Soon after United Distillers (UD) was formed by the merger of the Distillers Company Limited (DCL) and Guinness in 1987 the new business launched an in-house competition. The idea was to bottle the best cask of whisky selected by a panel of distillery managers from the 27 malt whisky distilleries in the group.
When the The Manager’s Dram competition was launched it was part of UD’s attempt to build a new company culture following the disruption of the merger, and to restore a little professional pride among distillery staff, the single malt whisky makers. The competition was overseen by United Malt and Grain Distillers (UMGD), the operational company within United Distillers with responsibility for whisky making, and so began the annual tradition of selecting special casks to bottle for staff.
As United Distillers eventually became Diageo so the competition evolved from its original mission to become something more like a showcase for the range of distilleries in the group. But The Manager’s Dram continues to be bottled each year and remains available only to staff to this day.
So, what are the whiskies like? From what we can tell, in the early years heavily sherried whiskies tended to win the popular vote but with the change in selection process it became the distillery character that took on greater importance.
The complete list of The Manager’s Drams since 1988:
Glen Elgin 15 Year Old, The Manager’s Dram bottled 29 February 1988, 75cl, 60.20% ABV
Manager Ronnie L Grant
Benrinnes 12 Year Old, The Manager’s Dram bottled 2 November 1988, 75cl, 63% ABV
Manager Donald Mathieson
Cardhu 15 Year Old, The Manager’s Dram bottled 19 July 1989, 75cl, 63% ABV
Manager Ewan Cattanach
Glendullan 18 Year Old, The Manager’s Dram bottled 8 November 1989, 75cl, 64% ABV
Manager Ricky H Robertson
Caol Ila 15 Year Old, The Manager’s Dram bottled 25 July 1990, 75cl, 63% ABV
Manager Grant Carmichael
Oban 13 Year Old, The Manager’s Dram bottled 17 November 1990, 75cl, 62% ABV
Manager Ian Williams
This was the first of three Obans to be bottled in the early 1990s.
Aberfeldy 19 Year Old, The Manager’s Dram bottled 20 October 1991, 75cl, 61.30% ABV
Manager Brian J Bissett
Glen Elgin 16 Year Old, The Manager’s Dram bottled 31 October 1993, 70cl, 60% ABV
Manager Harry Fox
The second Glen Elgin in the series was selected by the distillery’s new manager, Harry Fox.
Oban (200th Anniversary) 16 Year Old, The Manager’s Dram bottled 1 July 1994, 70cl, 64% ABV
Manager Ian Williams
This, the second Oban in the series, was bottled to tie in with the distillery’s 200th anniversary.
Oban 19 Year Old, The Manager’s Dram bottled 1 December 1995, 70cl, 59.24% ABV
Manager Ian Williams
The third Oban in the Manager’s Dram series.
Oban 19 Year Old, The Manager’s Dram bottled 1 December 1995, 70cl, 59.8% ABV
Manager Ian Williams
Blair Athol 15 Year Old, The Manager’s Dram bottled 1 December 1996, 70cl, 59.40% ABV
Manager Gordon Donoghue
Clynelish 17 Year Old, The Manager’s Dram bottled 23 November 1998, 70cl, 61.80% ABV
Manager Bob Robertson
Dailuaine 17 Year Old, The Manager’s Dram bottled 20 November 2000, 70cl, 59.50% ABV
Manager Steve McGingle
Mortlach 19 Year Old, The Manager’s Dram bottled 6 December 2002, 70cl, 55.80% ABV
Manager Gordon Donoghue
Glen Spey 12 Year Old, The Manager’s Dram bottled August 2008, 70cl, 53.50% ABV
Manager Martin Walker
Talisker 17 Year Old, The Manager’s Dram bottled January 2012, 70cl, 55.20% ABV
Manager Mark Lochhead
The 2011 Edition wasn’t released until 2012.
Knockando 12 Year Old, The Manager’s Dram bottled September 2012, 70cl, 59% ABV
Manager Andy Cant
Lagavulin 11 Year Old, The Manager’s Dram bottled December 2013, 70cl, 57.10% ABV
Manager Georgie Crawford
Dufftown 14 Year Old, The Manager’s Dram bottled November 2014, 70cl, 56.20% ABV
Manager Gordon Clark
Auchroisk 16 Year Old, The Manager’s Dram bottled December 2015, 70cl, 55.6% ABV
Manager Joe Sammons
Glen Ord 16 Year Old, The Manager’s Dram bottled December 2016, 70cl, 62% ABV
Manager Rachel Forsyth
The Singleton of Glen Ord.
Royal Lochnagar 12 Year Old, The Manager’s Dram bottled November 2017, 70cl, 58.1% ABV
Manager Sean Phillips
Mannochmore 10 Year Old, The Manager’s Dram bottled October 2018, 70cl, 58% ABV
Manager Annelise Hastings
Blair Athol 10 Year Old, The Manager’s Dram bottled October 2019, 70cl, 57.1% ABV
Manager Derek Younie
