Glengoyne 10 year old 2000s bottling

From the Lang Brothers in the Trossachs comes this unusual and rare bottle (2000s bottling), the perfect Xmas gift. The old ‘Glen Guin’, from Dumgoyne in the Campsie fells in the North outside of Glasgow. The Glengoyne stream flows into Loch Lomond. The distillery is in the highlands, but the casks themselves are matured in the lowlands and only warm air is used to dry the barley, making the dram easier on the palate (the malt is not peated).

“Nose: Beautifully clean despite coal-gas bite. The barley is almost in concentrate form with a marmalade sweetness adding richness.

Palate: Crisp, firm arrival with massive barley surge, seriously chewy and textbook bitter-sweet balance; but now some oils have tucked in to intensify and lengthen.

Finish: Incredibly long and refined for such a light malt. The oak, which made soft noises in the middle now intensifies, but harmonises with intense barley; an added touch of coffee signals some extra oak in recent bottling.”

(Tasting Notes by Jim Murray, Whisky Bible 2011.)