Whisky : Glenburgie 24 Year, Archives “Fishes of Samoa”

Country/Region : Scotland/Speyside

ABV : 55.6%

Cask : Ex-Bourbon Hogshead

Age : 24 Years (Distilled 7 June 1995, Bottled 18 Feb. 2020)

Nose : Tropical fruits and florals with subtle pastry notes.  Guavas, pineapples, oranges, plumeria, and fresh coconut flesh came to mind right away.  Buttery shortbread notes transitioned toward shea butter and the pleasant mineral-saltiness of wet beach sand.  

Palate : Medium-bodied with big bright tropical fruits and mild salt and minerals in the background.  A day at the beach with fresh-cut mangos, pineapples, guavas, and tropical floral tiare flowers (Tahitian gardenia).  Notes of coconut oil mingled with grassy sweet fresh crushed cane juice.  Lemon rind and hints of herbal menthol appeared at the end.

Finish :  Lingering fruity sugars and mild mineral/earthiness.

Score : 7

Mental Image : Beach Day Ice Chest

Notes : Another cracking Glenburgie and another delightful trip to the beach.  I loved the interplay between tropical fruits, florals, and beachy notes of sand and salt in this dram.  I found the menthol and herbal notes at the end sometimes came off slightly bitter and the lemon rind a bit astringent, but those were minor quibbles for an otherwise excellent dram.

This was an ideal ambassador for a distillery with a low-key reputation for producing absolutely cracking malts.  It was also a great ambassador for maturation in a humble ex-bourbon hogshead— it would have been an absolute crime if this had been bludgeoned by some wine cask in the final year or two before bottling.  Now, not every dram is great right away— sometimes tinkering gives great results, and sometimes casks are just better off being blended into something more than the sum of their parts— but there are beauties like this that should not be overlooked.

Overall, I am clearly pretty hot on Glenburgie and this dram was no exception.  This reminded me a lot of the tropical fruits and pastries that I love to find in a great Arran or Clynelish.

Image Credit : whiskybase.com