Yet another dumb novice question

Don't seem dumb to me. This newbie would also love to hear the answers.

Thank you

The Singleton of Glendullan 12-year-old single malt Scotch released in July 2008 is designed and marketed specifically toward first time Scotch consumers, but who are discerning individuals yet mystified by the immense selection within the Scotch whisky section. The bottle has been designed in a traditionally distinctive 19th century-style blue glass flask with typography that captures the essence of whisky packaged within the same era. The aim is to help consumers more easily recognize “The Singleton” as an indication that it is a single malt Scotch whisky with the distillery prominently identifiable to depict heritage and tradition; individual and distinctive among many. Then again, so are The Singleton of Glen Ord released in Asia in June 2006 and The Singleton of Dufftown released in Europe in August 2006. Each of the other two were released in nearly identical bottling save for the names “Glen Ord” and “Dufftown” to depict the specific distillery.

Each of “The Singletons” recently released assert their newness to the Scotch community, but in reality they seem more of a reinvention. Take for instance the Glen Ord. The Glen Ord has won International recognition as one of the great single malt scotch whiskies being the winner of the prestigious IWSC (International Wine & Spirit Competition) Gold medal for two consecutive years and awarded the overall trophy for best single malt up to 15 years old. Michael Jackson gave it a rating of 78 in his Complete Guide to Single Malt Scotch 5th Edition. Of course that was when Glen Ord’s packaging was a little different. Perhaps Glen Ord’s original packaging did not speak “authenticity” or “heritage”. After all, winning awards does not always translate into sales if the public does not pick the bottle up from the shelf and walk it to the counter for purchase. However the quality within the Scotch remains the same, thus the reincarnation in the “Singleton” may only be new in marketing and less of anything else.

Nevertheless, each of the three “Singletons” deserves sampling. They are each similar in character, yet still unique.

Read more: bit.ly/upguuF

thank you for your answer. This is why i join this site to help me learn more. @Wodha

@Wodha Thanks for your answer to my question. You're obviously very knowledgeable. Do you have any similar info to the Glennlivet question I raised? Thanks again.

@Wodha I guess the marketing campaign works. Picking up a bottle of this a couple months ago got me into this whole mess!

@crab58 You're welcome.

@IainVH remember what your favorite teacher said in school? -- There's no such thing as a dumb question. Better put, the only dumb question is the one nobody asks.

Before the modern incarnations of "Singletons," there was the original Singleton of X (can't remember the distillery), that according to another site several years ago was named the "Singleton of X" because nobody could pronounce the distillery's name. Anyway "The Singleton" stuck and Diageo periodically changed the distillery to offer its entry whisky. Wish they'd do a Singleton of Caol Ila next!

You see Glenlivet on several other distilleries' bottles because of proximity to the river Livet, but more so for the association with The (real) Glenlivet because of its popularity. Or so the story goes. Marketing at its (best or worst).

The old Singleton was Auchroisk - you still see the occasional bottle popping up in auctions and in the dusty corners of shops :)

The -Glenlivet thing is a long running PR thing. Back in the early 1800s the Livet valley was a hotbed of illegal distilling (it was fairly isolated and hilly so it was easy for the locals to be one step ahead of the excisemen). However the whisky from the area was known for its quality, with King George IV allegedly asking for some during a trip to Scotland and Andrew Usher (father of blending) naming his original blend OVG - Old Vatted Glenlivet.

Glenlivet became a 'this is good' suffix to distillery names (after they became went legal) and that lasted through until 1884, when The Glenlivet distillery (who use the The at the front of the name as a mark of 'we are the original Glenlivet distillery', although as far as I can tell they were just the first to go legal and claim the name) went to court to enforce their right to the name and won. However, that seems a bit murky as many distilleries kept using the name through until at least the 1980s, with a few bottles with replica labels still using it today.

Anyways, it's a hangover from ye olden dayes and it's not particularly common any more.

@cowfish Speaks truth about the "Glenlivet" tag.

Ah, so the 'Glenlivet' thing is both due to the geographical position of a distillery and a cunning marketing ploy to plant the idea of quality in peoples minds. Thanks to all contributors for their insight and seasons greeting to everyone. Cheers.