Glengoyne, Time, and Environmental Charity.

What are you willing to do for a free bottle of whisky? Would you be willing to wade through wetlands on the promise of a drop of Scotch? If so, Glengoyne may have a tempting proposition for you.

The Highland distillery are calling on fans to spend a day volunteering with the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust in exchange for a bottle of their recently relaunched Glengoyne 15 Year Old.

It’s a rare opportunity to pay for whisky by using something more valuable than cash: your time. Indeed, as Scotland’s slowest distilled single malt, Glengoyne are always keen to stress the importance and value of time.

As part of their reward for the charitable use of their time, volunteers will also be invited to the distillery for a complimentary tour.

WWT are a UK based wetlands charity. Wetlands are an essential part of our ecosystem, helping to naturally clean water, capture carbon and promote biodiversity. As the ‘Valley of the Wild Geese’, Glengoyne feel they have a responsibility to help protect habitats and encourage wildlife in their local area.

As such, Glengoyne have partnered with WWT for over eleven years. In 2011, the distillery adopted a wetlands facility that uses 100% of the distillery’s liquid waste. This has helped reduce the distillery’s total waste by 25% and also provides a home for 14,500 plants and wildlife.

To earn their bottle, volunteers will partake in various activities to help sustain the wetlands at one of the WWT sites, including coppicing trees, clearing vegetation and removing invasive plant species.

The Glengoyne 15 Year Old was discontinued in 2018, but was relaunched in October 2022. Bottled at 43% ABV following maturation in both bourbon and sherry casks, the whisky offers notes of tropical fruits, cinnamon and vanilla before a dry and oaky, spicy finish.

So, if you’d like to exercise your green thumb and have a thirst for single malt, potential volunteers can sign up on Glengoyne’s website. The volunteering dates are scheduled to take place in March 2023. Alternatively, you can support the WWT’s important work in preserving wetlands across the UK by making a monthly or one-off donation on their website.