【Exclusive Interview】Rare Find by Gleann Mòr Spirits- Greg Urquhart

2025 marks the 10th anniversary of Gleann Mòr Spirits, an independent bottling company based in the Leith area of Edinburgh, Scotland. Rare Find, their whisky brand, seeks out the best of the best and is now spreading its presence worldwide.

We had the pleasure of interviewing Greg Urquhart, The Head of Operations at Gleann Mòr Spirits, and explored the story behind Rare Find.

(Date of interview: November 28th, 2024)

The Basic Information of Gleann Mòr Spirits

Company’s Name	Gleann Mòr Spirits
Year of Establishment	2015
Founders/Owners	Derek Mair
Location	Gleann Mòr Spirits Co. Ltd. Jane Street Industrial Estate, Edinburgh EH6 5HD
Official Website	Rare Find Whisky
Social Media	Instagram: @rarefindwhisky Facebook: Rare Find

Establishing The Company, “Gleann Mòr Spirits”

Whisky enthusiasts begin with a handful of casks

Dear WHISKY：
How did the company, Gleann Mòr Spirits, start?

Greg：
The company was established in 2015. It was my director, Derek, and his wife who set up Gleann Mòr Spirits as an independent bottler. They started with just a handful of casks as whisky enthusiasts, and it’ll be our 10th anniversary in 2025.

Dear WHISKY：
Was the company itself established as a bottler company from the start?

Greg：
Yes, it was primarily established for getting whisky into bottles.

But it was really borne out of their passion for being whisky fans, and they decided to enter the market as an independent bottler.

Dear WHISKY：
When did you join them?

Greg：
I came on board a little bit after they’d been in the market for a while. By then, they already had products available domestically, and it has only grown from there.

The Story of Rare Find

Rarity – Looking for the best whisky

Dear WHISKY：
What was the story behind the establishment of Rare Find as a brand from Gleann Mòr Spirits?

Greg：
The ethos was to source casks that Derek believed to meet a certain standard of quality and then share them with the wider market, creating a product he could be proud of.

Dear WHISKY：
Where does the name “Rare Find” come from?

Greg：
We are really dealing with a very small proportion of what’s available on the market, which intrinsically makes it “rare” in itself, especially when we’re talking about single casks. Also, for a product to earn the Rare Find label and be poured into the glass, it needs to meet our strict quality criteria.

So, it really is the best of the best in our inventory.

Dear WHISKY：
For single cask releases, how many bottles do you usually handle?

Greg：
We handle as few as 50 or 60 bottles, which in itself makes them exceptionally rare.

Taste of origin

Dear WHISKY：
What was the first ever whisky released as a Rare Find?

Greg：
It was a single cask release of 30 years old Caol Ila. We have done another release of its sister cask as well later on. 
Unfortunately, I never got to try the original. It was already sold before I was involved in the business. I’m a little bit disappointed that I never got to try them but it was a good foundation for the single cask program to grow from.

Dear WHISKY：
What was your first Rare Find whisky you ever had?

Greg：
The first ones I ever had were two releases of North Highlands (Unnamed distillery) in a Port cask. I still have one bottle of the 13-year-old that I held back from them.
At that time, there were quite a few coming out, and I quickly started to get a sense of Derek’s approach. I began to understand his style, flavor profile, and the key elements that mattered most to him.

Dear WHISKY：
Do Rare Find whiskies share a common style or characteristic?

Greg：
We do not have a particular style.

One of the greatest benefits of being an independent bottler is that we aren’t tied to a house style, which gives us the flexibility to develop unique concept. Whether we focus on a certain region or a particular style, I have thousands of casks to choose from to determine the perfect liquid for each release. 

Design of Rare Find

Feeling premium quality in the bottle

Dear WHISKY：
What is the philosophy that you put into the visual designs of Rare Find?

Greg：
We’re given a perception of quality and of exclusivity to bring an element of elegance, premium look, and feel. The bottle itself is sometimes referred to as the Rare Find bottle. When the consumer picks up a bottle, it does have a feel around it.

