...where distraction is the main attraction.

Tuesday, September 20, 2022

Glenglassaugh 39 year old 1972, cask 2896

Glenglassaugh distillery's NAS official bottlings never inspire my palate, with the peated Torfa being damned near unpleasant. I don't understand why they haven't aspired to something better, or at least age-stated, in the fourteen years since their stills restarted. As a result, this site's first Glenglassaugh will be a 39 year old single cask distilled during the Highland Distillers era. Andrea Caminneci selected it for the German market from official Glenglassaugh casks ten years ago, when people could still do that sort of thing. It's a real heater for its age, 57.5%abv!

Serge and Ruben both gave this cask a score of 93 points, which to the online world is essentially the word of God, so my heresy will be confirmed if I grade it higher or lower. Cheers!

Distillery: Glenglassaugh
Distilled by: Highland Distillers
Current Owner: Brown-Forman
Region: Eastern Highlands (Banffshire)
Age: 39 years (1972 - 2012)
Maturation: refill sherry butt
Cask#: 2896
Outturn: 516 bottles
Exclusive to: Germany
Alcohol by Volume: 57.5%
(from a bottle split)

NOTES

First gear: One of the waxiest noses I've come across, with farm, beach and old calvados filling in every corner. Second gear: Chalk, yuzu, lime and pear up top; toffee and wood spice underneath. Third gear: lychee and more wax.

Dunnage, salt, toasted nuts and mead arrive first in the palate, followed by tart cherries, yuzu, coal and fried plantains, getting sweeter with time.

The very long finish has toasty nuts and spices, honey, menthol, yuzu, lime, fried plantains and a hint of coal smoke.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

How does one bottle Torfa, Evolution and Revival knowing this is the quality of malt that came before? Yes, those whiskies are ~3 years old, while cask 2896 is 39, but......almost a decade and a half have passed since the distillery reopened. How dark is that shadow?

While the 39's palate and finish are very good, the nose makes the world go quiet. Quality refill sherry butts continue to be the magical vessel. I spent a very long time with this pour, and I recommend that anyone who possesses a bottle of this whisky does the same.

Availability - Secondary markets
Pricing - ?
Rating - 91