Origin: Speyside (Scotland)
Type: Single Malt Scotch Whisky
Strength: 54.6%ABV
Ageing cask: Ex-Bourbon
Chillfiltered: No
Addedcolouring: No
Owner: Hunter Laing & Co.
Average price: € 500.00
Official website: hunterlaing.com
Since today is Christmas, I gift myself with an exceptional bottling from a distillery that holds a place of honor in my heart.
Hunter Laing’s Old&Rare series features fine bottles from various Scottish distilleries, including Glen Elgin, presented in different vintages over the years, starting with a 44yo (vintage 1975) in 2019.
Another edition in 2022 (vintage 1992, 30yo) and then the one I’m going to taste today, from May 1992, bottled in February 2023 in only 119 bottles.
Merry Christmas to all of you who faithfully read me (and us) and never fail to show your affection at every event or exhibition where we cross paths. We hope to see even more of you in 2025!
Tasting Notes
On the nose, you get the elegant fruity notes of apricot, peach, pineapple in syrup, baked apple with cinnamon and tangerine, also glazed on a luscious cream tartlet. The aromatic bouquet continues with sweet notes of orange honey, toffee, propolis, white chocolate and marzipan with floral notes of lime and hyacinth, all wrapped in a damp and dusty old cellar patina. And with the classic mineral streak that permeates the aromas. With time, it doesn’t yield an inch, maintaining its intensity and balance. A refined lady of the past.
In the mouth, it shows more exuberance than a pensioner at the post office on the first of the month, starting with a lively spicy score (black pepper, aniseed, ginger) that whips the fruity part, in which citrus (grapefruit, mandarin, cedar), gooseberry and pineapple are reinforced, with touches of rhubarb and quinine. After a while, however, the lady becomes austere and a bit grumpy, maintaining her composure and olfactory elegance with the sweet and persuasive side hidden between the folds of her Victorian dress: the mineral and metallic side, between flint and copper coin, barely allowing glimpses of cocoa chips, shortbread and almond confectionery. After conversating for a while, she lets loose whispered confidences of custard and candied fruit, with saline tips.
The farewell is long and austere, mineral and saline tips ripple with citrus, spice, candied fruit, almond, cocoa and toast.
Everything you love about Glen Elgin, concentrated in a dram of masterful elegance and poise, lost in a maze of refined nuances.
Vote: 92/100