This mature Glenburgie was bottled from the massive lot of casks distilled in June 1995, many of which Signatory Vintage has bottled. That lot has been one of my favorites for the subtle tropical and floral qualities that emerged after two decades in refill oak. This specific cask is actually a combination of casks that were re-racked into a first fill butt for five years (see Andrew Symington’s comment on Youtube).

---

Whisky: Glenburgie 30 Year (1995), Signatory Vintage Cask 4

Country/Region: Scotland/Speyside

ABV: 53.5%

Cask: First Fill Sherry Butt Finish (5Y)

Age: 30 Years (Distilled 25 June 1995, Bottled 13 Aug. 2025)

Notes: Rich sherried fruits wafted out of the glass with cherry and dark fruit candies. A touch of licorice and leather left me thinking sambuca— a fine dining digestif with a hint of espresso and chocolate. Only vaguely tropical with woody rattan and bamboo furniture, a bit like tiki bar decor, and hints of ginger, mustard seed, and jasmine. Medium-bodied and surprisingly spirited for the age, the whisky was oily on the palate with concentrated jammy fruits and wood— cherries, berries, and dark stone fruits. Hints of vanilla bean and chocolate waited further in and left me imagining brownie Sundays with fruit sauce in a tiki bar— an evocative flavor profile with plenty of woody structure. The profile turned nuttier with time, hazelnuts mostly, the herbal bitters and aniseed remained further in the background with a touch of baking spices: clove and allspice. Those elements felt cookie dough adjacent, an impression that sometimes carried onto the finish with brown sugar and butter. The finish was nice and long with a bit of spirited pepper and plenty of concentrated, sugary cherries.

---

Score: 7 (82)

Mental Image: Tiki Bar Brownie Sunday

Conclusion: My expectations may have been a bit weighty coming into this malt considering my love of these older Glenburgie and the very positive Whiskybase scores (over 130 ratings and a score of 89.69). I found the sherry finish rather overwrought and too powerful, dominating much of the malt. The cask was good, and certainly I rated this as an above average sherry bomb considering I am not a huge fan of the style. It had good depth and a lovely evolution, losing some of its spirited qualities each time I sat with it. Overall, one for the cask hounds, but I prefer subtler fair.