The name 1770 is a quiet act of remembrance. It nods to the year Dundashill, the original distillery on Glasgow's north side, first fired its stills — and the current Glasgow Distillery, founded in 2014, carries that lineage forward as the city's first dedicated malt distillery in over a century. The flagship single malt wears the date like a badge of honour.
Non chill-filtered and bottled at 46%, 1770 pours a pale gold with a very clean cereal nose. It is quintessential new-wave Lowland in its poise: pear drops, vanilla custard, fresh brioche just out of the oven, and a bright lemon sherbet flicker that keeps everything airborne. There is no heaviness here, no attempt to seem older than it is — just honest malt character.
The palate is creamy and surprisingly well-knit. Soft malted barley leads, followed by green apple crunch, a drizzle of honey, and the gentle vanilla-and-toast warmth of well-chosen bourbon oak. It drinks with a lovely evenness that suggests patient cask selection rather than rushed bottling, and the 46% ABV gives it just enough backbone.
The finish is medium-length and clean, leaving behind a bright cereal note and a wisp of white pepper. It fades gracefully rather than abruptly, which is a good sign in a young whisky.
1770 is not shouting for attention. It is instead a steady, well-made argument for the return of malt whisky to Glasgow itself — a city whose distilling history was for too long overshadowed by its neighbours. As an introduction to a new Lowland identity, it more than earns its place.
