Glenburgie 15 Year Distillery Labels (Gordon & MacPhail)

Lovely smooth Speyside malt

Another round five pour. Another Saturday night. Just sitting back and giving this Glenburgie a go. The nose has a little bit of everything. Vanilla, green apples, hints of charcoal, fresh split oak, dried grass. The arrival is hot and tingling. Spicy red pepper is the initial blast. Once the spicy side ebbs, vanilla, toasted coconut, oak, char come through, however brief. A flash of black pepper towards the finish. The body is medium in weight and density. The finish is short consisting of ginger root, oak, vanilla that becomes drying. There is potential is this scotch. It’s on the cusp of being good. It however lacks the depth, variety and length of flavor. Even more, there is a youthful 8-10 year quality to this and not the more mature 15 year. It’s decent, but nothing that is impressionable. Thanks @LeeEvolved for the sample. [84/100][Tasted: 5/19/18]

Stop number 72 on the SDT is Glenburgie. This Speyside distillery is used primarily for blends in the Ballantine’s lineup. It has been mothballed 3 times in its long history, most recently in 2000. It was completely rebuilt between 2003-2004 and started production again in 2004. Its output is a hefty 4.2 million liters of alcohol per year. This 15 year old (which mathematically puts it as being distilled before the time the distillery was most recently mothballed) comes from the independent bottlers at Gordon & Macphail. Bottled at 43% ABV and is natural color of a pale gold and I suspect it is non chill filtered. The nose starts with a strong vanilla and black licorice note. Fennel, green oak and ginger. Some bitter cocoa powder and a little pepper. The vanilla becomes stronger and a hint of red berries shows up with some distant oranges and tangerines. The fruitiness gets turned up a notch and takes on more of a tropical feel. Light coconut and pineapple, kiwi and banana. All of these fruits are fairly light, but are there nonetheless. Echoing the nose, the palate is loaded with vanilla and black licorice with a touch of cocoa powder. Those tropical fruits come in fairly quickly. Coconut, pineapple and banana. Faint kiwi and oranges. Some light raisins. Green oak and a slight metallic note that is a little out of place but isn’t too much of a distraction. Fairly sweet but there is some bitterness to balance it all out. A light bodied mouthfeel, creamy, mouth coating and dry. The finish is fairly short (after the first sip the finish was nonexistent but picked up after subsequent sips), dry with tropical fruits and vanilla. Really this is not a bad dram at all. Good tropical flavors with a nice vanilla, but it just doesn’t have that “wow” factor going for it. A good independent bottling and it might actually work well in a tropical mixed drink like a piña-colada if there is no rum on hand. At $80, it’s not really worth it though. Thanks to @LeeEvolved for the sample. 3.25 Cheers

One of the biggest benefits of being part of this madhouse of a Scottish distillery tour that my friend @LeeEvolved conjured up is that you get to try a distillery that you wouldn’t even know existed. This one here, part of an official,offering from @LeeEvolved, is one that I never even heard of. I say ‘official’ offering because in the team, we provide ‘unofficial’ or ‘bonus’ offerings as well. Honestly, it’s the bonus offerings that steal the show, and this round will be no different where I think the top scores will go to a Macallan Black, Springbank 24 single sherry cask, and a Four Roses LESB 2016. Anyway...I digress...so, this here...I don’t know...not fond of the nose. A bit rancid and plastic-y. Maybe because I just had a pretty good Alt-a-Bhainne (also provided by @LeeEvolved ). It’s like driving an Accord after you’ve just drove an Acura. Palette is lemongrass, confectioners sugar. Quick drying finish. It’s decent. But for about $80, you’re better off elsewhere. Again, a first for me in trying a new distillery—-thanks @LeeEvolved !

The nose brings woody elements, vanilla, and the slightest smoke. The palate is buttery, with a medium mouth coat of more vanilla, malted milk, and lemongrass. It's got a medium finish, but mostly oil. Not bad, but not really interesting, and certainly doesn't strike me as a 15 year old. This screams like the maturity of a 7 year old instead. The theme of this dram should be "It's My Party (And I'll Cry If I Want To) by Lesley Gore. LOL. 3.0! Thanks for the experience of the distillery @LeeEvolved!

As we begin with what amounts to our fifth round of samples my friends and I (in our self titled Scottish Distillery Tour) are inching ever closer to the declared goal of trying at least one single malt or grain from every active distillery that has a bottle available. Up first, from my collection, is this single malt from Speyside distiller: Glenburgie. This bottle is a 15 year old example from famed independent bottler Gordon & Macphail. It was bottled at 43% ABV and has no color added. It’s a very pale straw in the glass and produces a wide, legless slick all the way around the Glencairn glass. The nose gives most of this malts characteristics away from the get go: vanilla, white oak with some sherry sweetness and green apples. The flavor is also quite one dimensional: vanilla. It’s very bourbon-esque, minus the pepper and heat. It’s smooth enough and enjoyable for those times you aren’t looking to challenge your palate. The finish is short, slightly warming and sweet and oaky. Overall, this is primarily a boring dram. It’s another distillery we can cross off the list and I’m not sure I’d venture out and look for another bottle from these guys, unless it’s something significantly older. Even then, price definitely has to come into play. This wasn’t worth the $79 I paid. It accomplishes the same thing a cheap blend does. 3 stars. Cheers.