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SOUTH AMERICAN WHISKY Pt.2

This is the second and last article from me on South American
whiskies, the first was in miNiZ121. We continue our trip with a visit
to Uruguay. I am not sure if the Scottish influence is still with us.
Some of the local bottles have a measuring tape on the back of the
bottle. Is this to show whether someone is stealing your whisky.

The whisky is produced by Ancap.
The distillery was built by the
Uruguay government in 1931 and
was also operated by them. Why
can’t our government do something
useful like that? The distillery
remained open for 87 years. Calidad
Superior means it is a high quality
product. Ancap also made many
high quality liqueurs.

The Whisky Gregson first appeared
in 1969 by special agreement with Gregson
Associates Ltd. Of Glasgow. The first owners were
Fabricas Nacionales de Cerveza (literally National
Maker of Beer) who sold the distillery to Gilbey’s in
1988. Campari bought it in 2001 and they still own it. The whisky has a base of
Scottish Malt with the local product added to it. There are a lot of variations of
Gregson’s Whisky and an unusual feature is the contents amount of 55ml.This is a
plastic bottle.

The next port of call is Chile. I expected to find a
whisky with an Irish name on it, Bernardo
O’Higgins, the hero of the revolutionary wars. He
has a soccer team named after him plus another
top team is Green Cross (the name Bernado
O’Higgins is everywhere in Santiago – Ed.). But all
I can find is Prince of Wales. A clue may be in the
name of the importers, Singer & Co. Once again it
is a blend of the local product and Scottish malt. A
nice old bottle.

Finally we reach Bolivia and the Tommy Lonsdale
whisky. It is produced by Destleria Boliviana who
were founded in 1889. This is another local
product mixed with Scottish malt. The Lonsdale
family were original owners of the company and
are still involved. The company now seem to
concentrate on liqueurs.

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