Hillside 25 Years Old 1969 200ml

The Highland distillery Hillside, later known as Glenesk, closed in 1985. The distillery didn’t see many single malt bottlings during its lifetime, but it was released as part of Diageo’s Rare Malts Selection in 1995. The whisky was distilled in 1969, while the distillery was known as Hillside. It matured for 25 years and was bottled in 1995 at a cask strength of 61.9%. Glenesk was founded in 1897 as the Highland Esk Distillery by wine and spirit merchant James Isles. Not long after, he sold it to his business partner Septimus Parsonage, who only kept it for two years. The new owner was J.F. Caille Heddle, who renamed the distillery North Esk. The distillery closed during the First World War, and when it reopened it was solely as a maltings. Associated Scottish Distilleries acquired the distillery in 1938 and restarted production. They transformed it into a grain distillery and gave it the name Montrose. The distillery was silent during the Second World War. It became part of Distillers Company Limited in 1953. In 1964, they changed it back to a malt distillery and renamed it Hillside. A large drum maltings was built adjacent to the distillery in 1968. In 1980, the distillery got yet another name: Glenesk. Glenesk closed in 1985, and the distillery building was demolished in 1996. The maltings are still in use today.