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.