Glen Grant was founded in 1840 by the brothers John and James Grant in Rothes, Speyside. It was the Major — James Grant the younger, who took over in 1872 — who shaped the distillery most enduringly, famously fitting purifiers to the lyne arms of the stills in the 1880s. Combined with unusually tall, slender stills, these purifiers return heavier vapours to the pot and allow only the lightest spirit through, producing the clean, fruity character that has defined Glen Grant ever since.
The 10 Year Old is the straightforward expression of that house style. Matured predominantly in ex-bourbon American oak, it is bottled at the standard 40% ABV. There is no artifice here — no sherry weight, no peat — just the distillery speaking in its own voice: orchard fruit, malt, vanilla and a faint nuttiness.
Glen Grant has long been a favourite in Italy, where it was championed from the 1960s onwards by the importer Armando Giovinetti, and where the 5 Year Old became a household name. The 10 Year Old is the more considered sibling, and it remains one of Speyside's most honest bargains — a textbook example of what tall stills and patient cask selection can achieve without sherry or smoke to lean on.
It is not a whisky that will knock you sideways. It is a whisky that rewards attention, and which makes a persuasive case for Speyside's lighter tradition. Serve it neat, or with the smallest drop of water to open the orchard notes further.
