House of Hazelwood has added four Scotch whiskies to its top-of-the-line Charles Gordon Collection, each one coming from one of the category's less-loved corners.
Malt blends and grain whiskies are usually considered to be the workhorses of the industry, propping up balance sheets with high-volume sales. But despite their essential role, both categories remain largely absent from the fine and rare market that is dominated by single malt.
House of Hazelwood has a reputation for giving these underdogs a platform, and its new drop includes two highly aged blended malts, one blended whisky, and one single grain whisky. All carry an age statement of 45 years or older; all are limited to fewer than 300 bottles; and all are priced at $5,500 or less.
Owned by the Gordon family (William Grant & Sons), House of Hazelwood has access to casks originally designated for their private use. These casks can be described as oddities – ages and profiles that can’t fit into the stories of the Gordon family’s other brands (Balvenie, Glenfiddich). As a result, prices are markedly lower than what you’d expect from the equivalent age statements from those distilleries.
This should all be music to the ears of seasoned Scotch whisky drinkers, many of whom regularly deride the high prices of old and rare whiskies whilst simultaneously preaching the virtues of overlooked categories. While $5,500 is no small sum, in exchange, you receive a 46-year-old blended malt Scotch, aged and cared for by the industry’s most successful family business.
That is the price for the A Fond Farewell release, which was drawn from the family’s so-called ‘Hogmanay casks’. The Gordon family used to fill a cask on New Year’s Eve every year to mark the passing of time, and this whisky is said to be richly spiced to coincide with the time of year. Other releases include A Different World (1977 single grain), The Silent Partner (47-year-old blended Scotch), and An Organised Whole (45-year-old blended malt).
A Different World will strike a chord with grain fans. It comes from Girvan, which is one of the biggest distilleries in Scotland, yet is rarely seen as a single grain. This expression was distilled when Girvan was still using maize, and will have qualities no longer seen in today’s grain whiskies.
“Each one of these remarkable releases tells a story that could only belong to the House of Hazelwood — decades of patience, tradition, and quiet innovation bottled in their purest form,” said Jonathan Gibson, director of House of Hazelwood.
“As with the previous collections, these are the most compelling whiskies that the Gordon family inventory has to offer — a bridge between the past and the present, each parcel remarkable by virtue of its character, its history, or its method of production. The 2026 Collection captures the essence of what makes House of Hazelwood unique: it celebrates both the delicate interplay between cask and spirit and the courage to wait.”
The House of Hazelwood 2026 Charles Gordon Collection will be available at houseofhazelwood.com.
