Don Ramsay toasts retirement after 50 years

DON Ramsay has a double reason to toast the new year with his usual dram of Glenfiddich. Fifty years after joining the Speyside distillery as a 15-year-old, he has retired as its longest-serving cooper.

Ramsay joined the distillery on Christmas Day 1961 and during his career he has created more than 200,000 casks. He was presented with a miniature cask filled with Glenfiddich 50-year-old single malt specially created to mark his retirement and a coffee table crafted with cask staves.

It is not the first time he has been honoured for his craft. In 2004, the company presented him with a limited release – Glenfiddich 1991 Vintage Reserve – the only time that Glenfiddich has created a whisky that carried the name and story of one of its employees. PR manager Elizabeth Lafferty said: “Not only is he a true craftsman, he has played an important role in inspiring a new generation of coopers.”

Ramsay said: “I have spent my entire working life at Glenfiddich and it will be very strange not coming here any longer.”