Tag Archives: Glenkinchie

Whisky Auction – Glenkinchie 10 year 40%

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The Lowlands of Scotland are often over-looked, given it had only 2 single malt distilleries active in 2000 – Auchentoshan and Glenkinchie.  Yet it was once known for malts with a gentle elegance, stunning drams like Rosebank and old grains like Cambus from discontinued distilleries…  Today we have many new players like Lindores Abbey, Lochlea, Alisa Bay, Lagg, and others – some of whom have shifted deeply into peat rather than the earlier lighter Lowland “style”.

As I went through the Whisky Auction and spotted a 200ml of Glenkinchie 10 year from before 2008, I thought it would be a perfect example of an earlier Lowland experience. Whilst the period for this expression was 1987 – 2007, based on the “Classic Malts of Scotland” label, box colour, I believe it is from the late 1990s, though I could be mistaken. I picked it up for ~Eur 27 (including shipping & auction fees).

Glenkinchie 10 year (~late 1990s) 43%

  • Nose – Bright, floral – particularly white flowers then tube roses, sharp green apple, inviting, cereals, honey suckle sweet, then gradually became more subdued, a little shy, shifting from green apples to red, from spring to summer…
  • Palate – Dry, apricot pits, simple and straightforward yet with a rather nice mouthfeel, whilst light, there was some substance there too
  • Finish – Medium long

Sometimes being “quite pleasant” is simply perfect! That’s exactly what we welcome. I was completely satisfied with this expression and delighted we had a chance to try it.

There remained a few drams in the bottle, enabling an opportunity to revisit at home for a quiet evening, free from distractions. It was even more enjoyable.

Based on this experience, I think I may need to keep an eye out for more Glenkinchie tasting opportunities! Prior to this, my experience was limited to just two expressions:

What else did we try in our rare evening?

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Diageo’s Glenkinchie and Mortlach 2023 Special Releases

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There is a stage when you are at a Whisky Festival where you no longer have the capacity to consider exploring a full range. Instead, the approach is much more selective. It becomes a question of “If I were to try only one, which should it be?” Because even when you sniff, swish, and spit, there are limits.

What follows are whiskies that were all sampled later in the day at London’s The Whisky Show 2023. Where one was better than none, but everything was starting to muddle together after 30+ different tasting experiences. As I was with my favorite tasting companion – one becomes two – with different mini pours for him and myself.

After a bit of a change of pace, we made a beeline to the Diageo area in hopes of sampling the Clynelish. Alas, it wasn’t available there, so we instead were offered a rather nice Glenkinchie and interesting Mortlach.

Glenkinchie 27 year ‘The Floral Treasure’ 58.3% 

What did we think? 

  • Nose – Lovely floral elements, joined by light spice, a hint of leafy green, and some berries. It then shifted to become slightly more vegetal, a hint of sour joined the earlier sweet perfumes
  • Palate – Here the orchard elements come through more – think baked apples with vanilla cream, which then shifts to something a bit deeper with the oak pushing through
  • Finish – Quite dry
  • Water – Yes, please! Made it brighter, and lighter, and rounds out all the elements, a lovely citrus came forward  

There was a spring-like quality to this – both the freshness of new growth and the wet earthiness, old grass and leaves revealed by the melting of snow. From apple blossoms on the nose, we switch to a warm applesauce on the palate.

What more do we know? It was part of Diageo’s Special Releases 2023. Of course, Glenkinchie is from the Lowland region in Scotland and this expression was aged in a mix of refill American and European oak barrels and butts. Oh – and the price – it clocks in at a hefty €390. 

Mortlach ‘The Katana’s Edge’ (2023) 58%

  • Nose – What melon! Then saline, heavy, curious
  • Palate – Decidedly umami, again there was a “heavy” quality and spicy, reminiscent of an oolong tea, had some oomph! 
  • Finish – Started on the umami side then shifted to sweet
Also from the Diageo Special Releases 2023, this Speyside Scotch finished in Kanosuke Japanese whisky and Pinot Noir casks and retails for ~€290.  

I personally felt that Diageo really ‘upped their game” this London Whisky Show 2023, It was a case of “less is more” with carefully selected options. This time, it wasn’t a challenge at all to interact and learn more about what they are trying to achieve with their 2023 Special Releases.  

If you are curious about other tasting experiences with these distilleries, I’ve had only one brush with Glenkinchie  – their 12-year-old. Whereas with Mortlach, most of my explorations have been with independent bottlers with only two “OB” expressions!

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Whisky Ladies explore Scottish regions

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The whisky map of Scotland tends to be divided into ‘regions’.

Traditionally there were four regions: Highlands, Lowlands, Islay and Campbeltown. The Scotch Whisky Association (SWA) then added a 5th region of Speyside – given its prodigious production this seems more than merited!

You may also often hear of an ‘Islands’ sub-region encompassing island distilleries excluding Islay…. Whereas the SWA considers these to be part of the Highlands.

Confused yet?

Glenkinchie, Clynelish, Jura, Cardhu, Ardbeg

When our Whisky Ladies decided to go on a Scottish whisky regional tour, we had to skip Campbeltown as weren’t able to source whiskies from Glen Scotia, Glengyle, and Springbank, however we did our able best to appropriately cover the other regions… including that sneaky little not quite sure if it could be considered a region… Islands!

Whisky Ladies Regional Tour sampled:

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