The thumbprint that tells the story of whisky

Dear WHISKY：
Rare Find whisky has a unique design on the bottle, especially with a thumbprint on it.
Is that thumbprint from a specific person?

Greg：
I’d love to say it was my thumbprint, but it’s just a graphic for keeping personal information safe.

Dear WHISKY：
What is the idea behind the thumbprint design?

Greg：
It goes back to that Rare Find element.

Thumbprints are unique and one of a kind, just like the casks that we are putting into bottles.

Dear WHISKY：
Could you elaborate on the ‘thumbprint’ analogy and its connection to the casks?

Greg：
A story I always tell people is that we had 10 casks of Mannochmore come into our inventory a few years ago, and they were all sister casks distilled on the same day. However, there was a massive difference in how they were performing in terms of wood influence. The thumbprint is a great analogy for this story. You would expect those casks to all be almost identical, but the wood is so individual, like a thumbprint, and it brings its own influence onto the spirit.

Crafting Rare Find: Insights into Whisky Bottling

The process of bottling

Dear WHISKY：
What processes are involved in bottling the whisky at your company?

Greg：
Since the business has grown, we manage every touchpoint within the process, including storage, maturation, re-racking, and label application—everything except distillation. But we started by purchasing small volumes of casks from multiple facilities, releasing them in our own packaging and outsourcing labeling and bottling.

Dear WHISKY：
How do you determine the right timing to bottle the cask?

Greg：
Building predictability is quite difficult. The romanticized image is of people nosing casks and tasting whisky, but in reality, you spend a lot of the time in front of spreadsheets to make prediction. Over time, predictability will get better the longer we work with casks. You have to establish a base of data that tells how they usually perform, which can then serve as a reference next time.

But as younger independent bottlers, it’s a constant process of learning and adapting.

As an independent bottler

Dear WHISKY：
What do you focus on the most as an independent bottler?

Greg：
One of the main strategies I focused on as an independent bottler was getting as close as possible to the cask supply chain. I wanted to connect directly with the people who make and season the casks, and Australia was the first market where we achieved this. Since then, we’ve built strong relationships with Spanish cooperage, the Sherry market, and a Kentucky cooperage for direct cask supply. We’re also about to start working with a Port cask supplier.

Dear WHISKY：
So, is cask supply the most important factor to you?

Greg：
The cask story is something that’s really important to us and something I’ve been pushing for a few years to really invest in. It’s a big investment for the business, but these casks are going to be in the inventory for decades, and we’ll be able to use them multiple times.

Cask: Crucial Factor of Whisky-Making

Choosing casks

Dear WHISKY：
Do you have any preferences or types of casks that you use?

Greg：
In terms of my favorite, it would be sherry for now, but there has to be a good balance. So, I’m open to all and need to try a lot of different styles to build my own knowledge. We recently added Foursquare Rum casks to our inventory and have developed a direct relationship with them. I’ve never worked with rum casks in this volume before, so it’s an exciting learning experience.

Dear WHISKY：
What are the criteria for choosing the cask to bottle?

Greg：
I don’t always approach casks with a fixed strategy, such as insisting they must follow a specific style or be used for a set period. I prefer to stay flexible with with our cask inventory.

As long as they’re of premium quality for their type, I will always find a liquid in our inventory that we can put into that cask.

Collaborating with the cooperage

Dear WHISKY：
Do you repair the casks yourself or have coopers do it?

Greg：
We don’t have a full-time cooper on-site, but we have access to a cooper who comes to our warehouse when we need them. Coopers are one of those jobs in the Scotch industry that are quite hard to fill with new people. So, they are in very high demand.

Bringing Rare Find Whisky to The Consumers

Growing in the UK market

Dear WHISKY：
Is your primary market Scotland? 

Greg：
Traditionally, the brand itself was built on the UK domestic market. We are pretty well established in the UK now, but there’s always room for growth, especially in England. It’s a big market and a busy space.

Reaching the world

Dear WHISKY：
Do you export the Rare Find bottles outside of the UK?

Greg：
Yes, we export globally, including Europe, Canada and Asia, and we’re already well established in many markets around the world.

