Scotch Devotion

Devotion is a trait that Dennis Malcolm, The Glen Grant's long-time master distiller, shares with the late Queen Elizabeth II. She is the inspiration for the distillery's oldest release, Devotion 70-Year-Old.

- KENNETH SZ GOH

For years, Dennis Malcolm, master distiller of The Glen Grant did not have a clock in his office. The 77-year-old, who has been working for the single malt Scotch whisky distillery for over five decades, says with a chuckle: “If you love your job, you never work a day in your life. I never really looked at the time at work. If the office went quiet, I knew it was time to go home.”

Malcolm’s devotion to whiskymaking was apparent during a recent press trip to Scotland. The spritely Scotsman, who worked his way up from an apprentice cooper at 15, knows every nook and cranny of the 183-year-old distillery. During a tour, he gave an encyclopaedic run-down of the production process, from milling, mashing, and fermentation to the first of two rounds of distillation, in which alcohol vapour is passed through a purifier to yield a light but complex spirit — a process unique to The Glen Grant.

So it is only apt that Malcolm is helming The Glen Grant’s oldest release — The Glen Grant Devotion, a 70-yearold single malt whisky. The limited-edition release commemorates the remarkable seven-decade-long reign of the late Queen Elizabeth II. She passed away at Balmoral Castle in Scotland last September.

A total of seven decanters of The Glen Grant Devotion have been made available worldwide, including one allocated for the Singapore market. Last month, the first decanter was launched via an online auction by Sotheby’s. As of press time, the estimated bid ranged from 70,000 GBP ($118,000) to 110,000 GBP.