Dewar Rattray ‘Cask Collection’ Glenburgie 2008 (10 year old) 59.8%
Bourbon Hogshead 800356/ Dist: 2008 Btl: 2019/ Tasted: Apr 2019
A heavy, oily and botanical nose with juniper, barley and slightly soapy/ perfumed white fruit. Late hints of honeysuckle and biscuity/ worty notes.
The palate is oily and dense with barley and more toasty and toffee’d oak. Straightforward but deep with a touch of straw-like barley and grippy tannins. Masked finish.
With water the nose is still oily but a little more fragrant and barley’d. Hints of granulated sugar now. The palate is a little lighter with more emphasis on the toffee’d oak. Still simple and barley’d with drilled nuts on the middle. Oily fruit finish with spicy and citric notes.
Dewar Rattray ‘Individual Cask Bottling’ Glenburgie 2001 (12 year old) 57.1%
Bourbon/ Sherry Cask Finish 2359/ Dist: Apr 2001 Btl: Apr 2014/ Tasted: May 2014
A stinky and earthy nose of treacle, liquorice and toffee. The vibrant citrus adds freshness. Very herbal with a young rye-like herbal character.
The palate is pungent, animally and earthy with plenty of coffee’d/ herbal sherry. Well-endowed with wood tannins and alcohol! Very herbal finish with a touch of bitter spice.
With water the nose becomes simpler and a tad muted. Still very herbal though. The palate is much the same with a sugar water character and still quite a dry finish.
Dewar Rattray ‘Individual Cask Bottling’ Glenburgie 1983 (25 year old) 58.2%
Bourbon cask 9808/ Dist: Mar 1983 Btl: Sept 2009/ Tasted: Sept 2009
The nose is a bit prickly to start with but the crisp, granity orange, apricot and mature honey arrives promptly. It has quiet a noticeable earthy-peat character along with some lovely buttery oak and coastal salinity. Over time a touch of light coffee and wood spices emerges from amongst the fresh igneous morass!
The palate is soft, oily and slightly creamy. Then the granity apricot and orange arrives followed by the generous alcohol. Its quiet complex and grassy with hints of hay/ straw, white fruit and peat, all accentuated by its mineral/ granity leanings, especially on the finish.
A drop of water and it becomes an ‘Oh Yes’ moment! The orange fruit takes on a beautiful liquid viscosity, coating the tongue with lashings of mature honey and gorgeously soft spices. The oak retreats into the back ground, but it is still garanity and fresh with the salinity noticeable, but unfortunately the peat has all but disappeared. On the palate it sweetens and gives the orange fruit a lovely sheen. Now wonderfully mellow, yet still crisp and fruity. It shortens the length a little bit but leaves a lasting impression of saline-grassy-spices on the after taste.
Whisky According to Chris Whiskyman 