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Glenburgie /
Glencraig
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Glenburgie
distillery
Region:
Speyside
Location: Alves
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Status: Fully operational. (owned by Pernod Ricard through
Chivas Brothers)
More great distillery information
here, thanks to Malt Maniacs
Distillery photo with kind permission by
Teun van Wel |
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Glenburgie
General whisky characteristics: OB bottlings are quite rare
as most of the production goes into blends, one of which is
Ballantine's. When you find one expect a good dram with lots of
darker fruits and nuts. |
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Glenburgie,
distilled 1992, bottled
2007,
15y,
58.8% ABV
A jolly good OB
from Glenburgie, bottled at cask strength for distillery sales
only.
Typical cost of
this bottle; €€€€€ |
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Nose:
Finest Stollen (German Christmas cake with light fruit and
marzipan) and delightful little Vanilla Christmas biscuits.
Palate:
Light fruit, marzipan and vanilla. Very smooth and long with the
flavours hanging from the roof of the mouth.
With 5 drops of
water: Even longer, now with more almond and butterscotch,
also slightly oily texture.
Overall Impression:
I
once ran a tasting where I offered a Glenfarclas QC as my
definitive Christmas dram. This is also a typical Christmas dram,
but for a German as opposed to English palate as the flavour is
fruity, but softer and gentler with more marzipan.
An excellent whisky! |
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Glenburgie,
15y, 46%
Typical cost of
this bottle; €€€€€ |
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Glass:
Spiegelau
Colour:
Amber
Nose:
Initially very fresh and clean with dried nuts, a hint of
freshly sawn wood and a dash of marzipan served in a coconut
shell
Palate: An
immediate explosion onto the palate with the marzipan and
coconut leading the onslaught. Do I also detect a hint of mango?
Maybe.
Finish:
Medium
and tingly on the front half of the tongue with a slightly dry
aftertaste which includes wood, malt and vanilla..
Overall Verdict:
A veritable explosion and jolly good too.
I
revisited this whisky a few days later, but using the Classic
Malts glass;
Nose: Once
again initially very fresh but this lasted only seconds before
the true nose of nuts, marzipan, vanilla milkshake and a hint of
coconut in the background prevailed. After 3-4 minutes the nose
expands to a very aromatic red wine character. |
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Independent
Bottlers
G&M,
Glenburgie,
10y,
40% ABV
Typical cost of
this bottle; €€€€€ |
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Glass:
Spiegelau
Colour: Dark
oak
Nose:
Initially dark fruits (raisins, currants and prunes) but soon
evolving into new tyres, which eventually grow hints of perfume.
Palate:
Smooth and slightly
oily mouth-feel with only faintly rubbery raisins.
Finish: Long
and smooth with very slight hints of smoky new tarmac
Overall Impression:
I'm torn between
liking and not liking this one. The slight tarmac on the finish
can be off-putting, but otherwise I like it. |
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Glencraig
is the
name of the whisky distilled at Glenburgie distillery between
1956-81 specifically in Lomond stills
General whisky characteristics: Rich (treacle) toffee,
liquorice. Full bodied. Aromatic. |
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SMWS,
Glencraig,
34y,
47.8% ABV
Typical cost of
this bottle; €€€€€ |
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Glass:
Classic Malt
Colour: Dark
gold, oak
Nose:
Aromatic aged wood, treacle toffee, dandelion and burdock (now
there's a flashback to my childhood when a fizzy drink or 'pop'
called dandelion and burdock was readily available in most shops).
Palate:
Smooth, creamy
mouth-feel, aromatic and quite floral liquorice.
With 3 drops of
water: The aromatic liquorice on the palate is now more like
good, home-made treacle toffee.
Finish: Very
long treacle toffee, even longer with the drops of water.
Overall Impression:
A ver good rich
after dinner or late evening dram which would go well with an
espresso and dark chocolate. |
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Duncan Taylor,
Glencraig,
distilled 1974, bottled 2009,
35y,
42.4% ABV
'Rarest of the
Rare' series, cask 2922
Typical cost of
this bottle; €€€€€ |
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Glass:
Classic Malt
Colour:
Light gold, rich yellow
Nose:
Why do I immediately think of outdoors? There's an aromatic
sense of wood, rather like an old crofter's cabin in the
Scottish hills, there's even heather in bloom and a
bracken-covered hillside.
Palate:
Light toffee, malt,
a hint of leather, but all quite light and aromatic.
With 3 drops of
water: Much softer and mellow.
Finish:
Pleasantly long, very long, but considerably shorter with water.
Overall Impression:
A very enjoyable
dram, but forget the water. I really like this one! |
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