So, as I write this, I have just submitted a 20-page reflective essay on leading educational assessment reform… Yeah, it’s about as interesting as it sounds! But turning that paper in marks the end of yet another graduate course, and the beginning of a few weeks of relative normalcy before the next course begins. Well, at least a return to the type of normalcy that one gets with 3 young children who participate in every activity under the sun! Anyway, it’s cause for celebration, even on a Monday night! And for me, celebrate = whisky, And it just so happens that I have some tasting notes for this dram waiting to get finished off into a proper review.
I’ve said before that gifts of whisky are the best, and this bottle of Glenburgie 10 comes straight from Scotland via my wife’s bestie – maybe she likes me better! Her goal was to bring me something I hadn’t tried before and she hit the nail on the head! This whisky is bottled at 40% abv.
To the Eye
This Speyside whisky certainly looks the part, all golden honey and syrup with some brighter flashes in the light. A twist of my glass results in skinny legs quickly trickling down the sides.
In the Nose
Classic Speyside aromas on this one. Pear and other orchard fruits jump immediately to the fore. Grassy notes, along with some floral honeysuckle quickly join the party, with hints of caramel and vanilla. I’m also able to tease out some cloves before the wine-grape sweetness of the sherry cask arrives fashionably late.
On the Tongue
This is a rather rough and tumble young whisky. I was expecting a sweeter, fruitier palate and those flavours are there, but muted behind some bittersweet chocolate and that green, grassy note I picked up on the nose. Black pepper, hot cinnamon and, once again, a splash of sherry on the exit. The finish is fairly short, although the hot alcohol edge leaves a lingering bitterness that eventually finds its way into a toffee sort of flavour.
Final Thoughts
I have no previous experience with either the Glenburgie distillery nor the Gordon & MacPhail bottling house, so I can’t compare this whisky in those contexts. As a Speyside dram, however, this 10 year old bottling of Glenburgie single malt whisky is a fairly typical offering that carries the expected aromas and flavours. There’s nothing all that remarkable about this whisky but nothing really bad either. It ‘s a decent if rough-around-the-edges drop that would probably do well with another few years in the cask.
A Dram or 2 