When most families lay down a few bottles for a special occasion, they might be lucky to fill a couple of shelves under the stairs, or perhaps even the far wall of their cellar. But the Gordons aren’t most families.
For almost a century, multiple generations of this esteemed Scottish distilling family have been carefully laying down stocks of whisky in their private collection dutifully reserved for special occasions and for future generations to enjoy.
And now, for the first time, we’re being invited to the party: a number of the finest whiskies are being offered in small batches hand-selected for public release.
This rare collection has become known as House of Hazelwood, after the family’s Dufftown home – Hazelwood House. Spanning seven decades and every corner of Scotland, the diverse collection includes everything from first casks to last casks – all unique and irreplaceable.
The House of Hazelwood inventory is held in a number of carefully selected warehouses across Scotland, with fresh stocks laid down each year. Prior to bottling, a small proportion of the stocks are held in traditional dunnage warehousing near Dufftown in Speyside, from where they are carefully monitored and sampled ahead of release.
A representative from the Gordon family said: “These are the most compelling whiskies that the inventory has to offer – a bridge between the past and the present, each issue remarkable by virtue of its character, history or method of production.”
The inventory is regularly sampled – and only once a cask reaches its peak will it be bottled. This is a collection of individual spirits, representing unique casks, trials that have taken place over the years, and combinations that may never be seen again. So once they’re gone they’re truly gone.
The offer is split across a range of four Charles Gordon Collection releases (prices from £3,000 a 70cl bottle) and four Legacy Collection releases (prices between £950 - £1,500 per bottle).
Every cask of the Charles Gordon Collection has been aged for at least 50 years, with the Legacy collection ranging between 33 and 46 years.
The House of Hazelwood Launch Collection
The Charles Gordon Collection
A legend within the Scotch whisky community, Charles Gordon spent much of his youth at Hazelwood House and in later years was fundamental in bringing in some of the earliest stock that was laid down for the House of Hazelwood collection This eponymous collection of rare and old Scotch whiskies represents some of the most remarkable stock held within the inventory – every cask aged for at least fifty years, every bottle with its own story to tell.
Distilled in 1968 and matured for 53 years in a single sherry butt, this is an incredibly rare, deep and intense release crafted from an unlikely marriage of European oak and Girvan grain. Almost unrecognisable as grain whisky but with a delicious underlying richness.
On 8 January 1964, the very first drops of new make spirit flowed at the Girvan grain distillery, in South Ayrshire. Since then, many millions of litres of alcohol have flowed off those stills but the first casks filled have lain undisturbed – maturing and improving with every day.
Some whiskies may appear born to be paired together but very few are blended at birth. Yet such is the case with this unusual parcel of grain and malt, born 56 years ago and married – as new make spirit – before aging as a blend for half a lifetime in American Oak.
This unique whisky has lain undisturbed in a single refill butt marrying for almost half a century now. Bottled at natural strength, this has to be one of the rarest whiskies within the whole inventory – rich and mature with a majestic antique character and layers of complexity.
The Legacy Collection
Every whisky laid down within the House of Hazelwood inventory represents a legacy for future generations to explore and enjoy. The Legacy Collection showcases some of the brightest highlights of the inventory, comprising whiskies of exceptional character and provenance, each with a story to tell. Within the Collection are whiskies that are the first of their kind, the last of their line, those that capture the spirit of an era and those that offer insights into the inner workings of the Scotch whisky community.
Every blender has malt whiskies in their inventory that are considered to be ‘tops’ – the best of the best available from the inventory, typically used sparingly and eked out over time. This rare blend of malts is an indulgent combination of the very best of our 'tops', married together to create something truly precious – richly decadent with a sherried character and layers of complexity.
This exceptional blend was first created in 1994 to commemorate the 500th anniversary of the oldest recorded reference to Scotch Whisky within the1494 Exchequer Rolls of Scotland. Since first being blended, the spirit has lain in cask for a further 28 years, developing further with every year and building into a truly exceptional, fully-unified Blended Scotch Whisky.
Distilled in the early 1980s in the era of tropical flavoured cocktails it is perhaps only natural that this Speyside Blended Malt has taken on notes of pineapple and mango through its time in cask. The emergence of flavours such as this is unusual, and reminds us of the magical process that takes place between cask and spirit.
Grain whisky distilleries in Scotland are rare enough but a blend of grain whiskies created from now-silent distilleries is rarer still. This unique blend brings together the individual distillery characters of two of Scotland's closed grain whisky distilleries to create a style of whisky that reflects a past era of production.
The whiskies are available online at houseofhazelwood.com, as well as through retailers including Hedonism Wines, Royal Mile Whiskies, Davidoff of London and The Whisky Shop.
