The Flora & Fauna series was United Distillers' 1991 answer to a quiet embarrassment: the company owned more malt distilleries than anyone else on earth, and bottled almost none of them as singles. The solution was a uniform 26-strong range, each label illustrated with a creature or plant native to the distillery's locale, each bottling chosen to represent the house style at a sensible age. It was never marketed loudly. It simply appeared on shelves and became, for collectors and blenders' apprentices alike, the definitive reference set.
Glenlossie was founded in 1876 just south of Elgin by John Duff, a former manager of Glendronach who would later build Longmorn and Benriach next door. The site is shared today with Mannochmore, the two distilleries operating in tandem under one roof since 1971. Glenlossie's spirit stills carry purifiers — the same trick used at Glen Spey and Glen Grant — which return heavier vapours to the still and yield a notably light, clean spirit. It is one of the half-dozen so-called "top dressing" malts of the Haig blends, prized for the lift it gives rather than for any aggressive personality.
The 10 Year Old Flora & Fauna is the only widely available Glenlossie single malt and remains a sleeper recommendation. There is nothing showy about it — no sherry weight, no peat, no cask theatre — but the grassy, faintly resinous character is unusually pretty. As Diageo continues to ration the F&F line, bottles like this one are becoming quietly collectable.
