Ladyburn 1974 40 year old

Ladyburn was one of the most technologically advanced distilleries in the world during its brief period of operation and was extensively automated. However, as always with William Grant & Sons, that fine balance between tradition and innovation was key, and the assistant distillery manager, Stewart McBain, summed up the philosophy at the time by saying: " We know that certain processes worked in the past; therefore we have got to use them again; our automation enables us to have control over the processes, not to dictate them".

Several books and websites state that there were two stills at Ladyburn when, in fact, there were four - two wash stills and two spirit stills fitted with purifiers. Odd, then, that one of the defining characteristics of Ladyburn is "oily".