Scotland, Speyside: Single malt whisky through the producing distilleries: history, making, production and tasting notes
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Glenburgie

Description of the whisky

The distillery

Glenburgie distillery
Glenburgie Distillery
Forres,
Morayshire
IV36 OQY
+44 1343 850 258
Owner: Pernod-Ricard
Creation date 1810

The distillery is supposed to have been build in 1810 (a copper plate on the building behind the current distillery says :“This building was build in 1810. The upper floor contained the distillery and customs and excise offices and the lower ground floor the original distillery warehouse”) but it appears from the archives that the construction of the distillery did not happen earlier than 1829, when William Paul initiated the whisky production on the site.
The distillery was called Kilnflat in those days, and William Paul remained the owner of the distillery up to 1871. Whisky production has been stopped in 1878.
The same year, the distillery has been renamed in Glenburgie, and the manager was Charles Hay. Alexander Fraser took the distillery over in 1895, and founded a Limited company to own it.
The distillery was bankrupted in 1925, because it could not resist to the crisis who caused the ruin of many a distillery in those days. A attorney from Elgin, Donald Mustard became the owner of Glenburgie after this bankruptcy.
George Ballantine & Son took the distillery over in 1936. The Ballantine company belonged to Hiram Walker which would become part of Allied Distillers some years later. Allied Distillers is still the current owner.
In 1936 Glenburgie was the first distillery ever to be managed by a lady. Margaret Nicol was indeed the first woman to have a managing function in the whisky world. She retired in 1959.
Back in 1936, the distillery has been refurbished and its production capacity was doubled in 1957. In the same period, the malting floors have been closed, and two Lomond stills have been installed. They have been in use up to 1981, when they were replaced by traditional pot stills.
This Lomond stills were used to produce a malt called Glencraig, named after the Ballantine's manager, William Craig.
Whisky produced by Glenburgie is essentially used in blends, specially in those of Teacher's and Ballantine's.

Glenburgie independent bottlers

Glenburgie

Glencraig 33 years Rarest of the Rare
Collection
 Rarest of the Rare
Age
 33 years
Alcohol percentage
 40,9 %
Bottler
 Duncan Taylor
Cask number
single cask 2923
Dates
 Distil: 03.1974 Bottling: 10.2007
=25 euros=25 euros=25 euros=25 euros=25 euros=25 euros=25 euros=25 euros
links & average quote
 83/100
Glencraig 33 DC
Color: Gold
A very fresh nose first, with scents of mint, ripe fruit, a hint of vanilla. The nose is soft and relatively complex, very nice.
A first impression in the mouth in a malty register, with notes of ripe fruit and lovely and slightly bitter hints. The taste is slowly evolving into discreet chocolate notes. The complexity announced by the nose is not confirmed in the mouth that nevertheless remains very pleasant.
The finish is long and warm, marked especially by the sweetness of milk chocolate already announced in the palate. The finish is more complex and intense than the mouth was.
83/100
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Glenburgie

Gordon & MacPhail 1990 Reserve
Collection
 Reserve
Age
 13 years
Alcohol percentage
 57,9 %
Bottler
 Gordon & MacPhail
Cask
 Sherry butt
Cask number
single cask 12510
Dates
 Distil: 1990 Bottling: 2003
Bottle
 596 btls
Particularity
 Non chillfiltered cask strength
=25 euros=25 euros=25 euros
links & average quote
 82/100
 
 
A remarkable bottling from the very first nosing. A great Speyside with sherry hints. The taste is really smooth and pleasant, despite the high alcohol degree, and a slight sherry hint is associated to really nice balanced malted touches. A exceptionally long finish. The colour  gives away the Gordon & MacPhail's usage to add caramel to their bottlings... An excellent bottle in a very good although recent collection.
79/100
A rather fresh nose marked by sherry on a background of malt and wet wood, followed in the palate by a very pleasant taste on a malt background with strong hints of sherry. Remote citrus fruit touches make it a remarkably complex but also perfectly balanced whisky. A rather long finish, recalling the sherry.
84/100
A very smooth nose, marked by both sherry and ripe fruits, nicely perfumed and with no aggressivity at all. In the palate, a very nice evolution from ripe pears to fine wood hints, a touch of sweet citrus, to end on very nice malty notes. Nice complexity, and the high percentage of alcohol is really not obvious, because the whole is so nice and harmonious and smooth. The finish begins on a very warm impression, recalling the presence of alcohol, than developes quite long on nice touches, close to those the mouth detected earlier, and at the end a very warm feeling comes an completes the whole.
84/100
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Glenburgie

