THE 42

In The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, the number is the Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe and Everything. At The Glenrothes, it comes pretty close

- JONATHAN HO

THE GLENROTHES DISTILLERY, one of the most sought-after Speyside distillers, goes back to 1878. Almost 150 years on, one would surmise that you learn a little something about the universe. The result of all that tradition is that in 2018, The Glenrothes 25 Year Old was awarded the Ultimate Spirits Challenge top honour, the Chairman's Trophy for Best Speyside Single Malt.

I raise this fact to highlight that in the contemporary media cycle, we are more used to stories about someone's rise to acclaim rather than a methodical path through nigh insurmountable odds. After all, the distillery has caught fire more than once - when you're working with overproof whisky, it's essentially a powder keg. Extension works on the distiller began in 1896 as they added a second malt kiln but before the work was finished, a fire broke out, causing serious damage. Barely six years later, The Glenrothes suffered an explosion.