Glasgow Distillery 2017 Cl (Claxton’s) (57.2%)

From Claxton's comes this Glasgow malt, a 4 year old release from 2017, drawn from cask C22055 and bottled at 57.2%. The outturn was 323 bottles. The Glasgow Distillery Company was founded in 2012 and revived single malt distilling in Glasgow after more than a century. It was the first single malt distillery to work in Glasgow since the old Glasgow Distillery at Dundashill closed in 1902.

The spirit was drawn off copper stills fed by Loch Katrine water, for a young, fruity spirit ready for active wood. Maturation in a sherry cask laid dried fruit over the fruit. The casks here are very active, and on a young spirit they work fast, giving real depth in just a few years. It sits in Hillington Business Park in the southwest of Glasgow, just off the M8. Founders Liam Hughes and Mike Hayward set out to bring single malt back to the city. The stills are named for the founders' families and for the MacDonald artist sisters.

At 57.2%, undiluted, it is rich and vivid. Apple, citrus and a gentle malt lead, and the Pedro Ximenez lends raisin, date and treacle. The texture is young and lively, the fruit lifted by oak. A long, fruity finish carries a vanilla lift. This is a bright, fruity young Glasgow whisky.