Scotland’s oldest working distillery, The Glenturret (1763) was previously home to The Famous Grouse experience, once heralded by a huge copper grouse statue. It was acquired by Lalique Group and Dr. Hansjorg Wyss, owner of California’s Halter Ranch winery in spring 2019. The ensuing considered rejuvenation which sees a Michelin-starred dining room, deeply carpeted Lalique boutique, and five-star-hotel-grade whisky bar added, replete with a fireplace and jazz soundtrack, has transformed the premises into a destination now magnetising a clientele with more nous than Grouse.
Located by a rushing river from which the distillery draws water, and with mountain views, the chief draw is the dining room, where guests can enjoy up-to sixteen culinary moments (at £125 per person) in a space lit by Lalique chandeliers and featuring flashes of tartan. Here, head sommelier, Julien Beltzung has amassed likely the largest selection of Alsatian wines in Scotland. “So, you can have Alsatian wines served by an Alsatian sommelier in hand-blown Alsatian stemware,” he says. Drinks are served in Lalique glassware with whites poured from Lalique Versailles decanters which rest on moderating frozen Carrara bases.
Beltzung, whose motto is “take care of, and learn from, the people around you,” first worked at Lalique’s Villa René Lalique restaurant, transitioning to Hôtel & Restaurant Lalique at Sauternes château Lafaurie-Peyraguey, its bottles featuring Lalique friezes. His last position, at Hong Kong’s at Somm and Amber, culminated as the city became engulfed in protests.
Beltzung is massively proud of every bottle in his 500-bin cellar, kept in precise, Swiss-made drawers, while the “Vinoteque” above in the former distiller’s cottage is unexpectedly cutting edge. Well-heeled dinner guests, perhaps staying at the nearby Gleneagles, will book for the impeccably sourced collections of Latour, Mouton and Pétrus brought from the personal cellar of owner of Lalique, Silvio Denz, and perhaps the incarnation of 1920 Lafaurie-Peyraguey (priced at £1,800). And then there are the wines of Dr. Hansjorg Wyss’ Halter Ranch Vineyard, Paso Robles.
The pairing option offers value at £95 and reaches beyond wine. With Scottish langoustine ceviche with caviar, wrapped in buttermilk taco with yoghurt, dashi, tuna gel and leche de tigre by head chef, Mark Donald (formerly of Edinburgh’s Number One at The Balmoral), Beltzung pairs a sake: Junmai Daiginjo 45 Keigetsu from Kōchi.
Beltzung is also in charge of spirits, amassed to compliment the core annual releases of 10, 12 and 15-year-old expressions from Glenturret, as well as its triple wood which stars in the caramel sauce with a Maracaibo millefeuille with green coffee. Available on request is the dazzling, peated New Make martini, stirred with umeshu.
If you have time, take a tour of the operational distillery, which includes a pink painted room of wooden wash backs, as well as a statue of former fearsome feline resident, Towser, a Scottish long haired tortoise shell cat reputed to have killed a mighty tally of 28,899 mice in her lifetime.
Reviewed by Douglas Blyde