We’re also open to new market and always looking to expand, so we’re flexible to make connections internationally to get Rare Find out there.

Dear WHISKY：
Is there any specific market strategy?

Greg：
There is not a fixed strategy. As a smaller independent company, we need to make sure that we’re working with the correct distributors, giving as much market support as we can, and ensuring our messages reach consumers.

We’re always learning and pushing forward.

Rare Find lands in Japan

Dear WHISKY started to import Rare Find Whisky to the Japanese market!

Dear WHISKY：
How would you like to approach Japanese consumers?

Greg：
I would try to be as visible as possible. We haven’t traditionally done a lot of print media or digital advertising, like on social media. This is why I’m very grateful for this interview today because it’s one of the key steps we need to take to build a bond with Japanese consumers. We hope that we put enough quality liquid into your market that it starts to grow from there.

The Story of Greg Urquhart

A photographer became a whisky fan

Dear WHISKY：
Could you briefly explain the background of your career before joining Gleann Mòr Spirits Company?

Greg：
I’d become a professional photographer and was doing wedding photography and car photography. But because I’d found a passion for learning about whisky, I was always taking photos of bottles, which eventually led to doing some brand work for whisky as well as other spirits and soft drinks.

Dear WHISKY：
What brought you into the whisky industry?

Greg：
When I turned 30, I decided to pursue some new hobbies, and one of them was getting into whisky. 

Dear WHISKY：
So, were you already a whisky fan?

Greg：
I wasn’t a whisky drinker at that time, even though I was living in Scotland and surrounded by it.

The person who drew me into the world of whisky was actually a friend who came to visit from America. He kindly requested to have a whisky and offered me to have one with him since it was his first time in Scotland, and I really enjoyed it.

Something in my head switched that day, opening my eyes to whisky and leading me to join a whisky club.

One photo connects a whisky fan and company together

Dear WHISKY：
How did you become a member of Gleann Mòr Spirits company?

Greg：
I was out taking a photograph at the local port in Edinburgh, which was a very established port for the export of whisky traditionally. I spotted a nice car that was branded with a gin brand, took a photo of the car, and posted it online. The next day, I got a message to call about that photo, and it turned out to be the owner of Gleann Mòr Spirits.

Dear WHISKY：
Do you still take the photos of Rare Find whisky?

Greg：
We now use the media agency that we have on board, and they do all the recent outturns, but there are still quite a few of the brand photos from older releases that will still be mine.

From Challenges to Growth as an Independent Bottler

Focusing on the spirit

Dear WHISKY：
What would you find is the difficulty or importance when running an independent bottlers business?

Greg：
It’s primarily just focusing on the spirit.

If the spirit is good, the brand will do well.

The emphasis for me is allocating enough time to the role as head of operations. There’s a lot more to it than just assessing whisky all the time. While it’s relatively easy to maintain quality when working with a handful of casks, scaling up requires ensuring every cask meets a high standard. The only way to achieve that is by allocating more time to sensory evaluation and spirit management.

Connecting through whisky

Dear WHISKY：
What aspect of work are you most proud of?

Greg：
Certainly, there’s nothing better than receiving feedback from people telling us, “Good job.” That’s probably my proudest moment as someone has gone out and bought a bottle, and shared it. What matters the most is that people engage with the spirit and hopefully enjoy it.

Dear WHISKY：
What makes an ideal whisky for you?

Greg：
If someone is in conversation and the whisky takes their attention away for a second, they’re like, “What is this I’m drinking?” Then they seek it out or purchase another bottle. If you can get that to happen, it’s something really important for the brand and for me as someone who’s looking after the spirit.

Message for Dear WHISKY Readers

At Last

Rare Find whisky has made a name for itself by creating exceptional whisky, from Leith to the world. Their passion for whisky and dedication to craftsmanship result in the finest single cask/single malt, always striving for excellence.

Every bottle reflects their unwavering commitment to quality, ensuring that only the best expressions reach the hands of those who truly appreciate whisky. 

Get Rare Find and share a dram with someone special, celebrating both the craft and the passion behind every bottle.