Whisky: Glenburgie 39 Year (1963), Signatory Vintage Cask 4750

Country/Region: Scotland/Speyside

ABV: 58%

Cask: Hogshead

Age: 39 Years (Distilled 15 May 1963, Bottled 27 Aug. 2002)

Nose: Initially rich and woody, but time revealed grassy sugarcane, musty earth, and old wood; mango and five spice, diesel and engine grease, musty garage and mango trees.

Palate: Medium-bodied, dirty and industrial, tropical and fruity, medicinal herbs, sandalwood, car garage, compost bin, grassy sugar cane.

Finish: Long and slightly drying with tropical fruits and musty markets.

Score: 9 (93)

Mental Image: Old Garage under the Mango Tree

Narrative & Notes: Intense and rich with lacquered wood, sandalwood chests, brown sugar, and crushed sugarcane stashed in the musty, earthy, crawl space of a tropical bungalow, or old-fashioned Hawaiʻi plantation house. Mango and five spice mixed with the heady fumes of a diesel engine and stained shop rags—something like a musty old garage sitting in the shade of a mango tree. Medium-bodied the flavor profile was dirty, industrial, and tropical with bitter medicinal herbs and sandalwood opening to crushed cane, chico fruit, and green mango.  Dirty and industrial throughout, with car garage and dirty ship rags lingering along decomposing garden debris and cheap cigars— all enjoyed from the cool, earthy shade under a backyard mango tree.  The finish was long and slightly drying with tropical stone fruits and musty market stalls.

This was one of two samples that followed me home from my time at the Swan Song in Singapore and boy was it a special pour. I am probably about as close to a Glenburgie-fanatic as one should realistically be and I have no shortage of Glenburgie bottles at home. I have tried quite a few as well, including bottles from every decade of production available— save the 1940s now that I can cross the 60s off my list.  That just means I need to start crossing off individual years instead of decades!

I love a good list and the action of crossing things off, but such a thing would be pointless if the whisky was not good— or the people I met in the course of trying the whisky not excellent.  The flavors here were unusual and old fashioned; there was plenty of the wood and sandalwood I expected to find on such an old malt, but things got interesting when the woodier elements fell to the background and more tropical and dirty motor garage notes came to the fore.  To get there required patience as the wood was dominant for the first few minutes each time.

The whisky was quite industrial and medicinal, with tropical fruits mostly relegated to the sideline— visible, but always on the edge of the stage rather than in the center.  The wife, who tried the whisky blind, thought it was rum at first and counted herself a fan once some of the woodier elements dissipated after the first sip.

Overall, beautiful stuff— a delicious whisky and a reminder of the great times had in Singapore during my last run through.