Whisky: Glenburgie-Glencraig 19 Year (1981), Cadenhead

Country/Region: Scotland/Speyside

ABV: 59.5%

Cask: Sherry Butt

Age: 19 Years (Distilled 1981, Bottled Feb. 2001)

Nose: Cherries, berries, and dark stone fruits, leather, lacquered wood, anise, hints of tropical fruits and salt, woody and sherried.

Palate: Medium-bodied and oily, bright cherries and berries, stone fruits, wood, hints of more tropical fare, slightly dirty and industrial, musty garden shed, plenty of sherry with a kiss of pepper.

Finish: Long and oily with pepper, cherries, and musty garage.

Score: 88 (8)

Mental Image: Cherries in Annecy

Narrative & Notes: Big, ripe, juicy cherries burst in the vapors above the glass with black currants, anise, plums, lacquered wood, leather, and more dark fruits. Juicy and woody with hints of something more tropical, like green mango and shoyu, or a market stall of longan and rambutan—fleshy tropical stone fruits with woody pits. The sherry cask took the spotlight, with hints of something earthier hiding beyond the wood. Medium-bodied and very oily, juicy at times, with bright cherries— from red to black, but always bursting with sweet fruit and woody pits. More black currants lingered in the background with kiwi and guava hiding behind leather, greasy shop rags, and musty garden sheds. The sherry cask took control yet again, with some delayed pepper and hints of coffee berries near the end. The finish was long and oily with pepper and dirty garage on the back and sweet cherries lingering on the front.

I held onto my sample of this bottle for more than a few years— it might have been the oldest sample I had when I finally decided to pour it. I have been on a Glenburgie kick lately, finishing the bottles I own and breaking into some of the rarer samples that I had stowed away. I always worry about keeping whiskies in a sample bottle too long, but it is hard not to want to hold and treasure things that I am unlikely to ever see again.  Like many of the people I know, I use glass medical grade containers for the whisky and avoid plastic, except to keep a seal on the lid— which the whisky shouldn’t be touching.  Even then, I try not to hold onto things too long.

This was remarkably vivid and lively for something that sat in the bottle for nearly twenty years before a friend split it out and then another four year years before I finally poured it.  The flavors were just as alive as if it had been opened a few months ago with plenty of bright, bursting cherries.  I cannot recall the last whisky that reminded me so much of eating cherries— it has been a while since I had something this juicy.

Overall, this was fantastic— a lost style from one of my favorite distilleries, a true unicorn.