Whisky: Glenlossie 18 Year (1966), Cadenhead's

Country/Region: Scotland/Speyside

ABV: 46%

Cask: Oak

Age: 18 Year (Distilled April 1966, Bottled Oct. 1984)

Nose: Machine oil and plasticine, then walnut and wood oil; finally more tropical with leather, breadfruit, lychee, rambutan, wood, and musty tropical garden.

Palate: Light, delicate, and somehow rich, tropical fruit and machine oil, dark chocolate, black coffee, subtle florals, preserved citrus, musty earth and vegetation.

Finish: Long and lingering with tropical fruits, wood, and musty earthy decay.

Score: 8

Mental Image: Bivouacking to the Tropical Plateau

Narrative & Notes: Initially, the aroma was quite industrial with machine oil, mineral oil, and plastic army men; those aspects slowly faded as walnut and wood oils arrived with a touch of hazelnut. With more time, the aroma became more tropical, with new leather accompanying melon, guava, fermented lychee, breadfruit, rambutan with its woody pits, and subtle tropical garden florals. Light and delicate, the flavor profile was rich with melon, slightly underripe mango, guava, and machine oil. More chocolatey than the nose, the mid-palate featured black coffee, toasted wood, preserved citrus, and a subtle melange of florals— violets, lavender, and hibiscus to varying degrees. Toward the end was a musty earth and grassy vegetation, almost tropical decay, with more green coffee. The finish was long and lingered with tropical fruits, wood, and subtle musty, earthy decay.

Wow! Light and delicate but absolutely packed with flavor. The profile was well-integrated with distinct transitions that lent the whisky an unexpected richness. The experience transformed significantly over time as an initial industrial dirty quality slowly faded toward tropical fruits and earth.

I did not expect much from this whisky after it spent nearly forty years in the bottle; I figured it might be nice but a bit washed out. Over such a long time, the abv can decline due to the inevitable gas exchange and the effect of environmental conditions, which lead to a loss of soluble compounds, the sort that gives whisky a lot of its depth. Despite those reservations, I happily agreed to split a bottle with friends when the opportunity presented itself. Bottles like this do not come along that often, and I have not tried many whiskies with a 1960s vintage— an entirely different era in terms of the barley varietals and yeast used.

Overall, this was precisely what I wanted from a unicorn encounter— something unusual, unexpected, but still delicious. I have no doubt I will be thinking about this whisky for a long while.

Theme: End-of-Year Favorites

The theme this December 2023 is cleaning the house, and the reviews posted this month are either things I did not get a chance to slide into a theme week earlier this year, drams I have poured to celebrate the holidays and end of the school year, or as part of our online whisky group’s mystery dram advent calendar. These are posted in no particular order!

Image Credit: WhiskyAuctioneer