47.99However, the good news is that in the last week we finalised our arrangements for GlenDronach in the US, the brand will be imported by Preiss Imports (also, as you know, our BenRiach importer), and you should start to see the new GlenDronach expressions – 12, 15 and 18YO – appearing in the US towards the end of the year. We have a tentative plan to look at some single cask GlenDronachs exclusively for the US in 2010.
Meantime there is one definite GlenDronach Single Cask scheduled for the US – Park Avenue Liquor Store in New York have an exclusive GlenDronach single cask bottling heading their way – it’s a 1989 vintage, cask 1900, distilled 9th November 1989, bottled July 2009, aged 19 years old, and the cask is an Oloroso Sherry Butt. It will leave the UK in August, so should be available from Oct / Nov – for more info you should contact Jonathan Goldstein at Park Ave – parkaveliquor@earthlink.net .
Oh well, at least we’ll be getting the standard expressions later this year. And that 1989 vintage, 19 y/o heading to Pare Ave sounds pretty exciting.
(Ironically, one of the best Glendronach whiskies I ever tasted was a 19 year old that was sold in the U.S. for a limited time back in the 1990s, which I, once again, ironically, purchased at Park Ave Liquors. In fact, I still have a bottle.)
Has there been any effort to do away with the 750ml restrictions in the U.S.? The only reason I can recall reading for that specific size bottle was that 750ml is approximately a fifth of a gallon, which is the size container people were used to here.
The ice cream companies didn’t seem to have much difficulty shrinking the size of their “half gallon” containers. Why the big difference with alcohol?
Jeff, I really wish we could have one unified bottle size. The US loses out on a lot of whiskies (like these and also BenRiach single casks)because of the size issue. I’m feeling left out of the party.
Any insight into the actual road blocks to making that happen? If it requires getting politicians involved, I suppose we’re unlikely to see such a change anytime soon.
[...] to release a new batch every year. Read about it at Edinburgh Whisky and Whisky Intelligence. John Hansell has the goods on US imports of these [...]
OK…good news on this front. The Treasury Department’s Tax and Trade Bureau (which used to be part of the ATF), is considering a change in federal regulations on the size of wine and spirits bottles.
Here’s a link to the details, with the contact person!
http://www.regulations.gov/fdmspublic//component/main?main=UnifiedAgenda&agency=TREAS&pubperiod=200904&rin=1513-AB56
There’s actually a good blog article on the 750ml requirement here: http://inebrio.com/thescotchblog/?p=442
Basically, it boils down to tradition more than anything else. When converting to the metric measurement, they wanted to keep a measure that was as close as reasonably possible to the old ‘fifth’ size in order to avoid people selling less than what the consumer was expecting to buy, but at the same price.
We could petition to have it changed. I’m game if anyone else is.
I do find it very frustrating when a whisky company tells me they’re not shipping to the US because of the bottling size.
Thanks for the links, Neil and Mark! That blog post is great, and basically what I had remembered reading. I saw a comment on that post about protecting the consumer due to “perceptions” based on bottle shape and glass thickness. I just don’t buy that argument at all. Like I said…look at ice cream containers. Not to mention all of the “100 calorie packs” out there.
It’s a new world in terms of marketing tactics, but also of consumer awareness. Make the bottles however you like. Just list the content size on the container and we can figure it out, thank-you.
I’ll try contacting that person at the TTB from Mark’s link and see if they will respond to a random citizen. If I get any info, I’ll report back here. Maybe we could get some sort of “official” petition going.
Thanks,
Jeff
Jeff, please report back with any info you find. Thanks!
Update…the TTB’s Art Resnick tells me that the NPRM has not been published yet…it’s on the agenda for review, but that process has not started yet. I got the details off the Treasury Department’s overall agenda for regulatory action…and he says when the NPRM is released, there will be a period for public comment.
Thanks Mark! I tried the contact email address given on the proposed rule page you provided, and it was invalid (waiting for a response from their general info email address now). I was trying to ask who could comment, and in what form that should take. It looks like you got the answer.
Interesting twist…it turns out the contact listed for that proposed rule passed away in February.
I spoke on the phone to somebody at TTB Information who is going to find out if anybody has taken over responsibility for this particular proposal, or if it’s in danger of falling through the cracks.
I’ll pass along any information I get.
Thank you for the info John, but the prices for the 1971 and 1972 are quite stunning.
I thought first about a typo in the figures or currency…
Have reserved a couple of these to compare with the Benriach’s that have been excellent – Just have to wait till they arrive from across the pond..
BJ, good for you! Let us know what you think of them.
[...] Hansell, of Malt Advocate Magazine, recently posted about a new line of Glendronach single cask whiskies. He also pointed out that none of the initial releases are coming to the U.S., but we might get [...]
My query was forwarded to Frank Foote, the Director of Regulations and Rulings at the TTB. He said the proposal may or may not be published for commenting, but there’s nothing I can do about pushing it along.
I wrapped our full email discussion in a blog post. I hope you don’t mind my linking to it here: http://scotchhobbyist.com/2009/07/23/usa-bottle-size/
Thanks,
Jeff
Any news on Glendronach 12/15/18 in the US. I’ve been looking for Glendronach 15 in the SF Bay area and all the right places to get whisky have no idea when this will be available. I enjoyed these at WhiskyFest last year, getting a 15% off coupon for Glendronach 15 that has already expired before its availability here in the US.
Alan, it’s finally getting into circulation. I just got my review samples.