Article No.15. Flora & Fauna
Whenever I am enjoying a blend I often wonder which whiskies have been used to create it. Diageo own a lot of brands – blends and single malts and as such they also own a lot of distilleries providing them with a broad spectrum of malts to draw upon for their blends. The flora and fauna range provides the opportunity for us to try the single malts that go into blends. It is not quite the same as what Pernod Ricard are doing with their Ballantine’s range which are bottlings of Glentauchers, Glenburgie and Miltonduff so you can try each component in it’s own right. The Flora and Fauna range does this the other way around where you can try the single malts but would have to guess which blends they go into.
The range itself was created in the 1990’s and comprised of 26 distilleries, however there are some within the original range that have been sold off and are no longer within Diageo’s portfolio. I have been trying to hunt down bottles from the entire collection but had to give up when I saw the entire collection being sold for almost £5,000 at auction. The good news is that you can get hold of 15 single malts from the range from The Whisky Exchange or Master of Malt and they are reasonably prices at about £40-£60.
A lot of has changed since the original Flora & Fauna range was formed, some malts were lost due to distilleries being sold and some malts were bottled as a brand within its own right so are no longer bottled under the range. It is not quite clear which bottles form the Flora & Fauna range as it is possible to get hold of bottles labelled under the range but also as individual brands. Here is my attempt at trying to clarify what is within the range and what is not at this moment in time.
Not part of Diageo’s portfolio
Aberfeldy 15 Year Old – now owned by Bacardi
Aultmore 12 Year Old – now owned by Bacardi
Balmenach 12 Year Old – now owned by Inver House Distillers
Bladnoch 10 Year Old – private ownership
Craigellachie 14 Year Old – now owned by Bacardi
Royal Brackla 10 Year Old – now owned by Bacardi
Speyburn 12 Year Old – now owned by Inver House Distillers
Distilleries now outside of the range
Clynelish 14 Year Old
Dufftown 15 Year Old
Glendullan 12 Year Old
Glen Elgin 12 Year Old
Mortlach 16 Year Old
Discontinued
Caol Ila 15 Year Old
Closed distilleries
Pittyvaich 12 Year Old
Rosebank 12 Year Old – will be back in operation
Still within the range
Auchroisk 10 Year Old
Benrinnes 15 Year Old
Blair Athol 12 Year Old
Dailuaine 16 Year Old
Glen Spey 12 Year Old
Glenlossie 10 Year Old
Inchgower 14 Year Old
Linkwood 12 Year Old
Mannochmore 12 Year Old
Strathmill 12 Year Old
Teaninich 10 Year Old
The 11 bottles identified as still being within the range will be reviewed over the coming 2 and a bit weeks. I have been looking forward to reviewing these. I have found that some people are fans of the entire range and others find it to be a mixed bag. I am not expecting these to be amazing, however I am hoping to find some gems.