LeeEvolved
Glenkinchie Distillers Edition
Single Malt — Lowlands, Scotland
Reviewed
April 8, 2018 (edited April 10, 2018)
So, I found this bottle on the bottom shelf of the larger ABC stores in downtown Richmond a month or two ago. Since I haven’t had it, I had to buy it. The only other ‘kinchie I’ve had to this point was the 12 year. Glenkinchie is a Lowland distillery that’s just a few miles outside of Edinburgh. This DE was distilled in 2004 and bottled in 2016- making it at least 11 years old. It was double matured in Amontillado sherry casks. It’s light copper in color and makes tons of oily legs in the Glencairn. It’s bottled at 43% ABV.
The nose is pretty exciting if you give it some time to open up. Light sherry and red berries mingle with interesting floral notes and a hint of spearmint. Oak spices hide in the background and come and go with each sniff. We’re off to an intriguing start...
The palate is where things begin to weaken. It has a very light, but oily mouthfeel. All I got were some sherry notes and a restrained oak presence. It’s boring, for the most part. No heat either.
The finish is almost non-existent. It’s short, blink and you’ll miss it. The oiliness isn’t there either- oddly enough, it’s dry. There’s a hint of the oak again, but like I said, it’s gone so fast.
Overall, what started out so promising fell apart pretty quickly. Well, I shouldn’t say it fell apart- nothing materialized, I guess. It’s a serviceable dram and I believe I paid around $60 for the bottle. In my line of spending that’s cheap, but it’s not really a good deal for this bottle. I can’t say I recommend this one to a seasoned whisky drinker. It might be okay for a newbie. 2.75 stars. Cheers.
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This is definitely better than the basic 12. Glenkinchie is actually quite good in the premium range. I was very impressed with their cask strength 20 year old.
I too tasted only the 12 year and was underwhelmed. Sounds like a step up from underwhelming to mediocre.
@cascode @LeeEvolved I literally just had this tonight...kinda liked it. I thought it took deft hands to add a finish to a Lowlander as delicate as this
This almost certainly only saw the light of day because Diagio forced Glenkinchie to do it.