Glenburgie 28 - 52.8% - The Whisky Cellar
Located near Forres in Speyside, Glenburgie was originally founded as the Kilnflat Distillery by William Paul in 1810, although production didn’t start until almost twenty years later.
After multiple changes of ownership, Glenburgie now sits in the Chivas Brothers portfolio and operates solely as a working production site with the bulk of its 4.2 million litres of spirit being used in Ballantine's blends. As a result, Glenburgie single malt bottlings tend to be few and far between.
This spirit was originally distilled in 1995 and bottled in 2023 after full maturation in a refill bourbon hogshead. Bottled at 52.8% as part of the Private Cellars Selection, with natural colour and without chill filtration, with an outturn of 205 bottles
Tasting Notes
Appearance: Burnished gold, coats the glass before falling as thick,oily legs
Nose: Demerara sugar, orange marmalade, butter pastries, lemon citrus, freshly mown grass and spicy ginger
Palate: Rich, creamy mouthfeel. Caramel toffee, orange upside down cake, hot buttered toast, vanilla and a touch of nutty oak. Becomes more woody with a few drops of water
Finish: Medium length, buttered toast with orange and ginger marmalade, and warming oak spice
Summary: This is only the second Glenburgie I’ve sampled, on both occasions the first word that springs to mind is ‘buttery’. It’s a seriously good whisky, providing the balance, depth and complexity found in longer maturations whilst also managing to retain the vibrancy found in younger bottlings.
Priced at a little shy of £210 it’s certainly not a cheap whisky, and definitely well above my top end, but if you’re looking for something special and have deep pockets you could do a lot worse.
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Transparency: this sample pack was received free of charge for independent review. The author has no affiliation with the bottler, all opinions are my own and remain completely impartial.
