Fake or real: Glen Bannock

[van-Baren]

Some time ago I was offered to buy a bottle of 1986 Glen Bannock for about €100. Since I've never heard of Glen Bannock I thought I'd do some research first. I can't seem to find any substantial or reliable information on Glen Bannock as a distillery.
Does anybody know if there is/ever was a distillery named Glen Bannock, or if another distillery ever did a 1986 bottling under the name of 'Glen Bannock'?
I'm wondering if this is fake or real.

[Malt-Teaser]

No, I've never heard of any Glen Bannock distillery.
It's probably just one of those unnamed ones.

I used to have a link for all known unnamed or mystery malts, I'll try to find it ....

[van-Baren]

I used to have a link for all known unnamed or mystery malts, I'll try to find it ....

That would be nice! I thought I made a picture of it, but I seem to have deleted it from my phone. The label was not very whisky-ish. Blue, as I remember, with what looked like two knightshelmets one each side. I think it said somewhere on the bottle that it was either bottled or distilled by Glen Grant, but I'm not sure...

- meanwhile I'll go and for the 'New members' section and introduce myself -

[Willie JJ]

There is definitely no distillery of that name. A bannock is a kind of Scottish bread. It may be as Keith suggests a single malt bottled under another name, but I've never heard of it and I certainly would not pay that kind of money for a random single malt.

[Mr Tattie Heid]

Bannock is also the burn where the Bruce had his great victory--presumably it runs through Glen Bannock (at least in the imagination of someone trying to invent a credibly Scottish name for a whisky)....

[Willie JJ]

Good point from the Bruce and certainly more likely than the bread comment. (Obviously the burn is named after the bread, but that's a side issue )

[Willie JJ]

I think it's highly unlikely that a Scottish person would have picked that name so I suspect a non-Scottish bottler.

[Jolly Toper]

Glen Bannock is between Glen Close and Glen Miller.

[C57]

Glen Bannock is between Glen Close and Glen Miller.

There's no headbanging icon on here

[The Third Dram]

A cursory web investigation seems to point to some sort of a one-time ownership affiliation with the well-known Bordeaux négociant Mähler-Besse (famously connected with Château Palmer in Margaux). Perhaps we are looking at a (once again, one-time) Dutch/French-based bottling operation for Scotch whisky (malt and/or blended).

You may want to try and contact Mähler-Besse for further information concerning this possibility.

Plus...

Mähler-Besse acts as the exclusive distributor for Glenfarclas in France as well as marketing Scotch whiskies under the Mason's label.

But then, I've also come across evidence of an Old Bannockburn Scotch Malt Whisky from Deanston Distillers Limited.

Who knows?

[van-Baren]

A cursory web investigation seems to point to some sort of a one-time ownership affiliation with the well-known Bordeaux négociant Mähler-Besse
[...]
But then, I've also come across evidence of an Old Bannockburn Scotch Malt Whisky from Deanston Distillers Limited

Option 1 seems most plausible. I contacted the seller, and he confirmed it was a French bottler, and it was a single cask bottling. Too much of a gamble for me. Willie JJ: you're right.

[Malt-Teaser]

It took a bit of hitting, but I eventually got there so if any of you fancy a weblink for these undisclosed names of whisky, then bookmark it

http://www.whisky-info.de/Alias/
Malty

[Tim F]

Great link, Keith, and sorry to go off topic, but the suggestion that Smokehead is Ardbeg is poppycock

[van-Baren]

Great link indeed! I actually thought Linlithgow (great whisky btw!) was an independent distillery.

...but the suggestion that Smokehead is Ardbeg is poppycock

LOL! Poppycock...I will definitely use that one in Wordfeud someday!

[Malt-Teaser]

Hi Tim,
yes, but here in Germany they seem to abide by poppycock

I've seen so many online (German) shops selling this under their Ardbeg listings and openly calling it such ....
That link is part of Theresa's empire, send her a note about it
Malty

PS. Sorry, it may not be Theresa's I was getting muxed ip with the plain old whisky.de

[Mr Tattie Heid]

Does anyone know which distillery Poppycock actually comes from?

[Pudge72]

Does anyone know which distillery Poppycock actually comes from?

No, but I know the bottling is know for its' nutty, candied caramel popcorn profile!

[mongo]

Great link, Keith, and sorry to go off topic, but the suggestion that Smokehead is Ardbeg is poppycock

hmmm. i've been told it is by someone in a very senior capacity in the company that imports smokehead to the u.s.

[karlejnar]

Great link, Keith, and sorry to go off topic, but the suggestion that Smokehead is Ardbeg is poppycock

hmmm. i've been told it is by someone in a very senior capacity in the company that imports smokehead to the u.s.

aye right - and someone surely never reach a senior position in marketing/sales without being always fully and truly honest

btw: It's strange that people always want no name Islays to be either Ardbeg or Lagavulin. I wonder if it has anything to do with the fact that the two of them are the most hyped of them

[mongo]

Great link, Keith, and sorry to go off topic, but the suggestion that Smokehead is Ardbeg is poppycock

hmmm. i've been told it is by someone in a very senior capacity in the company that imports smokehead to the u.s.

aye right - and someone surely never reach a senior position in marketing/sales without being always fully and truly honest

i'm sure he's quite likely to be full of it (though he said it in public to a large group of people). but i'm curious anyway to know what tim knows to the contrary.

[kallaskander]

Hi there,

sometimes you can find a

Glen Bannock, J & G Grant, 12 years old, Special Reserve 40% vol., 70 cl

at whisky auctions.

A rose by any other name....

When the Smokehead came out it was inofficially declared to be a 7yo Ardbeg.
Probably that is not the case any longer.

When people smell the smokehead 18yo many say "If this is not an Ardbeg, than there is none!"

Ardbeg fans I know swear that the 18yo Smokehead is an Ardbeg.

They can be wrong of course.

Greetings
kallaskander

[Nick Brown]

Bannock is also the burn where the Bruce had his great victory--presumably it runs through Glen Bannock (at least in the imagination of someone trying to invent a credibly Scottish name for a whisky)....

I think bannock-burn is something to do with King Alfred.

[Gordon_H]

btw: It's strange that people always want no name Islays to be either Ardbeg or Lagavulin. I wonder if it has anything to do with the fact that the two of them are the most hyped of them

Would it be that sales assistants who say this know they are more likely to score a sale than if they say it's a Bowmore/Laphroaig/Caol Ila /Bunnahabhain Karl ? Suppose it's also quite convenient that young Caol Ila and Laphroaig can sometimes taste like young Ardbeg and Lagavulin.......

Did the French company that bought Glen Moray not do some weird Glen ....... bottlings ?

[The Third Dram]

Did the French company that bought Glen Moray not do some weird Glen ....... bottlings ?

Such as Glen (head...) Turner?