A new honour, the Spirit of Speyside Award, has been presented to Dennis Malcolm in recognition of his half century of service to the industry, and communities, in Speyside.

The award was made at the Touch of Tartan dinner held at Glen Moray Distillery on April 29. Linda Mellis and Martine Nouet also picked up awards as Ambassador of the Year and International Ambassador of the Year respectively.

Festival Chairman James Campbell said, “In different ways, each award winner has shown incredible commitment to the Speyside whisky industry and to the Festival itself.

“Their enthusiasm for the product is infectious, and the strong and longstanding links they have with the whisky and businesses and communities in Speyside, continues to grow and be enhanced.

“By doing so much to promote whiskies and this wonderful region of Scotland, Linda, Martine and Dennis have done an excellent job of putting Speyside on the world map and making the Festival one of the leading events of its kind.”

With his father and grandfather both working in the whisky industry, and having been born in the grounds of a distillery he went on to manage, Dennis Malcolm can truly be said to have a lifetime’s connection to whisky, starting as a 15 year old cooper and going on to become a managing director and master distiller.

By the age of 24 he had qualified as a brewer and was promoted to act as assistant manager for Glen Grant and its sister distillery Caperdonich before being appointed manager of The Glenlivet. He returned to Glen Grant and Caperdonich as manager in 1983.

From Strathisla Distillery he ran Chivas Brothers’ nine malt distilleries, a grain distillery and three farms and got involved with introducing VIPs and guests to the world of Scotch whisky as a Brand Ambassador. A spell managing Balmenach Distillery followed, before returning to Glen Grant in April 2006 under the new owners Campari.

As well as his industry involvement, Dennis has been a great supporter of the town of Rothes, where he is a church convener and school board member. He is also a Justice of the Peace for Moray.

To find out more visit www.spiritofspeyside.com and follow the Festival at www.facebook.com/WhiskyFestival or on Twitter@spirit_speyside.

Related News

Sign up to stay informed of our events

Join our mailing list for the latest news & updates from the Spirit of Speyside Festivals!