Daily Dram Glenburgie 26 yo
Collection
 The Nectar of Daily Drams
Age
 26 years
Alcohol percentage
 48,5 %
Bottler
 Bresser&Timmer / The Nectar
Dates
 Distil: 1983 Bottling: 2010
=25 euros=25 euros=25 euros=25 euros=25 euros=25 euros
links & average quote
 86/100
glenburgie 26 daily dram

Colour: Straw
A very nice nose where notes appear immediately peppery, nicely blended with the fresh cut grass, a feeling of toasted almonds and unfortunately a few discrete hints of yeast in the background. In any case, a very nice complexity and a lot of fun.
The mouth is at first more aggressive than the nose. Alcohol is definitely present and seems imperfectly controlled. It is also less complex and less expressive. Once the palate accustomed to alcohol, fruity notes appear, but the overall impression remains that of a pretty dominant alcohol, a bit overwhelming all the tastes.
The finish is pleasantly fruity, quite long. A mixture of fresh and fruity malty sweetness that contrasts quite strongly with the mouth
.86/100

  
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Glenburgie: samples

Glenburgie

Gordon & MacPhail 1990 Reserve
Collection
 Reserve
Age
 13 years
Alcohol percentage
 57,9 %
Bottler
 Gordon & MacPhail
Cask
 Sherry butt
Cask number
single cask 12510
Dates
 Distil: 1990 Bottling: 2003
Bottle
 596 btls
Particularity
 Non chillfiltered cask strength
=25 euros=25 euros=25 euros
links & average quote
 82/100
Quite a fresh nose marked by cut grass and some fruity notes on the background. Not really complex and a kind of tingling (alcohol?) tempers the pleasure.
The first feeling in the mouth prolongs the nose adequately. Freshness and tingling. Freshness is the result of some slightly acid notes. This palate is pleasant even if it is rather flat. After a while, some light bitterness appears.
The finish keeps the memory of this bitterness and is of medium length, quite different from what the nose and mouth were.
79/100
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Glenburgie

Gifted stills 1999-2008
Collection
 Gifted Stills
Age
 9 years
Alcohol percentage
 43 %
Bottler
 Jean Boyer
=25 euros=25 euros
links & average quote
 74/100

Color: clear
The nose is clearly marked by a mixture of malted notes and hints of yeast. This is the kind of smells that I like very little in a whisky. Regardless of complexity, even if overall it is a whisky that seems technically without any problem.
Mouth at first seems more complex than the nose. In addition some timid malt chocolate notes, some bitterness and then a return of these impressions of yeast.
The finish is quite long, but always on the line between the malt and yeast.
This whiskyy is not to my taste. No doubt others will appreciate it, but the smell of yeast in a single malt for me is an absolute standard making that will I do not like ...
This whisky is also perfectly balanced, but I'm not fond of such profiles.
74/100
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Glenburgie: not in collection

Glenburgie

Straight from the Cask, 39 years
Collection
 Straight from the Cask
Age
 39 years
Alcohol percentage
 58 %
Bottler
 Signatory
Cask
 Hogshead
Particularity
 Non chillfiltered cask strength
links & average quote
 82/100
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Glenburgie

8 years
Age
 8 years
Alcohol percentage
 40 %
Bottler
 Gordon & MacPhail
links & average quote
 72/100
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Speyside

Speyside Map

The Speyside area is situated at the North of the Cairngorm mountain and goes to the Moray firth. It is delimited by two rivers: the Findhorn at the West side and the Deveron on the East side.
The area is named after the river Spey. Most of the distilleries take their water in one of its affluents; the Fiddich, the Livet or the Avon.
About sixty distilleries from Speyside are described on this site.

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