In May last year, Speyside Scotch manufacturer Glenfarclas announced the re-discovery of the oldest recognized bottle of its whiskey after it was observed wrapped in a tea towel at the back of a laundry cupboard.
The 98-year-old bottle of whiskey from 1920 was first given to the manager of the North Lanarkshire Gartloch Distillery, Stephen Dowell, upon its closure in 1920. It was saved by Dowell until 1947, when he passed it on to his daughter. On coming across the bottle wrapped in a tea towel in the back of a laundry cabinet 31 years later, in 1988, she passed it on to Hugh Taylor, her niece’s husband.
The antique bottle had remained in Taylor’s possession until the family contacted Glenfarclas approximately last year.
The ‘Glenfarclas-Glenlivet Pure Malt Whisky’ bottle was delivered again to the Speyside distillery in April, where it was inspected by John Grant, the grandson of the distillery’s founder and chairman of the board. Grant confirmed that it is far and away the oldest unopened bottle of Glenfarclas in existence.
“Some capabilities on the bottle supposed he had no question about its authenticity,” a launch said. “In an age when some of the bottles purportedly from that point are becoming counterfeit, this is the real deal.”
